Radio Shack ask the "DIY Community" for Input

Radio Shack is a mass marketer. They're not likely to make huge sales gains marketing to us Ham Radio types. Particularly to the number of hams who still build things. But any help is appreciated, at least by me. They came through for me last weekend. The memory backup battery in my little used 440 HT was dead. Oh yes... it is a Realistic HTX-404 bought years ago when the Shack was closing out their ham gear. I went on line and found a ham who posted how to replace the soldered in battery with a coin battery and holder. He even gave the Mouser Electronics part number for the battery holder. It was Saturday morning and I wanted to have that HT ready as a back up for my normal 440 HT for a Sunday public service event. I went on the Radio Shack web site, did a parts search and found they stocked the exact same battery holder. Plus the web site let me know my local store had it in stock. I got the battery, battery holder and had it installedin the HT inside of an hour. And I guess that makes my HTX-404 still 100% Radio Shack, including the AA alkaline batteries I bought for it there. So while they don't stock everything, I do appreciate them for what they do stock. Of course more parts wouldn't hurt!
Don WA3HGW

 

Remember their failed Tech-something online store? They had some good stuff -- higher quality than MPJA and some of the other sellers. Bought an inexpensive 20 MHz scope from them -- still working good.

 

IMO, and it's only an opinion since I never worked there nor had anything to do with RS, if they simply returned to the roots that made them successful a long time ago, it would probably work.

When a company is public, they usually have deep pockets a while, at least until shareholders get tired of losing money and stop investing.

A "new face" who is committed to changing their theme and idiology would probably work not only for the GP but for the shareholders. If I were the new face, the first thing I'd tell the shareholders and the GP is "this is the dawn of a new era -- we're returning to our roots, and should have done this 15 years ago."

They cannot compete with Verizon et al sellling cell phones and subscriptions, as they are not a provider and as a reseller have a markup that makes them non-competitive.

That was a monumentally stupid idea.

 

I gave them my two cents worth - adjusted for inflation, probably worth a nickel.

 

Regarding the heavy "hamspeak"

Remember the "marketing people" have no idea what "HT" or "SW" even means. What the heck is a "2m mobile" etc etc etc?

These guys aren't hams and don't understand the language.

 

Having owned stock since it got you a 10% discount on a Model 1 computer, I can tell you regular stockholders now get treated like crap. We used to get 10% off every purchase, every day. Employees got another 10% off, so I got 20% off when I working there in high school. Not sure if the employees still get any discounts, but stockholder discounts went to Xmas only, then one single purchase during Xmas, then nada.

I started with 10 shares, which split and split -- now I have 120 shares, which gets me $60 or $80 dividend (I forget which) at the end of the year. And the stock value is in the toilet, compared to April '07.

My last purchase? An overpriced 6-foot serial cable for a new radio because it was a weekend and I didn't want to drive 65 miles round trip to the office to get one out of the junk box.

 

Electronic components, we need a larger variety. I know that you can not stock each store with the large volume of components. How about you place a book with large inventory of items in your store, and offer a 2-day delivery, from stock out of a warehouse. How about electronics project books that contain projects `with your stock components. How about project kits of good quality. Useful ham kits, with quality professional looking cases. We are always offered cheap worthless kits through other dealers. How about kits with the old Archer quality or better. Please bring the word RADIO back to the shack. If not change the name to something like The Phone Shack, so that true DIY's will not look your direction. Right now we are offered those small little drawers of components, that are not replenished. Take a look at the MFJ brand. Research what they have to offer, and build it better. It has obtained a nickname, mighty fine junk. They have good ideas, but very poor quality. I have a good inventory of their equipment. I do not mind spending a little more on good equipment that works well and has some quality to it. I STILL LOOK AT Ebay for the Archer brand name equipment. I have a Radio Shack VOM. It was of good quality, and built very much like the Simpson 260, the industry standard of test equipment. Please go back to that industry standard. Oh, and please print a catalog. Those were nice. With your catalog, I would check there first, before looking anywhere else. I remember having a 1963 Radio Shack Catalog. I was only 12 at the time. I wore the covers off of it. Then the next pages and so fourth. I grew up looking at the Radio Shack, Lafayette, Heath Kit, knight Kit magazines. I did not have any money at the time, but those were my best possessions. I bought a Radio Shack DX-150 new. I later bought 2, DX-160’s used, and after that, a DX-394 used, and still have it. I enjoyed them very much. I enjoyed it when you sold the Alinco brand of ham radio.

Robert Snyder

 

I am going to put my 2 1/2 cents in too. Food for thought for Mister Radio Shack man.
Rem
K6BBQ

 

Very very much, THIS!

Seriously, people they are NOT going to change their marketing focus because some ham radio operators, many of which still have their heads in the 50s spout off.

They aren't going to start selling amatuer radios or other radio gear, unless they will sell ALOT.

Forget "highly trained techs/salesmen". If YOU don't know what you need, perhaps you need to look it up before going there. Unless you want to pay their saleries. Hell the guy/girl probably sits in a largely empty store half the time.

They MAY however listen to some focus, ideas and minor (to them) changes in their parts and supplies and tool catalogue and standards of quality, presented factually and respectfully.

It is VERY nice to be able to pop down there, and get some solder, some wire some other components. It drives me nuts when you guys rag and rag and rag on them, yes it would be nice if RADIO shack had more radio focus, but they are in business to sell stuff and radio stuff clearly isn't selling so much.

They are an odd niche, as someone mentioned, they are trying to sell phones, and the first place I think of a phone... is NOT radio shack.

But I personally appreciate that they at least have SOME stuff for me, and would appreciate you all not RUNNING that little bit they do off by running off your 'litest mouth!

Thanks.. sorry for the bit of hostility, I just don't understand the shack bagging.

Sure, bad quality coax, I get that, but bagging on them for sales staff knowledge, or not having things that don't make them a profit, like they should cater to YOU.

 

The Best Thing Radio Shack Can Do Is Close. The Merchandise they sell is JUNK allways was,and now with the internet available ...Good Bye

 

A couple months back I went in to pick up some stuff but like usual they were out, I made a comment to the employee Christina their DIY section was dwindling. Shes only 23-years-old so I started to educate her on the good old days of Tandy and how Im a third generation alumni of Radio Shack. I noticed their anti-static mat kit was on closeout for $10 and picked that up along with a couple RF chokes. After she rung up the sale she mentioned the survey on the receipt and how I have the chance to win $10,000. At that point I got really excited, not at the chance to win $10,000, but at the chance to tell Radio Shack how I feel. So for the last couple of months, every purchase I've made I filled out a survey telling them how nationwide interest in ham radio and scanners is actually going up and not down as some people believe. I left them links to statistics showing the number of licensed amateur radio operators is up. I pointed them to websites like ARRL, qrz.com, radioreference.com and even told them to check out some of the hobby lists on Yahoo Groups.

If everyone took the time to fill out a survey and showed Radio Shack just how much they mean to us like they did from the 1950s through the 1990s, they could probably bounce back in a year or two. This would mean not having to drive 20 miles to HRO or AES to buy some coax or spend the minimum shipping/credit card costs plus a $10 shipping fee from an online retailer when all you need are a couple resistors or a capacitor. It really sucks going in there and only seeing cellphones, GPS units, DVD players, TVs and stereos. You can get that stuff at any Best Buy, Target, Kmart or Fry's, but there are generations of hobbyists and engineers that need some place in the neighborhood to shop because sometimes one cant wait four days for an order to arrive from Florida or New York.

Think about it, do you really want to drive 20 miles to HRO at the last minute on Field Day because you misplaced some coax? I dont know about you but I like the idea of being able to drive 3 minutes to my local Radio Shack to pick up an SWR meter or 10 meter rig. We all know those HTX-10's and HTX-100's still sell like hotcakes here on QRZ and on Ebay. But does Radio Shack?

 

It's too bad Radio Shack has gone the way of electronic appliance dealers by selling cell phones, camcorders, and other less essential products - all of which can be found at Wal-Mart for much cheaper. I remember going to RS as a kid in the early 1970's and listening to the shortwave radio and having a "knowledgeable" salesperson help explain what I was listening to. Several of my favorite stores in San Francisco were then staffed with active hams going to engineering school who would spend what seemed like hours helping me put together a parts list for my projects.

Somehow, I doubt this DIY outreach campaign will really pan out. RS has been out of the DIY business for so long, and several smaller companies and helped fill this void, they can't make the shift. It's really too bad!

 

Thanks for plugging this... yeah, RADIO Shack is getting a huge feedback to their "DIY Question" video... hopefully they'll take the responses on their blog to heart!

 

<scratched>

 

No, not "always was..." Check out the online Radio Shack Catalog Archive site: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/ Look at their roots in the earliest catalogs... they were a ham radio heaven! It is sad what they've become, but extremely encouraging to see the massive response to their "DIY Question" video on their blog!