"Hey Jerry, what's the story?" And if you happened to be living in the New York Metro area in the early seventies, you knew his answer. Cheap, discounted appliances, TV's and stereos-if you had a union card. For dressed in his bib overalls and yellow hard hat, Jerry was the spokesman for JG and E-the first warehouse store of its kind in New York. He would rant and rave, and at the end, he would say with open arms, "That's the story!" And it was so popular it was in jokes, stories, and people found ways to use it in their daily conversation. And since there were so many hard hats at the time, we didn't call us ourselves Conservatives then, but the Liberals were already called Liberals, he appealed to many. We were Americans.
Working on a loading dock in 1973, we all wore American Flags on our cars, shirts, and on the hard hats many wore. The Silent Majority, the Nixon Administration had labeled us, and when the hippies were against what America stood for, we fought back. Some physically, some financially, and many spiritually. "Love it or leave it!" And as the amount of import cars came in from Japan, they would even be forced to park the farthest away, if allowed to park in the lot at all. America was under siege and its greatness threatened, and true patriots were not going down without a fight. And having the ability to look back, the same group, basically unions, have gone from defending America, to being part of the root cause of its demise. In one generation, they have gone from conservative, to liberal. Not willing to sacrifice as many have in previous generations, but willing to have others suffer so they may enjoy the greatness America still has to offer. The generation that followed what Tom Brokaw has labeled "the Greatest Generation," is now the all about me generation. And many look around, without Jerry's iconic hard hat and bib overalls, and ask, "what's the story?"
But because of God's love for America, like the song says, "God shed His grace on thee," a reassurance in values via Christianity, also took place a the same time. Not concerned with who you are, were, or were going to be in society, God loved a generation, and still does today. Calvary Chapel, fathered by Chuck Smith, when confronted by his denomination, chose Jesus over their doctrines, and the rest is history. Teaching from the Bible verse by verse, he reached the same group of hippies, but showed them a better way-Jesus. He showed them via God's love, and without any membership cards, that no matter your position in life, without the peace only found in Jesus, you would be miserable. You may be miserable with a better job, bigger car, and nicer home, but still missing the message of salvation. Such is God's love, and truly where sin abounds, does God's grace abound even more. "That's the real story," Jerry.
Great nations are never conquered, but do rot from within. They conquer themselves, and as I watch the US of A rotting from within, we can only turn to God. And as He tells us in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "if we turn to Him, repent, and follow Him, He will save our land. Can we take a minute and let that sink in? Where politicians continue to encourage strife, where the media continues to exercise its power as the fourth estate, and as more continue to succumb to the ways of the world, God, who created it, is willing to save it and you if you turn to Him? My only question is, why aren't we? And why aren't you? Throughout history those nations that have honored God have been honored by Him. Just look at our history until recently? And we have the audacity to have to ask, what's the story?
In every great battle, there is a turning point. Let today be your turning point, and choose to serve God. Let Jesus into your life, and as our nation walks in the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil. God's peace will guide you through any and all situations. His love will guide you, and bless you in ways no discounted goods ever could. He will heal you individually, and then as a land. And restore us to our former greatness if only we turn to Him now.
Sorry Jerry, but you came and went. But other discount houses replaced you, until they came and went to. It's all about Jesus! "That's the story!"
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com
He strides across the home screen—a burly leprechaun in work shirt and blue hard hat. In an accent straight from the streets of New York he answers an off-camera voice that keeps asking: "So what's da story, Jerry?" The story is a hammering promotion for JGE (Jamaica Gas & Electric), a cut-rate appliance firm that sells only to union members, civil service employees and their families. As Jerry explains: "Know the model and number of the appliance you want; Jerry can get it for you wholesale." The voice concludes: "So that's da story, Jerry?" Roars back the pitchman: "That's the stawry!"
The commercial, which has been blasting from four New York City-area television stations 144 times a week, has made Jerry Rosenberg, 39, a local celebrity, renowned as the workingman's friend. It has transformed JGE, which Jerry owns with his brother Charlie, 44, from a run-of-the-crate appliance store into a wildly successful discount business that is expanding its unbuttoned merchandising methods far and wide. JGE's sales have gone from $1.8 million in 1971, its first year of discounting, to an expected $8 million this year. Operating on gross profit margins of about 12%, less than half as much as other appliance dealers, the Rosenbergs will post net earnings of about $250,000 from their single outlet.
The Rosenberg brothers are embarked on a new venture that could well balloon their business without risking a dime of their own money. They are licensing the JGE name to furniture and carpet retailers who want to go discount. The licensees pay an undisclosed percentage of their gross to JGE for its advertising and merchandising help; beyond that, they are on their own. So far, JGE has recruited eleven merchants in New York and New Jersey and is negotiating with 28 others whom the brothers expect to sign up this month. The Rosenbergs confidently figure to expand soon from coast to coast.
Big-time though it is, JGE sticks stubbornly to small-time style. Its "showroom" is a small, carton-crammed section of a warehouse in a sidestreet in Bayside, Queens. All sales are for cash. Except for the Rosenbergs, who sometimes help unload trucks, only part-time employees mind the store. They include moonlighting policemen, housewives and four or five high school basketball players from the Friends' Academy in Locust Valley, N.Y. Clerks make no effort to push a particular brand or persuade customers to buy a higher-priced item; they simply take orders. Yet JGE turns over $300,000 worth of stock about every two weeks.
Save a Bundle. The Rosenbergs saw the potential of reviving real discounting seven years ago, closed their regular appliance shop and set their sights on a specific target: union members and civil servants who are willing to travel 50 miles or more to save a bundle. Now buyers queue up to get in—and save. A 5,500-B.T.U. General Electric air conditioner goes for $149 at JGE v. $184.95 at Macy's; a compact portable dishwasher sells at JGE for $159 v. $199.95 at Macy's; a Sony portable color TV sells for $375 v. $470 at Bloomingdale's for the identical model.
