Update, Thursday, Apr. 14: I am told that Arnold Drucker passed away early this morning at the age of 93. The fact that I posted about him this week was a complete coincidence, but a friend of the family saw the post and let his children know about it. I hope they understand (and I'm told they do) that the piece was written with great affection, and I offer my sincere condolences.
One of my favorite real-life characters of all time has never made it into a book I've written because I just haven't been able to find the proper context, and because I don't think anyone would believe it.
Arnold Drucker sold consumer electronics equipment in Newark, New Jersey. When I first encountered him I was prepared to use the money I'd saved up working at a men's clothing store in Irvington, NJ one summer to buy my very first stereo component system. Remember those?
My brother, who was about to leave for college and wanted a stereo to take with him, had saved up his salary from the wholesale jewelry business he'd worked at for a number of summers, had heard about Drucker's from our uncle, who had bought... something there. I tended to go from summer job to summer job until I almost sliced off my finger working in the deli department of a Shop Rite and decided the next summer to try for a newspaper internship, which I luckily got. It was harder work, but much safer for my hands.
So we got into my 1965 Chevy Impala, a car big enough to land aircraft on the hood, and headed into downtown Newark, a drive of maybe 15 minutes. There was free parking at Drucker's if you bought something and we were primed to be big spenders. And that's when I first laid eyes on Arnold Drucker.
He was a middle-aged man, probably younger than I am now. Bald with white tufts of hair on either side. He was slim and energetic, a wheeler-dealer of an electronics salesman who knew what everybody needed based on what he had in excess stock and how to get the best price (for him) out of the negotiation. I found him fascinating. If you want to (kind of) see for yourself, you can get a glimpse here.
But the really interesting thing about Drucker's was that Arnold was selling room-sized speakers, large tuners, turntables, cassette decks (and 8-tracks!) as well as televisions and I'm pretty sure major appliances. He was the only salesman in the facility--there were other guys who get your merchandise "from the warehouse" and help you get it into your car--and you had to wait in a long line to get to talk to Arnold. Some customers were there for the stereo equipment, some were there for the air conditioners, some were there for the vacuum cleaners and others wanted a large, heavy tube TV. Others just came for a Snickers bar and a copy of the New York Daily News.
Drucker's was run out of a newsstand in an office building.
It's true: The whole of the electronics empire was contained in a newsstand. Newspapers and candy bars were out front; the sample electronics were behind the counter. Virtually nothing sold there (aside from the newspapers and candy bars) was on the premises. The big box items were kept in another part of the large building, the basement if I remember correctly. You made your deal with the Mr. Haney of electronics himself, then he wrote up the order and handed it to a minion who would meet you in the parking garage with your merchandise. It was a lot like buying olive oil from Don Corleone, except I'm fairly sure most of Arnold's stuff was at least purchased legitimately. Most of it.
We ended up spending a fortune at Drucker's that day (about $350--each!) and I still have the speakers I bought that day. I'm pretty sure they're in my basement. They were the size of end tables and could be used as such. And I'm sure that a properly equipped iPhone could blow them out of the water today. It's the march of progress and that's not always a good thing.
The Moroccan bazaar aspect of Drucker's was what I found most interesting. Nobody who came with a well-thought-through list ever ended up with what they had decided upon. Everybody drove out of the lot with what Arnold had wanted to sell them and were happy with their choices. My brother and I bought the exact same stereo system because he'd convinced us these were absolutely the best components available at the price we could afford. I'm not an audiophile, which is probably good in this case, and it sounded great to me. It followed me to college, then home, then to my first apartment and when I decided to upgrade I went to Drucker's new store, which he had bought in a more suburban area to compete with the coming Crazy Eddie avalanche.
It was a real store, no cigar stand, and there were staff salesmen. But if you gave any of them the least bit of trouble about what they wanted you to buy, you got Arnold.
Once when my friend Jeff Pollitzer wanted to buy some new speakers for his car--yes, we used to install our own--we drove out to Drucker's. Pollitzer knew what he wanted. Arnold knew what he wanted to sell this kid. He brought out a box of the not-Jensen (or whatever brand Pollitzer had asked for) speakers, for more money, and leaned over confidentially.
"Channel Master," he said as if it was a state secret. "I know the name. You know the name."
We didn't know the name, and neither did anyone else. Not even Mr. and Mrs. Master.
Pollitzer ended up with a third choice, as I recall. He didn't buy the Channel Masters, but he didn't get what he'd come for, either. The speakers sounded fine and everybody was happy, but Arnold had clearly lost a step in the move and the store didn't last very long after The Wiz and Crazy Eddie started taking over the territory.
You couldn't even buy a Three Musketeers there. I mean, what's the point?
P.S. Opening Day was last week. You missed it. Luckily, there are 158 games left to be played.
Arnold was a great guy.! Loved him.I worked for Drucker's for 14 plus years.
Little Dave
Posted by: Dave | August 31, 2017 at 02:59 PM
I worked for Dr. Tech Service Centers in the 1980s. We sold service contracts through Druckers and had ALL of Druckers service business (which, of course, Arnold got a pretty fair cut). He was a showman to be sure - I showed up one time to make our weekly pickup of broken stuff and replace it with supposedly fixed stuff. And there was Arnold wheeling and dealing with boxing promoter Don King. I was no fan of boxing but at the time his high grey fro was recognizable to even Tibetan monks. Arnold barely knew me and mostly ignored me . . . Until the one time I went there as an actual customer. There were other salesman but I do believe that his sales ego absolutely needed to sell me something even though he knew that I got a lot of that stuff for free anyway. He approached me as if we were lifelong buddies . . . Tried his best to impress my girlfriend and sell me something - AnyThing! He failed and he never talked to me again. He's still a colorful character in my early working career. Godspeed there Arnold . . .
Posted by: Alan Fitton | March 10, 2021 at 07:44 PM