I never thought to mention this, but I was a boombox salesman from 1986 - 1990.
I worked for The Appliance Store, a Pittsburgh based retailer. I was fortunate enough to work in the audio department. Coolest job in the world for a 17 year old kid!
We sold home and car audio as well as portables.
Boombox brands I sold:
Panasonic
Sony
Aiwa
GE
Magnavox
Samsung
I can’t tell you how many RX-C38’s and RX-FW50’s we sold. Lots of the Sony Sound Rider radios as well. We were always so proud to sell Panasonic and Sony. Even in the decline era from ‘86 forward, both companies were still making solid, quality radios. They felt miles above the rest of what we carried.
I had never heard of Aiwa until we started carrying them. Day one we knew they were special and legit competitors to Panasonic and Sony. Excellent build quality, great features, and great sound. Off the top, I can’t remember any specific model numbers. I believe the first CD boombox we carried was an Aiwa and remember it looking and sounding beautiful. It was shocking to see a CD player you could carry around.
The Magnavox’s across the board were garbage but we sold a million of the D8443 and D8300. Some people just wanted the look, as the size and design was impressive. We would work hard to steer them into a smaller but better sounding Panasonic, Sony, or Aiwa, but many were enticed by the size and anesthetic of the big Magnavox’s…even though we demonstrated the sound quality of the good radios vs. Magnavox…many people would choose quantity over quality.
Unfortunately by the time we started carrying GE, they were worse than the Magnavox’s for build quality and sound quality. GE had a particularly low-end sub line of radios, which is what we carried. They looked and felt pervasively cheap. I remember feeling so disappointed that GE had stooped that low.
Lastly, the oddball. We actually carried Samsung boomboxes. They were just as terrible as the GE’s, maybe worse. Paper mache build quality and terrible sound. O how far Samsung as come!
We also sold “Walkmans”. Low to mid-end Panasonic and Sony, as well as the upper range of Aiwa’s. The Aiwa’s were particularly nice and sold well.
That’s my initial recollection of that time period. If anyone wants to know more, please ask…I’ll try to jog my memory.
I worked for The Appliance Store, a Pittsburgh based retailer. I was fortunate enough to work in the audio department. Coolest job in the world for a 17 year old kid!
We sold home and car audio as well as portables.
Boombox brands I sold:
Panasonic
Sony
Aiwa
GE
Magnavox
Samsung
I can’t tell you how many RX-C38’s and RX-FW50’s we sold. Lots of the Sony Sound Rider radios as well. We were always so proud to sell Panasonic and Sony. Even in the decline era from ‘86 forward, both companies were still making solid, quality radios. They felt miles above the rest of what we carried.
I had never heard of Aiwa until we started carrying them. Day one we knew they were special and legit competitors to Panasonic and Sony. Excellent build quality, great features, and great sound. Off the top, I can’t remember any specific model numbers. I believe the first CD boombox we carried was an Aiwa and remember it looking and sounding beautiful. It was shocking to see a CD player you could carry around.
The Magnavox’s across the board were garbage but we sold a million of the D8443 and D8300. Some people just wanted the look, as the size and design was impressive. We would work hard to steer them into a smaller but better sounding Panasonic, Sony, or Aiwa, but many were enticed by the size and anesthetic of the big Magnavox’s…even though we demonstrated the sound quality of the good radios vs. Magnavox…many people would choose quantity over quality.
Unfortunately by the time we started carrying GE, they were worse than the Magnavox’s for build quality and sound quality. GE had a particularly low-end sub line of radios, which is what we carried. They looked and felt pervasively cheap. I remember feeling so disappointed that GE had stooped that low.
Lastly, the oddball. We actually carried Samsung boomboxes. They were just as terrible as the GE’s, maybe worse. Paper mache build quality and terrible sound. O how far Samsung as come!
We also sold “Walkmans”. Low to mid-end Panasonic and Sony, as well as the upper range of Aiwa’s. The Aiwa’s were particularly nice and sold well.
That’s my initial recollection of that time period. If anyone wants to know more, please ask…I’ll try to jog my memory.
