It looks like the slow-moving train wreck that is Radio Shack here in the US these days is about to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is a reorganization and not a liquidation (yet). Sounds like one of their hedge fund investors has DIP financing and will get first dibs. Radio Shack has lost money every quarter for nearly 3 years now. One can only do that for so long!
I've noticed that the local stores have 25% off on everything as of this morning. Maybe that is nationwide? Lol - I would say that just brings their typically sky high prices down to what would probably be considered "high normal retail". Once the inevitable 50% off sale hits it might be time to stock up on some odd size batteries.
Really unfortunate situation. I have fond memories of riding my bike over to the local Radio Shack store as a kid and buying my very first transistors and ICs, which all pretty much were subsequently destroyed by my first DIY efforts. 😀 Yep you can't put a 9V battery directly across a forward biased base-emitter junction without a current limiting resistor. Who knew? 🙄 Those were fun times.
I saw an RS newspaper add from a few decades ago that someone had posted, noting that 11 of the 13 devices in the ad are now performed by a cell phone. Here is an interesting read about missed opportunities the company had along the way.
I've noticed that the local stores have 25% off on everything as of this morning. Maybe that is nationwide? Lol - I would say that just brings their typically sky high prices down to what would probably be considered "high normal retail". Once the inevitable 50% off sale hits it might be time to stock up on some odd size batteries.
Really unfortunate situation. I have fond memories of riding my bike over to the local Radio Shack store as a kid and buying my very first transistors and ICs, which all pretty much were subsequently destroyed by my first DIY efforts. 😀 Yep you can't put a 9V battery directly across a forward biased base-emitter junction without a current limiting resistor. Who knew? 🙄 Those were fun times.
I saw an RS newspaper add from a few decades ago that someone had posted, noting that 11 of the 13 devices in the ad are now performed by a cell phone. Here is an interesting read about missed opportunities the company had along the way.
It looks like I need to swing by and pick up a couple more 100K Alps stereo pots and some Bud Boxes.
Not hard to see this coming, Radio Shack has been a zombie/husk of its former self for a very long time unfortunately. I worked part time for an RS store for a number of years back in the 1980s - even then they weren't a particularly good deal on a lot of things, but at least they had a variety of useful components for the experimenter, and great cordless phones! (Best I ever owned - and lasted 25yrs)
One of the original stores was just a few miles from where I now live, an iconic Boston landmark long gone. I still remember going there in 1961 with my Dad when he purchased his first stereo system. (I was well under 5 at the time)
One of the original stores was just a few miles from where I now live, an iconic Boston landmark long gone. I still remember going there in 1961 with my Dad when he purchased his first stereo system. (I was well under 5 at the time)
I still own a Micronta multimeter and a Realistic dB meter I bought at RS when I lived in the States early nineties, and they were great value for money and still going strong. But with every visit to the US, I noticed a decline in their inventory, so they own it to themselves. + the internet in all likelyhood.
This is very sad. A lot of us were inspired by RS, exposed to High Fidelity for the first time, experimented with the gear found there.
So many possible routes that could have been taken by the business...that could have literally changed the face of our society.
Imagine if you will, a handful of teen-agers at your local RS poking away at machines, writing code, as "something to do", the teen-age angst thing.
So, we would be having these teen-agers creating, rather than the passive thing we see now. You see, in this alternate Universe, Radio Shack acquired a technical school in the mid-eighties & was right up there with Apple at the very start...so when Jobs brought his phone onto the market, the "thing to do" was write code at the local RS.
__________________________________________________Rick........
So many possible routes that could have been taken by the business...that could have literally changed the face of our society.
Imagine if you will, a handful of teen-agers at your local RS poking away at machines, writing code, as "something to do", the teen-age angst thing.
So, we would be having these teen-agers creating, rather than the passive thing we see now. You see, in this alternate Universe, Radio Shack acquired a technical school in the mid-eighties & was right up there with Apple at the very start...so when Jobs brought his phone onto the market, the "thing to do" was write code at the local RS.
__________________________________________________Rick........
I've spent many a time going through their parts drawers. I wasn't an electronics geek as a kid though, only as an over 50 adult. Living in NYC I had my choice of stores and some had full drawers, and others had nothing. Kings Highway in Brooklyn always had a lot of what I wanted and I'd go there even though it was out of the way. A lot of Russians down there, stealing our technology and nuclear secrets from Radio Shack. 🙂 I got back at them by using their tubes!
No Fry's in this neck of the woods.. I suspect it is a much smaller retailer than RS was at its peak, and certainly less ubiquitous.
RS won't really be missed, but depending on the outcome represents the passing of an era for some of us at least.
The original Radio Shack was founded here in MA, so it is apparently the end of the line for yet another famous brand that got its start here.
RS won't really be missed, but depending on the outcome represents the passing of an era for some of us at least.
The original Radio Shack was founded here in MA, so it is apparently the end of the line for yet another famous brand that got its start here.
Well it looks like the NYSE has halted trading in Radio Shack's stock, now down to 12 cents a share in OTC trading. Several reports are saying that Sprint may buy half the stores as co-branded Sprint/Radio Shack outlets, with the remaining 2,000 or so stores closed.
Interesting solution if it comes to pass! At least what is left would have a purpose, and possibly be profitable, as Sprint sales/repair stores.
Interesting solution if it comes to pass! At least what is left would have a purpose, and possibly be profitable, as Sprint sales/repair stores.
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A few years ago a business analyst wrote that Radio Shack has no valid business model, which translates into---there’s no reason for them to be in business. That’s why they have been fighting off the “grim reaper” by trying to sell cellular phone plans.
Personally, I’ll miss them like a toothache.
Personally, I’ll miss them like a toothache.
The last time I was in a Radio Shack store, that's about all it seemed to be. I can't imagine why Sprint would even want their name associated with Radio Shack. From the perspective of electronics hobbyists, a "Sprint/Radio Shack" merger is as meaningful as "Walgreens/Radio Shack" or "McDonalds/Radio Shack".
Dale
To be honest, the things that I went to the local RS for the last few years can be had cheaper on E-bay.
RS was just very convenient when I needed something "right now" like solder or a toggle switch, etc..
RS was just very convenient when I needed something "right now" like solder or a toggle switch, etc..
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Since the Arduinos hit (not years too late, like when Radio Shack decided they might be worth carrying), my local Lowes has better emergency electronics supplies than Radio Shack, including some basic old ICs. At least one local electrical supply house has also expanded their storefront's inventory of small parts, over the years that RS has declined.
From agdr's linked article, I would take umbrage at this quote, however:
"“And the market for hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers has evaporated,” said Fox, a West Point-trained engineer-turned-professor."
Just a month two ago, I was in Zaxby's, getting some greasy lunch on, and a couple EMS guys from a table over were talking about something they were working on with a Raspeberry Pi. More than half the conversation was them explaining to the other two at the table what it was (one thought it was cool, the other was having trouble wrapping his head around it), so I never quite gleaned what they were building, in my eaves-dropping, though it was something involved, with semicustom peripherals (not a XBMC front-end, MAME box, or anything like that). Nonetheless, uCs and SBCs, with software and community support, make tinkering low cost (low risk), make interacting with other pieces of modern technology doable, and are becoming less esoteric by the day.
The market, and to a fair degree schools, left DIYers of all kinds, much more than the other way around. Now that whole computers that can be part of a system are available at reasonable prices, they're coming out of the woodwork. Make is bigger than ever. Linux magazines devoting sizable portions, or even whole editions, to SBCs. When every new technology is a corporate-controlled sealed box, is too expensive to accidentally fry, or has documentation that makes Ulysses look like light reading, what real options are there?
The Arduino was amazing when it came out, in part because of easy to use software for the total cost, and is what started the ball rolling. The Raspberry Pi (1) and Beaglebone Black couldn't be made quickly enough for a year or more each, exceeding expected demand by leaps and bounds. Radio Shack, with a handful of useful odds and ends on their shelves in the back corners, have completely missed out on all of it, as they struggled to sell loans on shiny telephones (for companies and consumers that really didn't need them to be doing that, usually within shouting distance of dedicated cell phone shops).
From agdr's linked article, I would take umbrage at this quote, however:
"“And the market for hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers has evaporated,” said Fox, a West Point-trained engineer-turned-professor."
Just a month two ago, I was in Zaxby's, getting some greasy lunch on, and a couple EMS guys from a table over were talking about something they were working on with a Raspeberry Pi. More than half the conversation was them explaining to the other two at the table what it was (one thought it was cool, the other was having trouble wrapping his head around it), so I never quite gleaned what they were building, in my eaves-dropping, though it was something involved, with semicustom peripherals (not a XBMC front-end, MAME box, or anything like that). Nonetheless, uCs and SBCs, with software and community support, make tinkering low cost (low risk), make interacting with other pieces of modern technology doable, and are becoming less esoteric by the day.
The market, and to a fair degree schools, left DIYers of all kinds, much more than the other way around. Now that whole computers that can be part of a system are available at reasonable prices, they're coming out of the woodwork. Make is bigger than ever. Linux magazines devoting sizable portions, or even whole editions, to SBCs. When every new technology is a corporate-controlled sealed box, is too expensive to accidentally fry, or has documentation that makes Ulysses look like light reading, what real options are there?
The Arduino was amazing when it came out, in part because of easy to use software for the total cost, and is what started the ball rolling. The Raspberry Pi (1) and Beaglebone Black couldn't be made quickly enough for a year or more each, exceeding expected demand by leaps and bounds. Radio Shack, with a handful of useful odds and ends on their shelves in the back corners, have completely missed out on all of it, as they struggled to sell loans on shiny telephones (for companies and consumers that really didn't need them to be doing that, usually within shouting distance of dedicated cell phone shops).
Went by RS at lunch time..
1. They quit carrying the 100K stereo audio taper pot I wanted (made by Alps).
2. Were out of stock on the Al box I wanted
3. Told me how RS closed down the other store in town, and moved stock to this store.
4. Didn't have a bayonet socket for the Bayonet based lamps I wanted to buy.
5. wanted to know if I needed batteries.
So much for RS.
1. They quit carrying the 100K stereo audio taper pot I wanted (made by Alps).
2. Were out of stock on the Al box I wanted
3. Told me how RS closed down the other store in town, and moved stock to this store.
4. Didn't have a bayonet socket for the Bayonet based lamps I wanted to buy.
5. wanted to know if I needed batteries.
So much for RS.
I finally completely gave up on the local Radio Shack six or seven years ago since it is a 10 mile round trip, and they never, ever had the parts I was looking for.. Calling ahead was pointless because the sales associates were hopeless, more often than not when they told you they had a specific part they didn't.. Rarely the converse would turn out to be true when you went anyway to look for a work around. Finally just too much aggravation and I learned to be patient and let the internet provide me with the exact part I actually wanted.
Got TWO Fry's here!
I'll give you one.
BUT, there are things at R/S that are not at Fry's.
And the last time I was in Fry's, THEY were not too busy.
But maybe they get busy on the weekends.
I'll give you one.
BUT, there are things at R/S that are not at Fry's.
And the last time I was in Fry's, THEY were not too busy.
But maybe they get busy on the weekends.
Writing has been on the wall for quite some time, sad just the same. To think that at one point you could do so much with what they had on the shelf, you may not have done it well, or cheaply, but...
We used to go laugh at the 8 ohm car stereos, and get a free flashlight every now and then.
Each time I have gone there in the past year, I was the only person in the store, and that one package of fuses wasn't going to keep the doors open that's for sure.
We used to go laugh at the 8 ohm car stereos, and get a free flashlight every now and then.
Each time I have gone there in the past year, I was the only person in the store, and that one package of fuses wasn't going to keep the doors open that's for sure.
Two things that killed RS decades ago ....
1) They stopped selling any quality audio components... which were the "bread and butter" of their business .
2) They drove customers away by the thousands by rudely demanding all kind of personal info..... even if you just bought a battery!
Lately, they have been mostly a cell phone /service provider outlet anyway so ........"Sprint -RS"?. .. why not....will it really be that much of a change?.😱
1) They stopped selling any quality audio components... which were the "bread and butter" of their business .
2) They drove customers away by the thousands by rudely demanding all kind of personal info..... even if you just bought a battery!
Lately, they have been mostly a cell phone /service provider outlet anyway so ........"Sprint -RS"?. .. why not....will it really be that much of a change?.😱
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