Posted on 02/02/2015 1:46:48 PM PST by raccoonradio
I guess it just wasn't realistic for Radio Shack to stay open.
LOL! I use "Hollywood" phone numbers. Decades ago, the film industry was allowed to use any phone number starting with 555 in films. No one in real life has a 555 number. So just make one up: 555-4950, etc.
I’m surprised Radio Shack lasted this long.
Frys
Back when I actually shopped there, I always gave them area code "424", then my phone number. "424" is the area code for Beverly Hills. If they asked for my zip code I gave them 90210.
More proof of this outstanding economy Obola kepps bragging about. /s
I bought a cordless phone with ans machine recently to replace a model also bought there.
I knew Radio Shack was dying in 1995, when their new CEO had his "grand vision" to remake it into a retail "finished product" store that sold cheap speakers and receivers and, later, cell phones.
They got rid of Archer, when DIY satellites, antennas and walkie talkies went out of style, they got rid of Realistic and Optimus speakers and receivers when home theater started talking over, and they brought in crappy chinese RCA garbage to take their place.
They stopped selling parts, which turned off their customers, and they didn't do a good enough job at attracting the new customers. And the internet was really the final nail in the coffin.
Maybe someone will take the name, and become a competitor to Parts Express. They do what RS used to do, but better, sorry to say. But then again, who needs yet another player in that crowded game?
Somewhere in washington, a kenyan commie and his iranian master smile at the fact that yet another institution gone the way of the informed citizen...
Thanks for the memories guys. Sta-90 receiver, a classic. Many of the Radio Shack receivers were top notch. Some were built off laboratory standards and some of the speakers for the money couldn’t be beat. I still sport a pair of (lifetime) Op nines ( 5-way) from the early 70’s with 12” woofers. Yes, they were lifetime, mine anyways. I worked there while in college. I must of sold a ton of cb radios and phono cartridges. My manager would sometimes con these guys out of their gold Pickering cartridges for a Shure cartridge, lol. Yes, back when we had turntables and audiophiles. A whole era lost to us now. I remember so many Rube Goldberg (Brier Wire) projects I did. Creativity was born standing in that store. They make a little portable 9v motion detector all you should try to scarf up before they close.
After we get John Bonehead out odf office, he’ll need a job. He is good at resisting the wants of conservatives, and his capicity for bull crap and liquor is unrivaled
During the 1980s, they started to lose their way. I think it started when they started requiring your name and mailing address everytime you bought something - even if it was just batteries. They would make you write it out on those carbon paper forms and then they would tear off the pink and yellow copies and file them who knows where and hand you back the top white copy.
Turns out they were putting your information on lists and then selling those lists to other companies. Not cool.
Still they had a great business going. They were among the first of the big chains to sell personal computers, VCR players, dual cassette decks (so you could dub), many of the products under their "Realistic" brand, which used to be known for being a quality product.
But as technology raced on, they had difficulty keeping up. Big-box electronic retailer upstarts like Circuit City and CompUSA ate their lunch - though even those chains eventually went under because they didn't move fast enough.
I think Radio Shack hung on so long because they were just so massive. I think they had 5,000 stores in the U.S. alone at one point.
Over the past 10-15 years, it's just been so sad to walk into one. Hardly anybody was ever in there and the 19-year-old kids at the counter were so desperate for you to buy something because that's how they made most of their money. Then the company decided to make cell phones their main business. Now the employees were pressured to sell "x" number of cell phone contracts a month in order to make their bonus. But towards the end, people would walk in there, have them give demos on every single one, and then walk out of the store to go buy the phone they wanted somewhere else. A sad ending to what used to be an iconic electronics retailer.
Alas, they truckin’ no more.
Ok, so ‘lessee: A tech/comm company that started out before the first third of the last century FAILD during a massive tech/comm boom? I’m going to guess some SERIOUSLY sclerotic upper management.
The stuff is great and a hell of a lot better than the garbage from the auto stores, imho. It is more forgiving on the parts that don't need cleaning (insulation and plastic parts and such). I will need to try the other products you mentioned. I used DeOxit to clean all of the connections on my motorcycle last year. I also tightened up all the connectors as well. It is a mundane job but necessary. It will still be available online.
Cheers
Fry’s is Radio Shack on steroids.
10 Best Electronics Suppliers
http://www.instructables.com/community/10-Best-Electronics-Suppliers/
Walmart is the place to be... : )
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Elenco-500-in-1-Electronic-Project-Lab/28420302?adid=22222222227019340671&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40335150872&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78295357112&veh=sem
They tried to keep a hand in the DIY electronics business, in a nod to their roots. The internet marketplace killed them.
>>>Why does Radio Shack ask for your phone number when you buy batteries?<<<
For the Background Check.
You might use those Batteries to make a WMD.
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