Second Crazy Deals opens at Weaver’s Corner
By CHUCK BALLARO
Not many people can afford $4,000 for a 70-inch big-screen TV or a new mattress set.
That’s where Crazy Deals Wholesale Superstore comes in. They have the name brand electronics, TVs, car stereo equipment, refrigerators and washers and dryers, which they sell for as much as 75 percent off.
How can they? Simple. They buy the scratch and dents from other companies and sell them at discounted prices.
After more than three years at their first location at 933 Pondella Road, owners Steve Cantrell and Mitch Alberio decided to open a second location at the Weaver’s Corner Shopping Center, which opened just last week and has more room than the original location.
Alberio was a sole owner when he ran into Cantrell, an entrepreneur who came in to buy a television and thought the business had potential. Before long they partnered up.
“He has a viable product. He sells items cheaper than anyone else,” Cantrell said. “They’re new, but they’re scratch and dents.”
During delivery, some items get scratched or the item didn’t fit or the buyer has remorse and decides not to buy it. Crazy Deals buys these items by the truckload and can offer as much as 75 percent off retail on appliances and 25 to 40 percent on TVs.The huge markdowns on TVs are no secret, as Alberio has sold more than 6,000 of them, mostly to area businesses, hotels and restaurants, from Beef O’Brady’s to Hooters and others throughout Lee County.
“We have a lot of people coming in and saying they bought that same TV for $4,000 that we sell for $2,000,” Alberio said. “We feel good about what we do; we save families a lot of money.”
Crazy Deals also takes in truckloads of other items such as bedding sets from big box and department stores, which would sell retail for $400 but go for $80.
When someone goes into a mattress store and sees a $3,600 set that they price at $888, that’s a big difference for families, Alberio said.
“With the economy the way it is, people need stores like this,” he said, adding bedding markups at some places can be “absurd.”
Crazy Deals is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4. For more information, call 321-1322.