When I was growing up, my friends were all reading comic books while I was reading the Allied, Radio Shack, Lafayette and Olson catalogs from cover to cover. On my desk right now are Lafayette '72 and '74 and an Allied Radio Shack '71 catalogs.
When I was growing up, my friends were all reading comic books while I was reading the Allied, Radio Shack, Lafayette and Olson catalogs from cover to cover. On my desk right now are Lafayette '72 and '74 and an Allied Radio Shack '71 catalogs.
There was a 1976 catalog
The famous 3rd leg trick.
We had real component stereo around Chicago forever. After all, it was the home off Allied Radio. They had a showroom at 100 N. Western and a dozen stores in the '50's. There were also places like Musicraft and United Audio that had multiple locations, plus lots of independents. And at 5 Korvette City stores, they had a component hi-fi salon and the world's largest record department. In the '70's, it exploded, with streets that had 6 - 12 hi-fi stores within a mile.
Yep, too bad the Japan-made stuff got too expensive and now all we have is cheap junk, or ultra-expensive stuff like what Acoustic Sounds sells. Unless you're wealthy an iPod or phone has to do these days. In my case I've still got all my old stuff. Glad it all still works.In the '70's, it exploded, with streets that had 6 - 12 hi-fi stores within a mile.
What city did you work in?
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Which? I lived in the area then................ my own store in Manhasset, N.Y. opened up in the fall of '72.
Which? I lived in the area then.
Rotors are cool. Always wanted one back in the day.I...Giving local officals free TV antennas and rotors was the answer to the harassment, though I suspect it continued long after I left. Isn't graft wonderful?
Before cable and satellite, I had a rotor, tower and long-range antenna. I could get Chicago, Milwaukee, Rockford, Madison, WI & St. Joseph, MI. Made it great to watch Cubs, Sox & Brewers games.
I am amazed. I lived there then and would definitely have been interested but, somehow, I have no recollection of it. I did use Audio Breakthroughs as my "club" and there was, for a while, another audio shop across the street where I once bought a Sony receiver for my daughter but I do not recall it being a "Lafayette."I was referring to the Lafayette store which I managed from 1972 -1976. There were a couple of other audio retailers nearby: Audio by Zimmit and a high-end place called Audio Breakthroughs. I think there was a Stereo Exchange store not too far away. The closest other Lafayette store was in Westbury.
"My" store was an experiment by Lafayette that failed miserably: it was supposed to be exclusively Home Entertainment, without any parts, tubes, CB's, antennas and all the rest of the stuff one normally expected to find in a Lafayette store. The company spent a fortune designing all-new cabinetry and display cases, as well as an unusual paint theme that actually went across the ceiling to the other side of the store. Most customers walked in, and just stood there, and asked, "THIS is Lafayette???"
The store was converted to a mainstream Lafayette store in 1975, but the location was a bad one (smack in the middle of the "Miracle Mile" in Manhasset), where the only other retailers were exclusive, ultra-high end snobby type establishments, which Lafayette most definitely was NOT. I guess you could use the analogy of placing a Radio Shack on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. You can imagine how that would go over...
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