Radio Shack

[Plutonic Panda]

I actually really used to like them, but haven't been there in a long time, so I can't say how they are, but I don 't like seeing them go. I think they could be a cool hobby store and they really should limit their locations to one or two per city and locate exclusively.

Reports of RadioShack's demise are nothing new, but now it seems like the electronics retailer may be done for good. Bloomberg reports that company is in talks with Sprint to hand over around half of its remaining stores to the wireless company. The rest of RadioShack's locations will close, and those that are included in the deal will be painted yellow and black. This means the shops where most of us purchased parts for a project will cease to exist. Nothing's final, and until the ink is dry, another suitor could swipe up the company and allow it to keep on chuggin' along. RadioShack is facing bankruptcy after years of declining sales, so even if Sprint doesn't agree to buy those stores, a move of some kind is imminent for the company that's been selling tech since 1921.

- The end is reportedly near for RadioShack

[Mel]

I hate to see a business shut down that's been around so long. I can remember going to RadioShack with my Dad to get tubes and other parts to keep our tv and radio running.

[bchris02]

I am really surprised they have lasted this long. It's probably been since the late 1990s that I've needed something that I had to go to RadioShack for. The company's attempt to modernize by basically becoming another cell phone store was also a big mistake. It was too little too late and there is little, if anything, to distinguish them from Best Buy Mobile or the numerous other places you can buy a smartphone. They also were once great for getting obsolete electronic parts you need in a pinch and can't get elsewhere, but they can't survive on that alone and today have almost outlived their usefulness even for that.

[GoOKC1991]

Circuit City gone, Ultimate Electronics gone, RadioShack gone. What's left? Best Buy and Fry's?

[bchris02]

Circuit City gone, Ultimate Electronics gone, RadioShack gone. What's left? Best Buy and Fry's?

In OKC, only Best Buy.

In major cities you still have Fry's, MicroCenter, and Tigerdirect.com (CompUSA). I wonder if any of them will start looking at expanding into smaller markets now that most of the competition has been killed off. The big box electronics store concept is tricky today as it is because of online shopping.

[GoOKC1991]

Fry's are very unique, never been in a MicroCenter, haven't been to TigerDirect since the CompUSA on May closed.

Best Buy seems to be doing pretty well, not sure if they will ever go down the Circuit City road.

[White Peacock]

I just went there a couple months back to pick up some very obscure micro-bulbs for the gear position indicator on my 30 year old motorcycle; not sure I could have found them any other place locally. Sucks to have a resource like that go away.

[Martin]

the definition of irony: radio shack's demise reported by a tech news site owned by aol. -M

[jmpokc1957]

I hate to see a business shut down that's been around so long. I can remember going to RadioShack with my Dad to get tubes and other parts to keep our tv and radio running.

Yes, it is a shame to see them go. I've looked to them for electronic parts since the 60's. I remember as a kid going there with a magazine like "Popular Electronics" and buying parts for a project. That was a long time ago when you could fix your radio or tv set. I wonder how many kids got their start in electronics that way.

The tube testers were great! As I remember you'd find a socket that fit the tube, look up switch settings and press the 'Test" button. A meter would indicate good or bad. Ha! Great fun! Wish they were still around as I have a 40+y/o radio that needs some tube replaced.

[Achilleslastand]

Fry's are very unique, never been in a MicroCenter, haven't been to TigerDirect since the CompUSA on May closed.

Best Buy seems to be doing pretty well, not sure if they will ever go down the Circuit City road.

So TigerDirect and CompUSA are one in the same?
I will say this city does need a Fry's or a Microcenter and don't even get me started on BestBuy/Geek Squad. Blah.......

[tfvc.org]

As a teen I used to buy parts and build little projects like sirens and shockers that resemble today's tazers. I still have the 8 or so project books that they had. I was saddened to see that their parts got shifted from the shelves to trays. Sad to see them go but surprised that they have lasted so long.

[tfvc.org]

So TigerDirect and CompUSA are one in the same?

When CompUSA folded Tigredirect bought (most of) the Florida stores and kept the CompUSA branding. They have become more of a Best Buy / Circuit City and less of a computer store as of late. To me that will be their demise since I relied on them as a computer parts shop when I needed something quick or wanted to actually put my hands on something.

[Bunty]

Last year I went to Wal-Mart to get a battery I needed. It didn't have it. The clerk told me to try Radio Shack, which did. But RS has not had other things I've needed such as copper desoldering braid. And their prices for audio adapters are outrageously high compared to Amazon. For batteries, too.

[Plutonic Panda]

RadioShack files for bankruptcy as Sprint agrees to share stores - CNET

[rezman]

Remember Heathkits and Realistic stereo equipment?

I still have a set of Realistic Optimus T100 tower speakers that I bought new from Radio Shack in 1979.

[Bunty]

Radio should have expanded the size of its stores and be who Best Buy is today.

[BBatesokc]

There was a time when a Radio Shack employee was your goto person if you had a question regarding electronics. But that time ended long ago when they filled their stores with totally disinterested Walmart type employees.

The only time I'd shop in one was when they had their memory cards on sale or when a big clearance event was going on.

About 7 years ago I stopped shopping Radio Shack altogether when their employee/manager wouldn't honor a sale price tag that they had not bothered to take down and the sale apparently ended two days before. Any other store would have acknowledged their mistake and honored the posted price. Never went back in to one and can't say I'm surprised they are going out of business.

[jn1780]

Circuit City gone, Ultimate Electronics gone, RadioShack gone. What's left? Best Buy and Fry's?

Amazon? Really RadioShack is gone because of online retailers then from Best Buy. Even Best Buy feels the pressure from online retailers.


Its extremely difficult to repair modern electronics and manufactures are smart to make sure that its not cost effective to repair them. I don't see Sprint keeping the Radio Shack name for very long.

[bchris02]

There was a time when a Radio Shack employee was your goto person if you had a question regarding electronics. But that time ended long ago when they filled their stores with totally disinterested Walmart type employees.

This pretty much explains it. The slogan used to be "You've got questions, we've got answers." RadioShack lost what distinguished it from the big boxes years ago and with the changes in the electronics industry over the past 20 years plus the competition from online retailers, there simply isn't a niche for it anymore plain and simple. Radio Shack, K-Mart, and Sears are all examples for today's popular retailers as to how not to run a business.

[RadicalModerate]

I bought a fan for my computer at Radio Shack maybe 5 years ago. I guess that just wasn't enough to keep them going.

[Midtowner]

I worked at RadioShack on and off from 1995 to 2003 (mostly on).

When I signed on in 1995, we had to undergo some fairly rigorous training and pass a number of difficult certifications requiring us to know the basics about electronics components, mounting radio equipment, car stereos, cell phones, TVs and antennas, TV hookups, computers, etc. If someone came in off the street with an off the wall question about consumer electronics, we were expected to be knowledgeable. I remember at first, yes, we had cell phones that we sold, but that was one small part of our business. We were just then phasing out the last of the Tandy computers. Employee compensation was way above average for retail employees. And if you were good, you could make really good money (for retail).

Then someone thought of the penny phone.

The culture shifted from pressure to put multiple lines on your tickets, sell extended warranties, etc., to selling cell phones at all costs. Secret shoppers were sent in to make sure we were asking every single person whether they wanted a "free" cell phone. Many long-time, knowledgeable employees who had loyal customer bases were sent packing because they refused to push merchandise no one wanted. Others were reassigned to stores they couldn't make anything more than minimum wage at.

Around 2000, we got a CEO who really pumped up the stock price, then of course, dumped it. They then had a CEO who they found falsified his college degree (oh the joys of promoting from within) and they suffered from a lot of internal problems because of their policy of only promoting from within. You're a good salesman? Then you must be a good manager! You can manage a store? Well you can definitely manage and handle HR for 30 stores! Oh you're good at handling 30 stores and HR? You can probably handle around 250 stores no problem, etc. The Peter Principle at its finest.

It was still a decent business model and turned a profit, but little by little, with their $50 TV cables you could fine on monoprice for $3.00, with the cell phone deals which were better absolutely everyplace else, RS failed.

I don't think it was the store footprint, the lack of diverse product or even prices. I think it was that they got away from what made them special--employees who knew their stuff. In this day and age, a brick and mortar business has to set itself apart from online businesses somehow. RS chose to treat their employees as minimum wage nobodies and got what was coming to them. Not that their executives won't have packed some nice golden parachutes at this point...

[Midtowner]

And Brian Bates, if you had looked at the sale tag, it would have clearly shown on it the dates the sale was effective. The customer is not always right and you trying to shake a store down for money because someone didn't pull one of thousands of tags on the shelf (which all had to be manually changed every couple of weeks) was really petty.

[Plutonic Panda]

And Brian Bates, if you had looked at the sale tag, it would have clearly shown on it the dates the sale was effective. The customer is not always right and you trying to shake a store down for money because someone didn't pull one of thousands of tags on the shelf (which all had to be manually changed every couple of weeks) was really petty.

I believe, as a business, you should honor your prices. If you have something labeled as a lower price than what it is, you are deceiving your customers. Part of the job of a business is to remove the sale tags when they're no longer valid.

[jerrywall]

I believe, as a business, you should honor your prices. If you have something labeled as a lower price than what it is, you are deceiving your customers. Part of the job of a business is to remove the sale tags when they're no longer valid.

In fact, Oklahoma Law requires honoring the lowest marked or advertised price for a product. Not sure how this would work with dates on the shelf label though.

[SoonerDave]

I worked at RadioShack on and off from 1995 to 2003 (mostly on).

(snip)

It was still a decent business model and turned a profit, but little by little, with their $50 TV cables you could fine on monoprice for $3.00, with the cell phone deals which were better absolutely everyplace else, RS failed.

I don't think it was the store footprint, the lack of diverse product or even prices. I think it was that they got away from what made them special--employees who knew their stuff.

I worked at RS briefly as a teenager and never had to pass any tests, but that's a bit of an aside. While I agree that lots of bad turns befell Radio Shack, the real reason they've failed is they became an anachronism. Back in the 70's and 80's, RS and Heathkit perfectly served a rich niche market of folks who loved to put together their own electronics. You could buy kits from HeathKit for everything from dot-matrix printers to projection TV's, and RS sold all manner of electronic piece parts no one else sold at retail. Problem is, nobody really likes to do that anymore, at least not at a volume sufficient to support a retail business. Electronics, as a hobby, has morphed into something entirely different.

Think about it - projection TV's back in the day, with their horrible pictures and pre-HD resolution, were thousands of dollars - but a Heathkit kit sold for a fraction of that price if you had the skill to build it and overcome the labor cost. With contemporary flat-screen TV's at $500 offering ridiculously superior picture technology encapsulated on what amounts to a few discrete surface-mounted components on a couple of ribbon-connected PCB's, the home guy with the soldering iron is pretty much out of luck.

As I noted in another thread, I lament the passing of RS not merely for the store, but for the era in American ingenuity and willingness to try different things that seems to has passed right along with it.