Radio Shack ask the "DIY Community" for Input

I replied to the blog and it was posted almost instantly. I hope I wasn't too critical but I offered some suggestions. My dad and I ran a RS back in the day when Health Kit was still around and it was a Tandy company. I really miss the tube tester and all the cool stuff you could build. Anyway, I hope I was helpful. My main complaint also is that there staff is pretty much clueless. I hope I helped though. It was a great opportunity to give my opinion. Thanks.

 

I went in to Radio Shack and the young man asked me if he could help me. I asked where are the strain insulators. He didn't know what they were. I told him they were for an antenna I was working on. He took me to the CB antennas. I found them on my own, then proceeded to show them to him, and explain what they were. Those poor employees don't know anything except how to sell cell phones, and they don't do a good job of that.

 

Cramer said in January that they were the #3 company in America on his "most likely to die in 2011" list. Their business model has been skewed to selling cell phone and satellite service. Somewhere along the way they "lost" their way.

 

Tables full of old HAM junk...No thanks!

 

I have recently stopped by RS pretty often..... on my way out to HRO because RS did not have what I needed. HRO is only better because they carry many of the things Hams need, but our local store (Sunnyvale CA) employees are not nearly as helpful as I would like. When I am in there I have to know all of the right questions in order to pry out the information I am looking for. Very frustrating to get abbreviated answers to detailed questions.

I heard a guy (Red) ragchewing this morning saying he was at the Sunnyvale HRO a little while ago and the staff was not giving a new Ham any help at all with the mag-mount antenna and radio he had just purchased, so Red took the time to help the kid out right there in the HRO parking lot (the store was not busy at the time so they had no excuse). This isn't RS's problem, but it is what they are competing with.

Wouldn't it be nice if Radio Shack could give HRO a run for their money in competition? Now that is what I would like to see out of Radio Shack!

 

"You've got questions, we've got cellphones"

RS keeps trying to re-invent itself without success.

1/4 of the store is a giant cellphone display.

Anytime a product seems to sell, its immediately replaced by a RS private label product which gives a higher % markup.

Most store's budget is so small that if you need anything that costs more that $100, the only one that they have is the display and if you need 2 of that item, they have to call around to the other stores to find one.

As I have been told by several store managers, please totally disregard the on-line inventory listing -- if it says online that the store has 2 of something, it means that they don't have any.

Most managers spend their time re-arranging the store every few weeks, when the new latest layout comes down from Ft. Worth. That which was on the right-hand wall last week in now on the left-hand wall, etc.

 

radio shack or we called s@#t shack

First stop spamming me3 or 4 tines a day!
and stop finding way to get around my spam filter.
# 2 I just don't like the greeting thing as in ather stores , like bestbuy.
I know it cut bown on shinkige(lose of profets by theft) but it can get real old and real fast
U need a good catalog like they use to hav so all u need is to giv a # to the clueles and get a "yes we hav that"
of course thay nead 2 Kater to the hobbyest with more part and such.
OMG when young and in thos days I was in to billeding sw cristal radios,regen reicivers , chinken band and such.
thay had a lot of part to work with but thay cant compeet with the prices on the inter net.

Here it is .thay need 2 create a new fan bace that needs the part now,willing 2 pay more ,insted of wating four UPS to cum to the door with those cheep internet parts.

Thank you and please if the spelling is off I was the head ingery I got in the army
Its just not the same as I was. But thay rebillet me thy made me slower,weeker ,but but I still here! Mike n2lie All I want is mi smile back

 

The beginner Ham needs a source of local hardware for antennas, radios and accessories. I think MFJ enterprises has some good starter kits. Kits are important. They teach soldering and basic troubleshooting skills. Small HF radios with lots of features are nice, but what a new or even young Ham needs is good band coverage, stability, reasonable power level and the most basic features. The Ten Tec 555 was a good example...not a kit but it was a good starter rig. I would like to see an HF transceiver that is not qrp, at least 50 watts out, on bands 80 through 10 that uses cw or phone. A new ham does not care if it is small. He just wants reliability and value. the Heathkit lines were wonderful radios...not much features, but they got me on the air and taught me some skills. MFJ has single band radios. I already suggested to them to make a multiband version in kit form. Perhaps you could beat them to it. It is a shame to have to buy several single band rigs to duplicate circuitry. Then the cost begins to get excessive. The cost of the upper end radios is beyond my budget. I currently use a Kenwood TS430s. I dont need the memories or processor, just to talk, use rtty and cw...pretty simple requirements. Elecraft is on the right track...with options that can be added as desired. In a nut shell: STABILITY, and value. The hobby would most likely grow some if new, low budget hams did not have to resort to used or qrp to start out. Thank you for asking.

 

I managed a company-owned Radio Shack store many years ago. When CB, telephones and accessories, kit building, TV Tubes, and TV antennas were the big selling items. Sold a ton of 75 ohm coax (TV) and accessories. And of course how can anybody forget the TRaSh-80 computer product line. They used to be pretty leading edge. Although some of the Realistic line was overpriced and not as advanced as other name brands on the market at the time.

With online, EBay, Amazon, Ham dealers, etc. I don't think Radio Shack has a chance. I agree they have become the 7-11 of electronic stores. They tried a "Frys Electronics Model" with "Incredible Universe" superstores, but that flopped.

Since a Fry's Electronics moved in, I purchase some electronics there. Ham related products are usually ordered online and purchased at hamfest and like this weekend Dayton Hamvention. BTW company-owned stores were in competetion with "mail order" stores. You could purchase computer systems for 20-30% less than company-owned stores. And the retail company-owned stores had to support purchases from mail order stores which really sucked.

Anyway, I don't see them being a player for very much longer. Of course many have said that for years.. and they are still with us.

Take care!

73, K9BAY

 

One thing you folks need to remember is there are company stores, and there are dealers.

Dealers are typically existing businesses located in small towns that take on a limited Radio Shack product line in addition to whatever they normally sell. They typically have some say-so in what they carry, and the items they don't have in stock are ordered and shipped to the store. Yes, there are still places without a WalMart or a 24-hour convenience store.

Company stores are in the big cities, owned by Radio Shack and run by actual Radio Shack employees who are told what to stock, how to stock it, when to poop, when to eat, etc... The focus is on high-margin items which will require a service contract, accessories, cables, etc... What little they have for the hobbyist is probably the top 150 or so items with a steady sales history. They occasionally throw out some "educational" stuff like the Basic Stamps or the robot kits, but nothing good.

Whine all you want to, but you should be happy you can at least find various connectors and adapters, some solder and maybe a fuse or LED.

 

Two complaints about Radio Shack:
1) If I wanted components I would go to a big box store - stock more PARTS! There are a lot of people still around that build and fix things themselves!
2) TRAIN YOUR CLERKS! If I walk into a RS and ask for a BNC to PL-259 adapter or a stereo headphone wye, I don't expect to have some high school science drop-out standing in front of me stammering like a blithering idiot! If they don't understand, at least they should be smart enough to ask what I'm talking about! I wouldn't trust some of them to put batteries in a flashlight!!!

 

I sometimes think that the big hardware stores like Lowes or Home Depot should have a cabinet of small electronic components much like what Radio Shack has. i.e, basic resistors, capacitors and a few other things.

Getting people in the door is a big part of retailing so it seems like it would be good for them so long as nobody really expected the staff to know much about it.

 

Radio Shack in UK aka Tandy

Here in the UK Radio Shack (RS = RadioSpares, something different!) were in the High Street and shopping centres as "Tandy". Tandy disappeared from the High Street many years ago, and their market seems to have been taken over by Maplin http://www.maplin.co.uk/ although Maplin do not have the same number of town centre or off centre locations.

There was a Tandy in my home town, who had a reasonable stock of basic components but they drifted towards mobile phones, lost the more knowledgable staff (they DID have some!!) and ended up disappearing almost overnight in about 1999 with the store becoming a Carphone Warehouse outlet.

I still have some unused components in Tandy bags, many more having actually been used! Also a PRO-2039 VHF/UHF FM/AM scanner under the "Realistic" badge which I bought in about 1994 and which has been working fine ever since. Still in use to monitor local repeaters and aviation frequencies and has never been a problem.

Hopefully Radio Shack in the US won't go the same way as Tandy in the UK. But the ball is in their court, and they KNOW what happened in the UK!

73

John G3YRZ

 

Thank you for providing that juicy tidbit. I used to be a heavy shopper
at RS but since the store became less viable for finding parts I have drifted away. It still has some of the items that I need but like others
I usually will just go online and order what I want and wait.
I would love to see a regional parts store that does stock quantity
of items of interest to builders and folks who maintain electronics items.
Hope they take a good listen to our requests and try something that
will keep them open in the future!
WA2NTW

Radio Shack is asking the "DIY community" what they would like to see in Radio Shack stores. Click the link below to learn more and leave your input.

 

If the share holders can see a good profit in Ham radio gear, and in selling or continue to sell components then it will happen.
If not then you will see more cell phones and cheap kids toys as that is where the profit is.
Years ago Radio Shack was Ham Radio, SW Radio and Broad Cast sets and back when most radios were home brewed they
carried parts that sold to the hobbyist.
To for the most part we live in a throw away society and that is how the industry is geared. Right or Wrong that is a fact.
The original intent of Radio Shack was top sell the items that the hobbyist wanted or needed and now it is for the most part cell phones,TV's and other stuff not radio equipment.
Now the only way I see that RS will begin selling Ham related gear and more components is if the Stock Holders can see a good profit..
And about hiring knowledgeable employee's? The college educated bean counters that have never worked behind a sales counter figure it is cheaper to hire some one that knows nothing
then pay for knowledge.
The problem as I see it is you can not teach common since in College!
I would love to see Ham Radio gear and have employees that could learn enough to help the customer and come across as some one that knew some thing instead of nothing.
But this is the direction most big names are heading. Order takers instead of a Salesman.
I would instead like to see RS have more in store education and training so when asked by a customer about an item they would at least know which direction to go instead confusion!
How would it be to walk into a RS and see something like a KX3 or 2,6, or 10 meter radios. or have them available in the catalogues and be able to order them for you.
We live in a Capitalist system and if there is a good enough profit in it the company will sell it!
There has to be a profit in Ham gear or there would not be a HRO, AES, GIGAPARTS, and other Ham radio shops.
I hope the powers to be in RS take what we say and talk it over and find away to carry radio gear once more but I can not hold my breath that long.