The Needle Doctor Jerold 'Jerry' Raskin R.I.P.*

Very, very sad news indeed!

Moderator note: Copyrighted material has been removed

 

They were a really good dealer. Knowledgeable and customer friendly.

 

This is just the brick and mortar, right? The website is still up.

 

This is old news. The website may still be up but I have read about people placing orders and not getting the product or a refund. There are many articles on the Internet about NeedleDoctor closing.
Here is one of a number of articles from 24 September 2019.

Needle Doctor going out of business

 

There was also a thread posted here that disappeared... which leads me to believe this one will too.

 

I saw that happen too. The latest issues of Stereophile have no ads for NeedleDoctor.

 

Well, that explains why they didn't answer their phone for the past couple days. They really should have a notice on the website.

 

I mean, it says it right in the article: Raskin confirmed Monday that he shuttered the shop’s Excelsior Boulevard storefront in recent weeks and was no longer fulfilling orders placed through his website, needleddoctor.com.

 

Reading this, and assuming everything here is accurate, Jerry's shuttering his business shows great wisdom.

When I had my hi-fi store in La Crosse, I had to deal with coming back from a debilitating illness and the deaths of all my immediate family members from 2001 to 2004. Life dealt me a kick in the nuts. I never came back with either the energy or the enthusiasm necessary to be successful in retail. I tried to hang on but finally faced the facts in 2006. I closed my store. If I'd done that in 2004, when I knew the end was inevitable, it would have saved me at least $100,000.

I found it really hard to let go. It's much harder to close a store than it is to run one.

 

Well that sucks.

I wish Jerry a full and speedy recovery.

Hopefully he'll sell the biz to someone like him who can serve the audiophile community well.

 

I'm sorry but leaving the website up and allowing orders, which will go unfulfilled, to be made, is unacceptable no matter what he's going through. I loved that business so it's a big loss to the audio community but take the website down.

 

I feel bad that the owner was having to deal with those health issues - I had no idea.

I agree that this is a big loss for the audio community. Needle Doctor had a solid reputation, and I felt confident buying from them. Is there another online vendor of audio gear that's comparable to Needle Doctor?

 

Mr Raskin may have thrown in the towel but leaving the website up amounts to disgraceful behaviour. If he doesn't know how to change it to displaying a closed message hire a tech with all the money he says he has made! If you have to end a business do it properly with integrity and not just lock up the shop and run. This is not the first time I have seen this happen and personal and health issues are no excuse even if sympathy is in order.

 

Needle doctor was the only online dealer who would always make an effort to answer my technical turntable questions about a turntable that I didn’t buy from them. They were A1 in my book.

 

I say, give the guy some space. He wanted to be done with it, the market reacted by ordering more from him. If "the market" knows what "it's" doing, Needle Doctor will be back under new management, having given Raskin the "respect" he needs to move on.

The world is not one big mall, not everybody guarantees a "complaint department". Exercise a little empathy before you use words like "disgrace", as if you had some ownership of his situation.

 

Audio Advisor, Inc. is a company that I have purchased from for 40 years. They do not have quite the selection that NeedleDoctor had.
Music Direct | Vinyl Records, Turntables, High End Audio Equipment & Accessories is another reputable company. I am sure that others can add to the list.

 

WOW! May you continue to have excellent health and never have any issues fall upon you.

 

Just pulled up the website a minute ago. Seems to be fully searchable and functional (didn't try ordering anything, though.)

No excuse for leaving it up for the unwary.

Dave Mac

 

Steady on, guys. Most small retailers don't run their own websites and rely upon vendors to act upon their requests, it can take a little while for those people to do what they are asked.

 

This also could be a quiet closing. Needle Doctor still has inventory on hand. I could see them accepting Internet orders on what is in stock and voiding the sales that aren't.

There is so much about this situation that is unknown. Discretion would be proper.

 

One would think Needle Doctor would have some value and could be sold.

 

The value of the business and trade name will steadily decline the longer the business remains closed and unfulfilled orders pile up.

 

That really stings. I lived about a block from their original location in college and remember well spending a lot of time in the shop. Lo and behold, 20+ years later when I would visit the newer location, there were some of the same people there. Good folks, good service, and always took good care of their customers in my experience. Hate to see them go, but I understand why Jerry Raskin might have felt like he needed to reshuffle his priorities.

 

That's too bad. I bought quite a few things there. Hope the owner's health and quality of life improves.

 

Sad.