The Wiz, also known at times as Nobody Beats the Wiz, was a chain of electronic stores in the northeastern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, located primarily in
New York,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
.
History
The chain was founded by four brothers,
Stephan, Lawrence, Marvin, and
Douglas Jemal, in New York City in 1977.
Later, it officially changed its name to its well-known advertising slogan, "Nobody Beats The Wiz." During the early-to-mid 1990s "Nobody Beats The Wiz" was a major sponsor for many local NY sports franchises, including the
Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
,
Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
,
Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
,
New Jersey Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
,
Rangers,
New Jersey Devils and
Islanders, and in other areas, the Baltimore Orioles, and had a significant television advertising presence during local sports events, including the infamous
Jeffrey Maier Incident during Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS. It also sponsored teams outside the NY area such as the
Flyers,
Whalers and
Canadiens
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
. In 1996, the company threatened legal action against the
Major League Soccer franchise the
Kansas City Wiz
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...
, who were renamed the Wizards as a response.
In 1998, after having expanded from roughly 20 stores to over 80 stores in less than a year, the chain filed for
bankruptcy and was purchased by
Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
for $80 million. Cablevision eventually dropped the "Nobody Beats the Wiz" slogan. At its peak, the firm's revenues were $1.4 billion, with 2000 employees, operating 94 stores in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts. It also operated music-only stores in Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area.
The chain closed permanently in 2003. A Cablevision press release from February 16, 2003 stated: "Continuing to operate the stores is no longer a viable option for Cablevision as business conditions at the retailer eroded due to a weakened retail economy and other factors." Once the chain closed, one of its founders, Marvin Jemal, opened a new electronics chain, The Zone, in a number of former Wiz locations. The new chain, which heavily mentioned that it was from the founder of The Wiz, went out of business less than two years later.
In September 2003, competitor
P.C. Richard purchased The Wiz's assets mainly for its name.
In popular culture
In the ''
Seinfeld'' episode "
The Junk Mail
"The Junk Mail" is the 161st episode of the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It was the fifth episode of the ninth and final season. The episode aired on October 30, 1997. In this episode, Jerry is gifted a van by a childhood friend and cannot turn it d ...
",
Elaine Benes
Elaine Marie Benes () is a fictional character on the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend in the sitcom is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld, and she is also good friends with George Costanz ...
dates Jack, a man with whom she has a "love at first sight" encounter owing to his appearing as "The Wiz" in a "Nobody Beats the Wiz" commercial.
In the 2013 film
''The Wolf of Wall Street'',
Jordan Belfort
Jordan Ross Belfort (; born July 9, 1962) is an American entrepreneur, speaker, author, former stockbroker, and financial criminal. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection with stock-market manipulation and running ...
suggests answering a classified in the local paper looking for a stockboy at The Wiz. He is dissuaded by his wife.
In the 1999
Thomas Harris
William Thomas Harris III (born 1940/1941) is an American writer, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, the most notab ...
novel
Hannibal, Mason Verger recalls that at his family's Christian camp, they styled the Risen Christ as "the Riz" because "Nobody Beats the Riz".
In 2021,
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
broadcaster
John Sterling began to exclaim "Nobody beats the Rizz!" after a home run by first baseman
Anthony Rizzo
Anthony Vincent Rizzo (born August 8, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He is a three-time ...
.
The jingle is interpolated in the chorus of
Biz Markie
Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit in ...
's hit, "Nobody Beats the Biz". Biz substitutes "the Biz" for "the Wiz". The Wiz was rumored to have sued Biz Markie for infringement, but this was not the case.
In
Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock were an American hip hop duo from Harlem, New York City. Rob Base is the stage name of Robert Ginyard (b. 1967) and DJ E-Z Rock was Rodney "Skip" Bryce (1967–2014). They are best known for the 1988 hit " It Takes Two", ...
's 1988 hit "
It Takes Two," referring to his album, Base raps "Go to the Wiz and select it / Take it off the rack, if it's wack put it back."
In the episode "Veiled Threat" from the show ''
The King of Queens
''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, a total of nine seasons and 207 episodes. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who also served as the show ...
'', Doug (in a flashback to his wedding day) mentions wanting a wedding gift of a CD player from The Wiz.
In the season 12 premiere of the show ''
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Char ...
'', one of the characters' suggestions to switch back to their old bodies is to go to the store The Wiz to fix Dee's VCR, since they were watching the film
''The Wiz'' at the time.
In 1997 through 1998,
Mono Puff
John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York-based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar.
Commo ...
would occasionally perform a song called "I Beat the Wiz", used to introduce the members of the band.
References
External links
*
''Stereophile'': Cablevision Dumping ''Wiz'' Stores
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiz
Retail companies established in 1977
Retail companies disestablished in 2003
Retail companies established in 2004
Online retailers of the United States
Re-established companies
Consumer electronics retailers in the United States