"Radio Shack" predicted to disappear in the next year.

Consumer Electronics made in China...buy them at Best Buy or Wal-Mart... When was the last time Wal-Mart offered 50 ohm coax? I have bought coax connectors at Radio Shack in a pinch, other than that they don't offer much, except junk...perhaps they can go into business with MFJ...

 

Same story as GM. It's expensive to maintain different brands.

 

The times are a changing- and I don't like it...Oh the good ole' days- bunch of electronic parts and new fangeled computers...Radio Shack RIP

 

Maybe - Maybe Not

I remember the RadShack's I went to in Tech school, went in there so much the sales folks sometimes asked me what a customer was really asking about. Another one appreciated the business I was sending their way. No other store has been around that long and supported a more varied product line. Realistic started out cheap, then went medium quality. The parts were the same you could get from the online stores, but you didn't have to wait a week for them in the pre-Inet days.

They may be declining, but I will miss them when/if they area gone. At least the sales tax "helped" the local economy.

 

A long post with some history etc...

I worked for them when I first got out of the military in the early 70's. I had fun, as did a couple of my high school buddies working in a couple of different Shacks. There was a lot of competition forming on the CB radio front, and of course, there was the 8 Track tape competition, who had the best players, radios with tape decks and so on. We did OK with the home stereo stuff too, but many of us who had been in the service, and overseas found there was better stuff, and a LOT cheaper when we were over there. We were getting K-Mart, Ames, and other discount stores popping up, and they had the "compact stereo" units cheap. Tape deck, tuner, amp, and turntable all in one. They were CHEAP compared to the individual parts, and gave those who wanted a stereo on a budget the chance to have one. RS had theirs too, but couldn't compete on price. We had to sell them on (then) quality, and service. You "might" get another one if you took it back to a discount store, but otherwise, YOU had to ship it back to the mfg. At RS, you could bring it in, sometimes one of us could fix it, and send you home with it, otherwise, we shipped it to our repair facility for you, at no charge if it was in warranty. Scanners were also coming along quickly. We were selling them pretty good too. We kept crystals in stock for all agencies around us, and ordered others. CB's were a great seller at first, but then we were fighting some of the independent shops who were selling them almost at cost, just to try to cut RS out. I remember when Lafayette dumped a bunch of money in the 8 track stuff, and "Quad" sound as I recall. RS went towards the cassette industry. RS survived, and Lafayette went under. I don't know if that is why, but it was at the same time... RS bought speakers from Utah Speaker. Utah was needing some investment money, and approached RS. RS wanted to "buy into the company", and Utah didn't want to give up anything to them. Utah went under when RS started buying ALL their speakers from Japan. Oh yes, it was JAPAN long before China, or Taiwan!!! Earlier, it was Allied Radio, and Radio Shack. Radio Shack bought Allied Radio/Electronics (I think that's the right wording), and sort of merged everything under Radio Shack. I don't know if Allied is still around, I had not thought about them for a long time, until now... They sold a lot of electronic parts, and test gear. Allied Radio had kits, and factory assembled gear, Ham, CB, Stereo, TV, and test gear at one time. When RS went to selling computers, was when I first saw a big change. They had some trouble at times, with keeping up with other companies, like with their IBM PC laptops. Many bought from them, because they were close, and still had quality stuff. They had their Ham stuff as well. I remember some great antennas from them, Ham and CB at the time. Oh, and LOTS of parts for almost any project or repair. But, with the computers, the parts started to go. Then the Ham gear, and GOOD SWL gear. Then the CB stuff, and antennas for all hobbies. They gave up their TV antennas as they were once a great seller of those. You could buy a TV, or a Cell Phone though, but if you didn't have cable, or live in an area with good cell service, there were no really good antennas to help out. They had connectors for them though. Yes, they have had a good run. I am sad to see it go away, but I an afraid it is just as everything else, there is a time and place, and when it is no longer needed, it is buried, crushed, or put in a museum... I am not sure where Radio Shack will be. As for Tandy, I see very little of their Leather Products anymore, and I doubt Color Tile is still a business of theirs... Sure wish Mr. Tandy was still here, to lead these folks in the right direction, but alas, we had to bury him...

P.S.
The accuracy of this is based on my own recollection, which I assure you will be entirely different from yours. If you don't like or agree with mine, I probably won't like or agree with yours, I like fairness

 

...and amateur radio.

 

I agree. If you watch old hams argue at hamfests over the junk parts bins trying to turn a dime into a dollar, you'd agree that catering to hams is a losing business idea.

That's no excuse for rude sales people. The new motto for Radio Shack is now: "You've got rude sales people, we've got foreclosure".

 

I remember when RCA moved their stuff in it was completely redo of the stores, everything would look the same, every store would carry the same stuff, very mechanical process. Small stores with great service can kill these stores and they have.

 

Radio Shack - You have questions?, we have New Phones!

 

Every time you use your credit card or debit card at a bricks and mortar store ,you get your info transmitted over the internet.You are more likely to get cc info or checking account info stolen by the barely employed crack heads at the local Walmart/RadioShack etc than over the internet UNLESS you have no idea how to use the internet safely or securely ,in which case you shouldnt even be on this website or any like it.

I still use RadioShack from time to time but as has already been posted many times ,the site that posted these predictions knows as much about business survival as RS knows about ham radio

 

The warranty is only valid for the lifetime of Radio Shack.

When I was a teenager, I would go to the local Radio Shack (across from Sonny's, who has the best steak hoagie on earth). I would lust after the TRS-80 computer, which on my meager wages I would never be able to afford. But the manager was cool and let me bang away on the store demo to my hearts content.

Now, you can't even buy a push up mast at the local Radio Shack. A pity, because if they did, I'd buy two and put my G5RV between the two.

Now my go to place is the internet. Gigaparts in Huntsville, Alabama gets my cash for radio and computer related stuff.

As for various other hardware type things, we have a Lowes in town, but the Ace Hardware is closer, they always say "Hello! Can I help you?" when you walk in the door, and if I were to need a left nostril inhaler with the state seal on it, they probably have one in the back. If they don't, they can usually come up with several substitutions that would work as well, or better, than the thing you were looking for in the first place.

 

I knew it wouldn't be long the day I saw golf clubs being sold at a radio shack not too far from here. Good riddance as far as I'm concerned. I haven't been in a radio shack for a while now.

 

I bought the last one my local store had. It was in the clearance section. Sigh.

 

Hey, guys, it's not just Radio Shack! I use a wireless provider for internet service and can't get my Echolink software to work on their system. They block too many ports. I spoke to a service tech and described my problem. His response: "What is amateur radio?"

 

Radio Shack has indeed done themselves in ...

It is true that the store is no longer geared towards the electronic hobbyist, let alone Hams. They have chased the market and tried to keep up with changing times and ... make money. This is all common sense and decent business practice.

I believe the reason they are going out of business is their method of collecting information upon your check out. Last time I was there I swore I'd never shop there again. I had gone in for some simple little item, I forget now if it was an insulator or phone plug or something, but it was a simple little sale.

I hadn't really been there in a long time ... it had changed at that point (mid 90s) into a home electronics store. I was grilled at the check out counter for my name, telephone number, address ... sheesh. I didn't want to give it to them, but they insisted. I was put on the spot where I either gave them my information or I'd have to shop elsewhere.

I made something up, left the store and never returned.

This is more than likely why they will go out of business. Good riddance to them!

Robert Ke1sey