Fretter

Fretter
Company type	Private
Industry	Retail (electronics and household appliances)
Founded	1950s in Detroit, Michigan, United States
Founder	Oliver "Ollie" Fretter
Fate	Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; stores closed by May 1996
Headquarters	Detroit, Michigan (later Brighton, Michigan; also Colorado during expansion), United States
Products	Electronics and major household appliances

Fretter was a retailer focused on electronics and major household appliances, established in Detroit during the 1950s by Oliver "Ollie" Fretter.

History

Oliver Fretter, the company's founder and public face, gained local recognition in Detroit throughout the 1970s and 1980s through television advertisements where he pledged, "I’ll give you five pounds of coffee if I can't beat your best deal. The competition knows me. You should too!" On occasions when he fulfilled this playful promise, customers received one-pound cans of coffee humorously rebranded with a "net weight — 5 pounds" label.

The firm compensated its sales team through a draw against commissions system; however, they earned spiffs rather than straight commissions. These spiffs were calculated based on profit margins and additional incentives instead of product price alone. Sales associates were encouraged to promote models unique to Fretter’s inventory that competitors did not carry, which avoided direct price comparisons and allowed for higher markups. Employees quickly learned that product prices ending with certain coin values indicated profitability: items priced with .97 endings yielded higher margins and better spiffs; those ending in .86 were moderately profitable; and products marked with .75 were promotional items offering minimal pay. Clearance merchandise featured repetitive decimal endings such as .66, .55, or .33, reflecting the item's age. Special order or difficult-to-find products carried prices ending in .71; while these paid similarly to .97 items, salespeople risked losses if stock was unavailable or delayed.

Fretter pursued a low-price positioning strategy by engaging external market research firms to compare prices against rivals. This pricing intelligence was accessible to sales staff at point-of-sale terminals. Despite these efforts, public perception remained unimpressed because the chain predominantly sold higher-end merchandise than its competitors but failed to emphasize this distinction in marketing campaigns. Although Fretter and its competitors offered the same brands, they seldom stocked identical models within those brands.

The company also operated DASH Concepts, a smaller chain specializing in mobile electronics installations such as car audio and security systems. Serving both Detroit and Cleveland markets, DASH Concepts maintained its primary warehouse in Dearborn, Michigan, housed within the same facility as one of Fretter's stores.

The Detroit electronics retail landscape shifted dramatically after Highland Superstores—the largest player—closed in 1993. Best Buy capitalized on this by expanding into regions previously dominated by Highland and other key competitors like Fretter. To counteract the rise of big-box superstores, Fretter aimed to transform itself into a similar format by acquiring employee-owned Fred Schmid stores, thereby gaining presence across mountain states. The company relocated its headquarters to Colorado to manage this integration. In 1993, Fretter further expanded by purchasing Silo Electronics—its primary rival at the time—which had struggled financially since the 1980s. This acquisition was intended to strengthen Fretter’s position against larger superstore chains such as Circuit City and Best Buy. Following the merger, Fretter became the second-largest retailer in this sector based on previous store revenues—trailing only Circuit City and surpassing Best Buy—but soon began shuttering overlapping locations where multiple stores operated within close proximity. Subsequently, corporate offices moved back to the Detroit vicinity in Brighton, Michigan. Although there were plans to rebrand under the name YES! (Your Electronics Superstore), this initiative never materialized; all outlets retained their original identities including Silo, Fretter, Fred Schmid, DASH Concepts, among others.

The financial burden from acquiring Silo—including its debt—and insufficient liquidity led Fretter into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, resulting in widespread store closures. All Silo Electronics locations had shut down by 1995, with every Fretter store ceasing operations by May 1996.

Oliver Fretter passed away on June 29, 2014, at age 91.

References