Jerry Rosenberg

Who is Jerry Rosenberg?

Gerald "Jerry" Rosenberg was an American television direct-response advertisement salesperson most notable for promoting local businesses. His distinctive balding scalp, rotund body, thick Brooklyn accent and impassioned sales pitches made him a recognized television presence in the United States, primarily in the New York Metropolitan Area.

Rosenberg was the co-owner of JGE Appliances, a 40-store appliance chain, along with his brother Charlie. He began with one store in Bayside, Queens, and created what he once called a "$100 million empire." One of the stores was owned by them, and the other 30 were licensed.

Beginning in 1971, Rosenberg appeared in a series of advertisements for JGE that started with the off-screen line "What's the story, Jerry?" and ended with another off-screen line "So that's the story, Jerry," in which he would reply in his trademark accent "That's the story!"

Rosenberg ran the business with his brother Charles. In 1974, The New York Times said they "may well be the first appliance merchants who have made the media the message."

He presented himself as a friend of the working man, union members, civil service employees, and their families, who received discounts on all sales. JGE's sales increased from $2 million in 1971 to an estimated $50 million in 1974.