[5] Problems of the industry of which it was part included cutthroat price competition, which caused low profit margins, and slow consumer purchasing cycles, the latter because of "lack of fresh products.
"[1] In 1991, Newmark & Lewis made a costly error when the chain decided to buy one of its competitors, the New Jersey–based Brick Church Electronics.
[11] Adding its fourteen stores to the Newmark & Lewis fold overextended the company's finances at a time where the country was in an economic recession, and in August of that year came a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Approximately three weeks later, company president Ronald Fleisher went to the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas hoping to find someone interested in buying the struggling chain of stores.
[13] Among the many electronics chains Newmark and Lewis competed with were The Wiz,[6] 47th Street Photo (1992), Crazy Eddie, Trader Horn, Tops Appliance City,[1] and P.C.