The Sharper Image

The Sharper Image is a specialty retailer known for selling gadgets for personal use. These stores were very popular in the 1980s, drawing crowds so big that customers had to wait in lines for an hour or more to get inside the store to browse. The economic downturn of the 2000s had fewer customers thinking of their image. On February 20, 2008 The Sharper Image filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Sharper Image company originally started out as a catalog that sold jogging watches. After Richard Thalheimer made his first million dollars after two years, he decided to create the Sharper Image Brand. The Sharper Image went out of business as a brick and mortar retailer, but now consists of a catalog, and a website. http://www.sharperimage.comThe Sharper Image also has an eBay operation.

In 2007, The Sharper Image partnered with Donald Trump to sell and brand of steaks exclusively at their stores. The steaks were branded "Trump Steaks" and were purchased from Buckhead Beef and priced higher. Package prices ranged from $99 to $1,000 and the steaks were mailed in a package of dry ice. Trump Steaks can now only be bought online.