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Author Topic: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?  (Read 13492 times)

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« on: January 08, 2014, 1147 UTC »
Shares are down more than 7% amid a mysterious rush of bearish activity. 'The sharks are starting to circle,' one trader says.

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post--is-this-the-end-for-radioshack
Chris Smolinski
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cmradio

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2014, 1406 UTC »
Heh, Rat Shack met its demise years ago here and pulled out. Analysts were universally agreed on the reason - the company forgot their core reason for existence: Geeks.

Good riddance. All hail Mouser, Digikey and Amazon!

Peace!

Offline atrainradio

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2014, 1505 UTC »
Yea its a shame. The radio shack over here has 1 multiband receiver. The rest is all cell phones and other tvs. There's nothing there remotely related to a radio except that one lone sw radio- which looked like it was a piece crap anyway.
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Offline ff

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2014, 1934 UTC »
They had some bonds in the market that were selling for WAY below par several months back which was a tipoff of problems to come.  I've dreaded going in there for several years now.  Generally its a Sunday afternoon, I need a common part that I stupidly ran out of, and I have to fend off numerous enthusiastic and clueless salespeople attempting to sell me a cellphone contract as I make my way to those ever-shrinking parts cases in the rear of the store.  There are 4 locations close to me and its the same song and dance in all of them - so it MUST be softheaded corporate foolishness.  You just can't stay in business when you have alienated your "bread and butter" customers and then continue to ignore that fact over and over and over again... for years.  That's why I never bit on those cheap Radio Shack bond offerings.   I figured it was just a matter of time.  I hope this gives Fry's and others the impetus to open more stores.
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Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2014, 2004 UTC »
Selling retail to hobbyists has to be a tough business today, with the overhead. There's not many of us, and we're ordering the bulk of our components mail order.   There are still some indie electronics parts stores, I recall Baynesville Electronics near Baltimore (although I have not been there in probably 15 years). They sold a lot of packaged Jameco stuff (components and such) and the prices were what you'd expect from retail, several times mail order. The gap is probably even larger today.  I'm not sure what need Radio Shack fills today, which may partly explain why they're in such sad shape.
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Offline taschenrechner

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2014, 2035 UTC »
Even though I could mail order stuff all day long, I do enjoy spending time browsing through my local shop. It's like looking through somebody's garage for parts. You can get lost in there. I've spent hours just finding stuff and wondering what I could do with this or that. It's across town from me, so if I have to, I may go to Radio Shack down the street, but it's really rare. I duck in, in full "NOIDONTWANTACELLPHONE" mode, and when they see that I'm going through those two little cabinets of components in back, they leave me alone, lest I ask them a question about what any of that stuff does.
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Offline Jolly Roger

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2014, 2036 UTC »
It's sad, because how Radio Shack is now pretty much sums up the current state of the hobby. I remember getting their huge catalogue in the early and mid '70's and it had page after page of radio stuff. Just CB's alone was probably 5 pages. Stereos? Perhaps 25 pages. Electronic components? Everything was there. Then it all began to change. Now it's TV's and computers. That's all.
Now I search garage sales for old Radio Shack CB's and stereos. They were common in the '70's and '80's. Now, not so much so. And it turns out that some of their high end stuff was pretty damn good. For a generation looking for souvenirs of a very much happier time they are cherished keepsakes. But their lower end stuff was crap. Still is.
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Offline ff

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2014, 2112 UTC »
   There are still some indie electronics parts stores, I recall Baynesville Electronics near Baltimore   I'm not sure what need Radio Shack fills today, which may partly explain why they're in such sad shape.

This is all quite ironic, really.  Back in the 60s and 70s there were many local indie Mom and Pop stores dealing in parts.  Radio Shack creeped into town and slowly strangled them all out of existence.  Then they went to chasing fads.  Many of my favorite mail order suppliers nowadays are nothing more than Mom and Pop shops that were smart enough to start up and maintain an Internet presence.  All Electronics, Hosfelt, BG Micro, Fair Radio, et al still have brick and mortar locations yet are kicking "The Shack" to the curb.  The pendulum keeps swinging.
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Offline clobdell

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2014, 2357 UTC »
Since Radio Shack started in Boston, we've had them around here since the early 1960's. I remember when they bought Allied Electronics and then
Tandy Leather bought them and some of the stores are split between Tandy leather and Radio Shack.  The best product they had were the "TRF" AM Radios,
and of course, let's not forget the battery card, for one free battery a month!
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Offline Pigmeat

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2014, 0308 UTC »
LOL! Yup, the free battery card, I remember it well.

I guess this is a sign I better use that Rat Shack gift card I got Xmas before they shut down.

Offline RCCI

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2014, 1912 UTC »
I've had a love/hate relationship with Radio Shack over the years. I'd love to browse through the radios, scanners (bought my first "crystal" scanner, each crystal for one frequency). My problem was that they would sometimes have only 1 item of a product, which was a returned piece. It would then be put back on the shelves. I would buy it and there would be pieces missing. I could only surmise that when I returned it, it would get "re-packaged" and sold again!

My second observation was that their mark-up prices were just horrible. A pair of $300.00 stereo speakers listed one week, would be re-listed for $99.95. The way I saw it, "Why the hell would I spend the full price of $300 one week and see the same speakers for $99? I can only imagine that the Shack STILL made money selling them for $99, so prices were inflated to begin with! :(

Still though, RS was and is still the place for radio components, soldering irons, etc. Just don't ask for help though.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2014, 1940 UTC by RCCI »
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Offline radiogaga

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2014, 2124 UTC »
My fav was the "lifetime" warranty vacuum tubes  ;)

RGG

Offline Dr. Strangelove

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #12 on: January 10, 2014, 0046 UTC »
Yes the lifetime tubes with the gold tips.  I've still got a bunch of them working in some old boatanchors around here!
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Offline BDM

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #13 on: January 10, 2014, 0620 UTC »
Man,  remembering their catalog all through the 70s. Brings back plenty of memories :-\
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cmradio

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Re: Is this the end of the wire for RadioShack?
« Reply #14 on: January 10, 2014, 0815 UTC »
My second observation was that their mark-up prices were just horrible.

I worked for them in their final years as Radio Shack in .ca and the markups were just phenomenal. Problem was on the POPULAR items (TV's and computers), they lost their shirt trying to be competitive. Less than 3% GPM on those while batteries were the highest at 65-80%, depending on type.

Peace!

 

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