Posted on 09/15/2014 8:19:49 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
Gentlemen and gentlewomen of a certain age harbor fond memories of trips to RadioShack. In days of yore, ham radios and homemade guitar amplifiers would emerge from the mysterious jumble of wires and audio components hawked by this unpretentious electronic retailer.
Whatever one’s view of this American institution with about 27,000 employees, it is near death. On Thursday, RadioShack warned that it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I love Radio Shack. I’m going there tonight to buy something, anything to help keep them out of bankruptcy. Everyone do the same. Save Radio Shack!
When they ditched the electronic components for cell phones and other bling for the ghetto gangbangers it was game over.
Who wanted to to go shopping with that vermin?
The only place to go if you’re looking for a power adapter for an old electronic device.
Exactly. Why buy a phone from Radioshack instead of directly from the service provider or for that matter Walgreens or Fred's or Walmart. They didn't have any competitive advantage in the phone market.
With components they had a nitch market. I'm not sure if demand dried up or what. I think they needed more kits and more educational toys and at a lower price. That would have helped develop more hobbyists who would shop more for components.
We love Rat Shack.
You’ve got questions, we’ve got cell phones.
Instead of being a niche player, they chose to become a minor player in the cell phone business.
Radio Shack has forestalled the ultimate conclusion of their demise for decades, and I give them credit for their adaptations and business decisions that have extended their lifespan during those last few decades.
It will be sad to see them finally go, but it is inevitable.
Good point.
RS got rid of anything worth buying more than a decade ago.
Good riddance.
My brother built radios from scrap electronic components when he was 14. Radio Shack was his first job at 16. They even had a vacuum tube tester in the store. Or was that at Vonnegut’s? Maybe both.
It feels like a symbolic closing of an era gone by - the little unpretentious store on the neighborhood corner.
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They sure outlived Lafayette though.
Gotta say that Radio Shack stopped carrying a wide variety of useful items that were low priced to a very limited line that was overpriced.
Get any snooty “expert” to analyze a storefront that sells products on how to “improve” it and they’ll tell you that’s what you need to do—then watch them go out of business as they offer fewer and fewer products at increasing prices.
My guess is that Internet sales has really hurt their business too.
The online shopper could have it delivered to their house for less than it takes to go to the store. And they didn’t have to pay taxes on it either.
The brick and mortar stores have to pay employees, rent, insurance, and taxes.
What was Lafayette?
Radio Shack use to be a place for kids to get experiment kits and circuits and learn things about physics and electricity with real hands on experience. They were one of the first into personal computers too. They turned away from that unfortunately, but I guess they were just responding to market demand. I think kids have lost something when every consumer gadget can’t be made and is a disposable.
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