Eddie Antar, owner of Crazy Eddie retail chain, dead at 68


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — The man who turned the Crazy Eddie electronics stores into a retail giant before it collapsed amid federal fraud charges has died. Eddie Antar was 68.

The Bloomfield-Cooper funeral home in Ocean Township, New Jersey, confirmed Sunday that Antar died Saturday. A cause of death wasn't disclosed.

The Crazy Eddie chain was known for its ads featuring a maniacal pitchman who touted "Our prices are insane!"

Antar started working in Brooklyn, and the chain eventually grew into 43 stores. But he fled to Israel after being indicted on securities fraud and insider trading charges.

Antar was extradited to the United States in 1993 and was convicted on racketeering and stock fraud charges. That was overturned in 1995.

He eventually pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges and served a prison term.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent Business stories

Related topics

The Associated Press
    KSL.com Beyond Business
    KSL.com Beyond Series

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button