type private fate reopened as j & r express and later closed founded 1971 ; 45 years ago 1971 founders joseph friedman rachelle friedman defunct april 9 2014 ; 2 years ago 2014 04 09 headquarters new york city new york number of locations 2 products retail electronics website jr.com j & r was an online electronics and music retailer based in new york city . it had a well known retail location on park row across from new york city hall for 43 years and is currently being renovated in preparation for a reopening at a later unannounced date . 1 2 j & r stands for the founders joe and rachelle friedman who established the company in 1971 after emigrating separately from israel as young children . 3 4 the heavily trafficked store had expanded from selling lps to eventually encompassing j & r music world and j & r computer world selling everything from blu ray disc players to the latest electronic gadgets . 5 j & r also had a location at columbia university which closed in the fall of 2002 . 6 j & r later opened a j & r express at the bottom level of macy s herald square 7 in 2006 8 9 10 and which was later closed in 2012 . 11 the company briefly operated a store under the name j & r express which opened in the new york city flagship location of century 21 in november 2014 . sometime between may and june 2016 j & r ceased their business relationship with century with j & r express being last recorded on the century 21 website in an internet archive snapshot of march 14 12 and in the snapshot of the j & r website of may 5 . 13 by june 2 all mentions of j & r express had been removed from both websites . 14 15 contents 1 history 2 online sales 3 summerfest 4 see also 5 references history edit in 1971 20 year old newlyweds joseph and rachelle friedman started j & r as a small consumer electronics store selling stereos and television sets in a 500 square foot store front at 33 park row 16 17 the couple saw it as a side project selling tvs and stereos out of a 500 square foot store as rachelle studied at polytechnic university in brooklyn . 18 after customers started to ask about obtaining music to play on their new stereos j & r started to carry records and tapes . computers digital accessories and other electronics products followed . as it grew j & r expanded into a series of adjacent storefronts on park row so that the store stretched for a nearly a full block by the mid 1990 s with each storefront providing entry to a different department . the large overall store was increasingly successful and crowded with customers . a mail order division was started in 1974 . 19 it was supported by a company owned warehouse located in maspeth in queens . internet orders were later fulfilled from this location . in 2006 j & r opened j & r express a 3 500 square foot store within a store inside the macy s herald square store . the store carried mp3 players digital cameras computers cds dvds and cell phones . the store also accepted the macy s credit card as payment . the store was quietly closed in 2012 . macy s previously tried to sell consumer electronics at the same location with other outside vendors twice in the previous decade . 20 in 2013 j & r consolidated into two buildings ceding storefronts to new tenants and transforming into a vertical store . 21 after a disappointing 2013 holiday season j & r settled about 15 million in outstanding vendor claims in february 2014 . 22 on april 9 2014 j & r closed its park row store with a redevelopment plan to be announced . 23 24 25 26 remaining merchandise were liquidated through a two day auction in the middle of may 2014 . 27 28 the massive 171 000 sq ft company owned warehouse facility in maspeth has been listed on the real estate market since october 2013 . 29 30 in addition to left over merchandise warehouse and other processing equipment used by the company were auctioned off in late may and again in june . 31 32 on april 25 2014 j & r s web site stated that the owners plan to rebuild this location into what we hope will be an unprecedented retailing concept and social mecca also stating that they look forward to sharing more details of these changes in the coming months . the page included an artist s conception of what the location would look like . 33 on august 12 2014 j & r announced that they plan to open a 1 500 square foot j & r express store inside the flagship location of the century 21 department store in manhattan by october 2014 . 34 35 twice reported that the new store would have a format similar to that used by the store that was within macy s herald square store and which closed in 2012 . 36 billboard magazine reported that j & r plans to sell audio and video hardware computers and electronics along with some music including vinyl and movies . 37 j & r express at century 21 opened in november 2014 . 38 this too closed sometime during may 2016 . meanwhile some of the buildings on park row that formerly housed j & r were demolished starting in january 2016 . 39 other buildings which were leased were being redeveloped primarily for residential housing . 40 41 in april 2016 it was reported in the new york real estate press that j & r filed for a building permit to build a 53 story residential building on the demolished site . 42 online sales edit with the main j & r location just a block from the world trade center site the company lost millions of dollars of electronic equipment due to the september 11 2001 attacks . 6 but the company s growing online sales helped sustain the company . j & r has an amazon marketplace agreement with amazon.com to sell merchandise through that channel in addition to its own online store . 43 by may 6 2014 the firm had closed down its website 44 45 but continued to sell through amazon.com and ebay . j & r appeared to be liquidating its existing inventory via these marketplaces and did not show significant stock in major categories such as digital cameras . both j & r storefronts on ebay and amazon had ceased to offer any merchandise for sale by june 2014 after the series of liquidation auctions 31 had occurred at both the former manhattan store and the maspeth warehouse in queens . summerfest edit since the summer of 2002 j & r had sponsored an annual music festival in city hall park featuring r & b and other performers . in june 2007 summerfest performers included mario bobby valentino tank carl thomas collie buddz and canadian brass . 46 47 see also edit b & h photo video references edit j and r press release . retrieved 24 july 2015 . jr.com about j & r . archived from the original on february 5 2012 . retrieved february 5 2012 . cs1 maint unfit url link rosenberg joyce m. september 4 2003 . small businesses struggle to recover . associated press . damien cave august 28 2004 . who s afraid of the big bad elephant . new york times . jr.com j & r in the news . archived from the original on may 2 2013 . retrieved may 2 2013 . cs1 maint unfit url link a b iosifescu alice february 11 2003 . j & r computer world departs ; campus location is still empty . columbia spectator . cxxvii 16 . p. 1 . macy s our stores events events archived may 15 2006 at the wayback machine . fleming kirsten august 21 2006 . j & r store to open in macy s flagship . new york post . lazarowitz elizabeth august 22 2006 . j & r joins forces with macy s . new york daily news . lazarowitz elizabeth august 24 2006 . a grand welcome for j & r . new york daily news . o heir jeff august 6 2012 . j & r closes j & r express . dealerscope . tech . century 21 . archived from the original on 2016 03 14 . cs1 maint unfit url link j & r express now at century 21 . j & r. archived from the original on 2016 05 05 . cs1 maint unfit url link tech . century 21 . archived from the original on 2016 06 13 . cs1 maint unfit url link park row redevelopment . j & r. archived from the original on 2016 06 02 . cs1 maint unfit url link luhby tami february 3 2001 . the hits keep coming j & r music & computer world thrives by satisfying its customers . newsday . j & r electronics inc. history . miller stuart 2013 10 23 . j & r alters the blocklong layout it s known for . the new york times . issn 0362 4331 . retrieved 2016 09 11 . dioguardi kara june 15 1996 . the product s in the mail started as a sideline j & r s mail order division has sent sales soaring . billboard magazine . p. jr 10 . wolf alan august 6 2012 . j & r closes macy s express shop for now . twice . miller stuart october 23 2013 . j & r alters the blocklong layout it s known for . new york times . covert james april 11 2014 . the music stops for j & r on park row . new york post . furman phyllis april 9 2014 . j & r shutting down new york city electronics store . new york daily news . swarns rachel l. april 13 2014 . saying farewell to a business that turned into an identity . new york times . southall ashley april 10 2014 . j & r closes manhattan store for a redesign . new york times . kangas chaz april 11 2014 . j & r music abruptly closes its doors . village voice . bashan yoni may 13 2014 . inventory going going gone at j & r in manhattan new york institution is holding public auctions to clear its final remaining stock . wall street journal . wolf alan may 12 2014 . j & r auctioning off inventory . twice . premier 1 story distribution facility 171 000 sq ft ; 58 75 59 21 queens midtown expressway maspeth ny 11378 . pinnacle realty . archived from the original on 2013 10 30 . retrieved 2014 06 22 . 59 21 queens midtown expressway maspeth ny 11378 available for sale . loopnet . retrieved 2014 06 22 . a b public auction sale huge quantity warehouse & shipping supplies maspeth ny . auctionzip . archived from the original on 2014 06 21 . retrieved 2014 06 22 . exec office furniture workstations equipment supplies ; monday june 23 2014 at 11 30 am ; 59 21 queens midtown expressway maspeth ny 11378 . asm auctioneers inc. retrieved 2014 06 22 . jr.com park row redevelopment . archived from the original on april 25 2014 . retrieved july 24 2015 . cs1 maint unfit url link covert james august 13 2014 . iconic j & r to re open as boutique inside century 21 . new york post . jr.com j & r forms partnership