RIP: Radio Shack

[TCLGirls]

The bankruptcy announcement is no surprise. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of its shares on Monday. And RadioShack (RSHC)workers have told CNNMoney that some locations have already been converted to clearance stores.

It's been a long, slow decline for RadioShack. Losses have been mounting, and in its latest quarter sales plunged 16% from a year ago.

RadioShack declares bankruptcy - Feb. 5, 2015

[poncabare]

place is always way over priced anyways.

[The Porn Nerd]

That's a shame.
Now where will I go for my giant packs of batteries?

[L-Pink]

I'm currently in their management trainee program. Does anyone know if my courses are transferable to Burger King?

[pornmasta]

too bad, there was a radio shack in my town (tandy) before they left the country, now there are down for good...
I guess that internet killed them for good...

[GFED]

Haven't been to a Radio Shack since I bought a TRS-80 there. Good times.

[MiamiBoyz]

Radio Shack was the mecca for nerds when I was a kid growing up in a small town in the mid-west. They had all sorts of electronic kits you could put together and you could always count on them for any resistor that you needed.

Also loved that free monthly battery club they had. I could always get a fresh 9 volt for the transistor radio!

My first computer was a TRS-80 that I lusted after for months and would ride my bike up to play with at the store until I finally could afford one of my very own.

[Bladewire]

So many good memories @ Radio Shack growing up! I got my first soldering iron there, first circuit board, first DC motors, and finally, got my first robot there! It was a Hero1 robot kit. I put it together myself, the whole thing, then programmed it key by key in machine language opcodes. I paid and extra $500 or so to get the version with an arm. Pics below are of the Hero1, not my Hero1 though. Good times @ Radio Shack R.I.P.

[LeRoy]

In a pinch. Radio shack has always been good to me.

[Horatio Caine]

I still have gift cards. Better hurry.

[TheSquealer]

It's amazing they lasted as long as they did. They have been a shitty, ill defined and unfocused business for a couple decades now.

[brassmonkey]

fry's electronics killed them

[Bladewire]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

fry's electronics killed them

Fry's is the electronics Mecca !

[Robbie]

Guess they didn't get the memo about the economy being great and everything.

I was there a week ago grabbing a coax digital cable and the guys working there told me the bad news.

A lot of people are going to be out of work.

[kane]

I graduated high school in June of 1989 at the time I was working part time at a small local convenience store. That November I started working at Radio Shack as a part time seasonal person and the manager hired me on a full a time employee in January. I worked there for close to two years while writing part time for a music magazine which eventually would become my full time job.

Having worked there I have to admit I am shocked they made it this long.

[fappingJack]

no more overpriced electronic devices

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by kane

I graduated high school in June of 1989 at the time I was working part time at a small local convenience store. That November I started working at Radio Shack as a part time seasonal person and the manager hired me on a full a time employee in January. I worked there for close to two years while writing part time for a music magazine which eventually would become my full time job.

Having worked there I have to admit I am shocked they made it this long.

hahahaha me 2! 4 years college real world

[AdultKing]

Radio Shack was called Tandy here, it carried Radio Shack products.

It was always the most expensive electronics store but did sell the successful TRS-80 series of computers from the mid 70s.

The brand was taken over by Dick Smith Electronics which went on to get out of hobbyist electronics and focus on consumer products.

[iamBoogieman]

radioshcok is cool.

[sandman!]

sad day

[rogueteens]

was radioshack called tandy in other countries? We had tandy here but they disappeared years back

[ErectMedia]

Radio Shack is similar to Ace Hardware. When ya need someone behind the counter that knows what the fuck their talking about both good stores. Price wise both can be trumped by competitors but ya usually lose the experienced salesperson that both of those stores tend to hire.

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by ErectMedia

Radio Shack is similar to Ace Hardware. When ya need someone behind the counter that knows what the fuck their talking about both good stores. Price wise both can be trumped by competitors but ya usually lose the experienced salesperson that both of those stores tend to hire.

ace has some specialty items that big box lowes and home depot do not

[beerptrol]

Yep I remember the TRS-80 and being able to buy electronic parts needed to build shit
And if I recall that's where we got our first Satellite System

[MakeMeGrrrrowl]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

That's a shame.
Now where will I go for my giant packs of batteries?

Buy plug in vibes and you eliminate the need. =)

[AdultKing]

Originally Posted by rogueteens

was radioshack called tandy in other countries? We had tandy here but they disappeared years back

Yeah it was Tandy here too.

[F-U-Jimmy]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

That's a shame.
Now where will I go for my giant packs of batteries?

The Home Depot they are cheaper there

[F-U-Jimmy]

Originally Posted by AdultKing

Yeah it was Tandy here too.

Tandy used to be in the UK, haven't been back for 20 years so not sure if they are still there or not ?

[F-U-Jimmy]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

ace has some specialty items that big box lowes and home depot do not

But at the end of the day AMAZON beats them all. You can get almost anything delivered to you in two days And its free-ish if you pay the $99 annual fee for Prime membership. Soon all big box stores will be online following Amazons lead THD is already up and running SLOWES are not far behind.

[hadden]

I miss radio shack, I think they renamed it circuit city up here.

[slapass]

Originally Posted by TheSquealer

It's amazing they lasted as long as they did. They have been a shitty, ill defined and unfocused business for a couple decades now.

My thoughts exactly.

[iSpyCams]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

That's a shame.
Now where will I go for my giant packs of batteries?

Costco works for me.

[Barry-xlovecam]

WHO?

RadioShack files for bankruptcy, sell up to 2,400 stores | Reuters

Who will buy their stores will be interesting. They do have premium locations (leased).

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by Barry-xlovecam

WHO?

RadioShack files for bankruptcy, sell up to 2,400 stores | Reuters

Who will buy their stores will be interesting. They do have premium locations (leased).

Sprint and Amazon have both been in talks to acquire a portion of their stores. There's also the chance of rebranding / cobranding some of the existing stores with Sprint.

[Tom_PM]

I was a store manager for many years out of a decade long stint with the company. Back in the mid 90's handheld cell phones were getting really popular and going through some inventory I found one model was reduced so far in value that I could give it away free as long as the person signed up for service. Since that wasn't fully legal, I had to charge 1 penny for the phones. For 2 months I contacted every region and got every remaining phone that was complete enough to sell into my tiny store. Had back to back 50% sales gains and the awards to prove it.

Ironically, that was as close to anything else that signaled the death of the stores. The move towards pure services instead of products was too enticing for the idiots at the top. We did sprint long distance signups, credit card signups, extended warranty sales, DSS dish sales, Dish network, Primestar, oh and don't forget pagers and ADT alarm system.. All of these are services that you make pure profit from because you don't have to carry a single piece of inventory when you get right down to it. Sign people up for the service and you made money. Stupid, stupid people.

The core of that company was always the small pieces and parts that you don't get with your name brand product. Then RS started trying to carry name brands too. Terrible product buyers never made a good buy, not even once! From square zero, RS could not sell name brands because their own cost to the stores was higher than the competitor was selling to the consumer. As soon as shit would come in with an IBM, RCA or other label, it was a loss leader! Stupid, stupid people.

The manager trainee course used to be highly valued by head hunters from other companies too. As silly as it sounds, the employees all had to pass certifications so they could hold a real conversation with customers and actually help them buy what they needed. When Best Buy came to my home area for the first time, the stores were flooded by BB managers looking to recruit!

This is what they get for hiring a CEO from outside the company back in the early 90's.
I recommend Tandy's Money Machine for anyone interested in other early day info about the cash cow of Tandy corp. Did you know that some of the first "Tandy" computers were literally purchased IBM's with the case changed? People did time in jail for that but it was gutsy shit that made them who they were. Was a good company for a long time. RIP

[tommy730]

Not surprised about this at all. They tried to maintain being a boutique electronics store in 2015 while nearly every product they carried was 20-50% cheaper purchased online.

Radioshack's customers were dumbasses who didn't bother doing any research and pricing around, impatient folks who needed it on the spot, or people who were desperate to purchase something in the last minute.

If they were smart they would've began stocking refurbished/used electronics with deep discounts or lower-end or imports if they couldn't get better deals with their volume.

[2MuchMark]

That's too bad, but surprised here either.

I used to LOVE Radio Shack when I was a kid. I used to go every Friday night after school to play and learn to program a TRS-80 that they had on display there. People used to gather around looking at this nerdy kid and that new fangled contraption.

I used to build electronic kits of all kinds and Radio Shack was usually my first stop for all the parts I needed. I think I must have built over 50 things between the ages of 8 and 12.

Thanks for the fun Radio Shack! I will miss you!

[michael.kickass]

Surprised but not really sad.

[candyflip]

They're not going to be gone completely. Does anyone read?

[ITraffic]

thanks again, internet.

[SBJ]

Originally Posted by tommy730

Not surprised about this at all. They tried to maintain being a boutique electronics store in 2015 while nearly every product they carried was 20-50% cheaper purchased online.

This is why I haven't been in one in many years. Some say it's sad to see them go but I'm happy that they will re-purpose a lot of them with Amazon. Maybe I'll finally step in one of their past stores.

I'm all for brick and mortar family businesses but I'm not going to go to a franchise store that charges 50% more (sometimes even more).

[CourtneyR]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

That's a shame.
Now where will I go for my giant packs of batteries?

Costco...

[ITraffic]

they made the model work in canada so who knows what will happen The Source (retailer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Wendy-Etology]

Thank god the few times i ever bought anything there my things would stop working or would break

[Robbie]

I never noticed Radio Shack being a "boutique" store.

Matter of fact, here in recent years...they were trying to do what the market called for: selling mobile devices. I bought CM's last phone there for a lot cheaper than at the Verizon store.

And a lot of y'all are too young to remember when we all would have to upgrade our car stereos. Cars in the 1970's & early 1980's usually came with a pretty shitty sounding factory stereo.

But you could always go to radio shack and get a good cheap stereo, equalize, power booster, some 6x9's, and wire to hook your ride up and make that kick drum on AC/DC's "Back In Black" sound like it was in concert.

My dad built my first P.A. and light show for my band in 1978 with 15" speakers from Radio Shack (he built the cabinets for them to go in) for the P.A. and an empty electronics box, switches, and outlets for the light show.

It was always the cheap place to go.

And as I said...even in recent years it had some pretty good deals. And was damn convenient as opposed to having to drive out to a Best Buy. It was always so much faster to run into Radio Shack and grab a HDMI cable or a digital cable, etc. and be back home in 5 minutes.

[BlackCrayon]

Originally Posted by ITraffic

they made the model work in canada so who knows what will happen The Source (retailer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't see how they will last though. Their electronics are higher priced than most places. even futureshop and bestbuy can't compete with online and are closing stores. the only good thing about the source is the vast selection of electronics accessories.

[Phoenix]

I worked at a Radio Shack after University. I was travelling around out west and landed in a little town called Canmore. Met the owner of the store...gives me a job on the spot and at the end of the day hands me a set of keys and tells me when to open and close. After that i really only saw him for pay or when he brought in more stuff...lol

[Barry-xlovecam]

Originally Posted by candyflip

Sprint and Amazon have both been in talks to acquire a portion of their stores. There's also the chance of rebranding / cobranding some of the existing stores with Sprint.

I read about the Sprint thing come to think of it ... Amazon seems unlikely ... When you declare bankruptcy your leases are usually invalidated, by the lease terms themselves or by the Bankruptcy Court, subject to a stay of execution ... Are the leases part of an REIT? Sell that sukka short

[Elli]

Originally Posted by Tom_PM

I was a store manager for many years out of a decade long stint with the company. ...

This is what they get for hiring a CEO from outside the company back in the early 90's.
I recommend Tandy's Money Machine for anyone interested in other early day info about the cash cow of Tandy corp. Did you know that some of the first "Tandy" computers were literally purchased IBM's with the case changed? People did time in jail for that but it was gutsy shit that made them who they were. Was a good company for a long time. RIP

Great story! I didn't know that about Tandy's. My friend in grade 8 had one. I miss the Radio Shack that was, but I think it was a function of the times and not really applicable today, like Blockbuster.

[Harmon]