Posted on 03/04/2014 5:08:26 PM PST by kingattax
There will soon be about 1,100 fewer places to buy batteries.
RadioShack said Tuesday that it plans to close up to 1,100 stores, or about a fifth of its U.S. locations. The news came as the retailer reported a wider quarterly loss after a disappointing holiday season. Its stock tumbled 16 percent in afternoon trading.
CEO Joseph Magnacca said the closings would leave the company with more than 4,000 U.S. stores. That's still far more than Best Buy, which has roughly 1,400 U.S. locations, and makes RadioShack stores nearly as common as Wal-Mart.
RadioShack didn't immediately identify which stores will close or how many jobs would be affected. A call to the company, based in Fort Worth, Texas, was not returned.
The closings represent just the latest setback for RadioShack, which is fighting to update its image and compete with the rise of online and discount retailers.
Long known as a destination for batteries and obscure electronic parts, RadioShack has sought to remake itself as a specialist in wireless devices and accessories. But growth in the wireless business is slowing, as more people have smartphones and see fewer reasons to upgrade.
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I remember the old days when they used to sell almost every little doo-dad you could ever need.
becoming just another cell phone HQ was a stupid move, really really stupid.
They need to go back to their roots.
I want to go to Radio shack for resistors and capacitors like I used to. Haven’t found anything I can use at rs in decades. Maybe a battery.
Web sales have hurt them badly with respect to their old business of electronic parts. When you can to go an outfit like Allied Electronic or Mouser and get something out of an online, 1000+ page catalog, why Radio Shack any more, unless you are in a tearing hurry.
Do they still have transistor radios there?
to go => go to
Come to think of it, I don't remember them advertising much last Christmas. Maybe the advertised stuff was just unmemorable junk easily available at Big Lots next door to the one in my area.
Oh my, yes. Everything electronic you could think of.
The web has subsumed most of this function. There’s a delivery cost and delay, but you never have to leave home.
CHANGE YOUR NAME!!!! Who needs a “Radio Shack”??
I once bought a pair of headphones branded Optimus from RS that were really nice. Tried for years to find out who really made them because the earpads were wearing out. Nobody was talking and I wasn’t the only one asking by far. Turned out to be Koss, who didn’t want to admit it because they didn’t sell that model themselves and RS no longer carried them. I still have them.
No wonder they are going broke.
And I picked up some shortwave radios a while back. Lots of transistors on silicon...
“I remember the old days when they used to sell almost every little doo-dad you could ever need.”
Remember the Powerhouse 5 flashlight and the battery cards.
Used to love going there as a kid and getting a free D-cell battery every month.
I’m so old I still remember when Tandy sold leather belt and moccasin kits. That computer stuff? No future in it...
When Allied they were pretty good. When Tandy took over it was never the same.
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