Distributor Thunderball, NJ went from sales of $60 million to $6 million overnight in 2012 when hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast.
Four feet of water came gushing in the warehouse and immediately ruined $7 million in inventory and over $400,000 in computer equipment. There was no insurance and the distributor didn’t receive a penny of Federal or State assistance (despite years of trying).
To make matters worse, the metro NY and NJ area has lost more than half of its car audio dealers during that time and since. Many of those shops also suffered from Sandy’s damage plus a general decline in car audio.
“We had over 400 dealers,” said Thunderball’s President Joe Levy. Two hundred dealers “went belly up from Sandy with no help from the State,” he claimed. Today Thunderball works with 70 dealers.
The distributor in Avenel, NJ, founded 42 years ago, could have declared bankruptcy, but Owner Eli Levy refused. “We don’t go to sleep at night owing people money,” said Eli, Joe’s father.
So the day after the flood they set up a trailer in the parking lot to serve as an office and worked there for six months.
They began calling suppliers. “We asked our customers to bear with us. A lot of them helped us and gave us time to pay off the bills and shipped us new merchandise. Pioneer was one of the big ones. It was our biggest vendor. They said, ‘lets work on a new order and forget about the old until you are able to recover.’ They just shipped out new merchandise as if we were starting over again.” Thunderball was doing $21 million with Pioneer alone when Sandy hit.
Thunderball said it paid off all the vendors within a year. It also kept all 35 employees without lowering any wages. Eli Levy sold off some real estate to help pay back suppliers as the family owned two residential homes.
“FEMA came in here and looked and said, ‘There’s nothing we can do for you. We’re only supposed to help residential. Nothing to help business.’
Thunderball said its broker got rid of its flood insurance without telling them. There was a lawsuit that resulted in almost no compensation, Joe said.
Today Thunderball does about $12 million in sales, but the business has not yet returned to profitability.
“When you lose that kind of money it’s not easy,” said Joe. Thunderball is also in the DJ business, which is doing “okay.”
In addition to Pioneer, it carries Orion, Power Acoustik, Boss Audio, ADS iDatalink and Taramps–a leader in amplifiers in Brazil.
Its current strategy is to bring in more profitable brands from overseas like Taramps from Brazil and to capitalize on the Pro car audio market that is thriving in the New York area.
Joe the same thing happen to us in that same year before it hit you guys and we lost everything….but we still here…still struggling but the fact that you are alive and has the faith and courage to keep fighting….is already a positive actitud….hope you can go back to the same number like before or more…we are trying to do the same…..Since you lost a big amount it’s not easy, but were are still alive to keep trying and is the most important thing …to be alive…..keep doing the good job……
WE ARE HERE TO STAY , THANK YOU JOE AND ELY
Tell me again why the government doesn’t back up business ???
Congratulations in sticking it out. It’s so encouraging to hear of someone who has enough character and integrity to take care of their moral obligations no matter how bad the situation is. I am REALLY impressed that you paid off all your debtors, and I am sure they are to. Keep up the good work and never let compromise your integrity or character. You are good people.
Amazing joe. Kol Hakovode
Army strong . Never give up . United we stand ! Good job guys .
The fact that they kept going and also kept all their staff says a ton about this company. More should have that much passion and drive when it come to how they run their business. Bravo, Thunderball!