Tops Appliance City Inc history

Turchin remained there until 1979, when he more or less traded some New Brunswick real estate for a shopping center in nearby Edison that included a closed W.T. Grant’s.

Tops Appliance City reached $158 million in sales in 1985.

In 1987 it ranked 13th nationwide among major appliance retailers.

L.P., took a 49 percent stake in Tops Appliance City when Tops became a limited partnership in 1988.

By the time the fourth Tops Appliance City opened in Lakewood in May 1990, the company was selling 100, 000 color television sets, 104, 000 air conditioners, 90, 000 boom-box radios, and 75, 000 washing machines per year.

In 1991, Tops Appliance City’s last full year as a private company, revenues were $300.3 million and net income was a record $5.3 million.

To retire debt and raise capital for future expansion, Tops became a public company in August 1992, collecting about $24.4 million from the initial sale of its stock.

Tops Appliance City entered the Long Island market by opening its sixth store in Westbury in September 1993.

Turchin was said to have become more and more withdrawn since the death of one of his two sons in 1994.

Tops would eventually expand to eight locations in New Jersey and New York before he stepped aside in 1995.

In 1996, however, the Wiz charged Tops in federal court with falsely claiming that its prices were lower.

Tops cited higher costs for three stores that it closed last weekend and lower-than-expected sales in the fourth quarter of 1999.

In the summer of 2000, the house and an adjacent one belonging to car mogul Mike Maroone were purchased for a combined $17.1 million.