A eulogy for RadioShack, the panicked and half-dead retail empire

[Donald]

I was spoiled. I grew up going to the Newark Electronics store on west Madison Ave. in Chicago. Then to the store on Pulaski when they moved. Never left without something I did not go there to get.

Allied Electronics on south Western Ave was a distant 2nd. Their saving grace was they had JBL speakers you could see and hear. Got my first pair, Dorian S12, there in the late 60s. Still have them. In the middle of my avatar.

RS, more times than not, has disappointed. Need 4 of something and they only have 3.

I have the multi hundred page Newark catalog and order via the website. Just have to plan ahead.

[Mr. Widget]

RS, more times than not, has disappointed. Need 4 of something and they only have 3.

Isn't that the truth! Not to mention the quality of what they stock is often substandard.


Widget

[SEAWOLF97]

Isn't that the truth! Not to mention the quality of what they stock is often substandard.


Widget

the issue that I had with them was ....get a part last week , it's OK ..made in Korea. Got back next month to get another of the same , same package , SKU , price , and now it's Ch1na made crap.

Could never rely on their sources. Especially receivers. Oh, and "look alike" styling. I see so many people pick up late 60's/Pioneer looking speakers and get excited until they get flipped over and the RS label is viewed . Excitement gone ... back to shelf. Same thing with Minimus 7 speakers. Japan made ones were very nice , then production sourced from Malaysia ...identical price/looks but not sound.

Have never heard, but the Mach 2 speakers got good reviews from persons whose expertise I could not verify.

And those "big deal" free batteries ... lasted a day or so. In the end -now- , I don't know who their target customers are

[Donald]

Isn't that the truth! Not to mention the quality of what they stock is often substandard.

Widget

Well, they actually had what I needed today! A small project box and a DPST switch. The inventory count stickers on every thing was ominous, though.

There was some guy that looked corporate talking to a guy in a white lab coat. Did not catch any of their conversation. Shutdown team?

[Allanvh5150]

In the 70's these types of stores were great. However, Ebay now is a treasure trove for the constructor.

Allan.

[SEAWOLF97]

.

The NYSE has suspended trading RadioShack stock and was preparing to delist it as rumors of a major sell off for the electronic company loomed.

RadioShack has lost 90 percent of its value in a year and its stock was trading at .22 cents a share Monday night.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/02/02/r...half-of-chain/

[gferrell]

I hear Amazon may take some.

[SEAWOLF97]

RadioShack employees: Tales from the walking dead

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/05/news/companies/radioshack-stores/

[DavidF]

Most businesses have a life cycle. I am afraid this is it for Radio Shack. A name I have known for most of my own life.

[hjames]

Most businesses have a life cycle.
I am afraid this is it for Radio Shack. A name I have known for most of my own life.

Its sad, but we've already lost Lafayette, Allied, and a host of others ...
who is left to fill the gap?
(And I don't mean selling cell phones)

[Ducatista47]

O

Its sad, but we've already lost Lafayette, Allied, and a host of others ...
who is left to fill the gap?
(And I don't mean selling cell phones)

Newark, Digikey, Mauser, Parts Express, Madisound; and the Allied Industrial catalog still lives on. Not the same owners as Radio Shack, obviously. It was sold a lifetime ago when Tandy wanted to concentrate on the "real" opportunity. Not brick and mortar but that was part of the problem.

The other local electronics component stores are long gone here, and missed by me. There were two really fine ones, both good sized. Warren Radio and Klaus Radio. The latter was where I last held a paper Allied catalog. New Yorkers might remember the neighborhood demolished to build the World Trade Center. That was the Mother Lode.

I think things are a little better in some Japanese cities. A recent film about Sakuma shows him visiting a fourth floor shop selling nothing but vacuum tubes. He was looking for a tube to build his latest all transformer wonder around. He reverently held one candidate uttering "KEN-RAD ". Off topic but for the curious, all things Sakuma : http://www10.big.or.jp/~dh/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6PzVebMjCDw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TsaH1ljkKu0

The best for last, the tube store about 1:30 in. This store might drop your jaw involuntary.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n_b4GpqNB7k

OK, just shoot me now, totally off topic but this proves all our stuff is not being hoarded by wealthy Far East collectors. Some of it is being hoarded by old widdows of modest means. "Western Electric Collector." When they get some of it on a TV show they actual play the big dogs. It's like The Price Is Right or something and next thing a big board is flashing seventy two million yen. Only on Japanese TV. I thought I was going to die laughing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NVgteF6r33g

[tomt]

New Yorkers might remember the neighborhood demolished to build the World Trade Center.

That was the Mother Lode.

The six-square-block area in lower Manhattan became a bazaar of tubes,
knobs, hi-fi equipment and antenna kits.
It was the largest collection of radio and electronics stores in the world.

http://www.qcwa.org/radio-row.htm

http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound....radiorow.html

http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON031.htm


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might be awhile, before RS, completely vanish ...



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off topic -

[SEAWOLF97]

I seem to remember that Acoustic Research had some type of demo store in NYC ..some place glitzy ?


pretty good WSJ article about all this.
Strategic Confusion Put RadioShack at Mercy of Lenders

http://www.wsj.com/articles/strategic-confusion-put-radioshack-at-the-mercy-of-lenders-1423164004

[hjames]

VERY interesting article

Bloomberg reported that RadioShack was pursuing a bankruptcy plan, which would see it sell half its stores to Sprint, a few others possibly to Amazon and boarded windows for the rest. The WSJ previously reported that the price tag was in the $50M range.

Google should buy Radio Shack for $50M and it immediately has huge retail footprint selling Android and chrome devices

http://9to5google.com/2015/02/03/google-buy-radioshack/

[svollmer]

VERY interesting article

Bloomberg reported that RadioShack was pursuing a bankruptcy plan, which would see it sell half its stores to Sprint, a few others possibly to Amazon and boarded windows for the rest. The WSJ previously reported that the price tag was in the $50M range.

Google should buy Radio Shack for $50M and it immediately has huge retail footprint selling Android and chrome devices

http://9to5google.com/2015/02/03/google-buy-radioshack/

Yikes! Don't say that!

As an original fan of Google back before most people knew of it, I’m seriously getting worried about how much they’re getting into our lives.They’re assembling every piece of information (including this rather conspiratorial sounding post) about us that they can and they’re getting into every aspect of our lives.

Posting this may come back to haunt me in the future when they run the government.

Oh no, here they come……