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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;NJDrew, post: 1543398, member: 41093&quot;]Hi folks, this is Andrew Auletta.&nbsp; I am the CEO of Brent-Krueger LLC.&nbsp; I just now saw this thread, and figured I&#039;d update everyone.&nbsp; In business since 1999, Brent-Krueger grew to be one of the largest coin supply dealers on the internet.&nbsp; Our sales channels included the internet, mail order, and a walk-in dealer showroom and retail outlet in NJ.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Since the economy &quot;bagged out,&quot; we saw the supply industry as a whole decline.&nbsp; Much had to do, as some forum members have suggested, with many collectors moving to slabbed coins.&nbsp; Also, after a brisk business during the Statehood quarter program, many of the newer collectors began to grow weary of collecting with the inception of the National Parks series.&nbsp; They began to question whether, or not, the coins they were collecting will really appreciate in value anytime soon.&nbsp; Of course, we all know the answer to that question.&nbsp; Additionally, with the spike in bullion prices, we saw many of our customers selling off their gold and silver collectibles, since in many cases the coins were worth more in bullion value than they were worth as collectible coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>While it is true that we sometimes put money into the business to improve cash-flow, at no time did the business lose money, even at the end.&nbsp; Declining sales forced us to reduce the staff and I found myself working harder and making less.&nbsp; After speaking with the CPA that handled our business accounting and the CPA that handles our tax accounting, and agonizing since the latter part of November, I decided that closing the business was our best option.&nbsp; This was a purely-economic decision.&nbsp; Without knowing when business would return to pre-recession levels, and whether the coin collecting hobby would recover, I felt my involvement was too much to warrant the money I made after the employees and supply manufacturers were paid.</p><p><br /></p><p>I appreciate all of the business the CoinTalk community sent my way over the years.&nbsp; The kindness of our customers is what kept us in business all of these years.&nbsp; In closing the business, we kept our promise of customer privacy and didn&#039;t sell any of our customer lists or any other customer-related information.</p><p><br /></p><p>As I write this, I&#039;m sitting on my &quot;lazy-boy&quot; recliner, with the family dog at my side.&nbsp; I&#039;ll be relaxing for awhile, before I decide what the next chapter will be.&nbsp; I wish everybody happiness and good health (and good collecting, of course).</p><p><br /></p><p>--Andrew Auletta[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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