RadioShack into bankrupcy...

[Externet]

With a steep decreasing activity in hobbiysts since the nineties, quadrupling prices and focusing in cell telephony, it has been a long downhill.

It served us very well, and the substitute today is the internet to get gadgets and parts. Another neighborhood mom and pop going belly up.
As far as I can remember, everything I bought from RS worked well for a long time.

Sad times. Kids into playing Nintendos instead of learning electronics skills.

[dacflyer]

soon there might be no one into electronics repair or hobby...sad to say..hell i cannot find anyone in my town into hobby electronics. i think the collages are doing stuff, but nothing out side of that realm.

[Janitor Tzap]

Yeah,

I kinda seen this coming.

Though, the last time I bought something from a Radio Shack store was some NICAD Telephone Battery Packs that were in the Discontinued Discount Bin.

I haven't ordered any parts from them of late.
Because most of today's electronics are SMD, or use physically smaller components,
and the limited number of parts RS keeps in stock at some stores are old, and physically larger.
Or the component specifications just won't work in the circuit I'm repairing, or building.

Yes,
they have the online catalog.
But if is going take several days to get the part, and there is the cost of shipping.
There are other electronic dealers who, can supply the part, but at a lower price.
The idea behind the RS Stores was a place your could run down too,
like the local Hardware store to get some parts.
It was convenient.

I remember back in the 70's getting a RS Crystal Radio kit.
And they had other kits, and test equipment you'd buy,
or to build the test equipment yourself.
I eventually then went to the local Heathkit store,
and bought several build it yourself test equipment,
and my AR-1650 Stereo Receiver.


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[haklesup]

Well, when they are gone, there will be that many more Starbucks to replace the storefronts. Seems to be the only business model that can support that many storefronts or maybe a convenient mart, maybe they should have changed to the "Snack Shack". Food and hot coffee seem to be immune to the internet onslaught.

While the types of electronics hoppy activities have changed and the places where we meet have become virtual, I do think there is still a robust community out there, its just not so visible and for the most part, more sophisticated than the previous generation. RS always had ridiculous markups on components, Fortunately there are still a few surplus stores left in silicon valley

RS totally missed the boat for internet sales, they could have been Digikey but were too focused on consumer sales ties to consider B to B models. There were several things they could have done years ago to survive but it is too late now, they are just trying to make a soft landing now.

[Lenp]

They were my go-to place on Saturday for a handful of widgets but the widget hooks were in time replaced with telephones and toys. For years I bought boxes full of merchandise that was returned or discontinued at pretty low prices from several store managers. At one time all the kids in my neighborhood had the flashing fireman hats. RS products were not always top quality in construction. I bought several cases of their full size 'Pro' series stereo headsets for a dollar each that were produced with stereo cords but mono plugs! It was in those days I realized that FCC registration for telephone products did not infer quality. Many of the phones that were returned failed because of sloppy wiring and bad soldering.

Quite a few successful store managers were moved from their stores to an under achiever store to pull them back up. That accomplished, the manager was often mover again until he quit. They served a purpose but lost sight of their motto: America's Technology Store.
I had to constantly re-register when I bought batteries since their servers kept dumping the database but the flyers I got in the mail said 'occupant.
We all remember the 'CueCat' hype, the hacks that let It read other barcodes, and it's eventual demise!

Looks like they will go alongside Lafayette Radio.....

[jwax]

Sad to see them go. Like others, a Saturday stop would yield a connector, a pot, or a switch that was needed to finish a project. We only have one or two old-fashioned electronics stores left here around Albany, NY. I would love to see a "Fry's" store here! (Used to live in silicon valley)

Only good thing is there may be a store closeout sale, selling buckets of components for cheap.

[Lenp]

Close out sale you say! Will there be anything of value?
I'll bet places like All Electronics could grab it up in huge lots and sell it below the RS close out prices.
Look where tons of our military surplus goes, to huge overseas buyers! We don't get a shot at it like in years past.

[Joseph]

I remember going there to get the free monthly battery. I often browsed the racks of parts, and might still have some of their Archer brand components stored away somewhere.

[Externet]

A couple of days ago, went to my nearest RS store. Belly up. No more. Gone.

[Lenp]

From mall mega stores to a corner in the back of a mid-west hardware store, the corporate gurus staffed them with indifferent people with minimal product knowledge, and ignored a cardinal business principle. 'You have to sell, what people buy' Much of their later product line was stuffed with clap-trap high profit junk reminiscent of the post war Japanese imports.

I remember buying a large spool of RS branded microphone cable. It was ok with a simple low-z microphone, but, if the mic used phantom power it was so noisy when moved it sounded like cold solder joints. I returned the cable and the 'sales expert' insisted I needed to use their contact cleaner on the connectors to make it work! Well. maybe he was right,
... The can said "reduces electrical noise"
In my area years ago there were many distributors who also have become history. Tough for the old school 'parts houses' to even make a dent in the enormous capabilities of the online giants like Mouser, Digi-Key, Allied,Newark and all the rest. I

t's a David and Goliath, or Radio Shack and Toys-R-Us story!

[haklesup]

Well, there is one thing left of RS you can buy, the name. Don't expect it to go away forever, they are trying to sell the brand in auction and Sprint among others may scoop it up. Who knows what it will be after a transition, possibly just a cell phone store

[dyarker]

t's a David and Goliath, or Radio Shack and Toys-R-Us story!

hee, hee; in the mall here, the Toys-R-Us closed first.

The real surprise is- What kept Radio Shack going for the 10 years?

[MrAl]

Hi,


We all knew this was going to happen sooner or later, i am surprised it wasnt sooner.

They are keeping the on line store as far as i know, and there will still be some physical stores. You might find a list of the physical stores that are staying open online somewhere. We lost our store in town however so now we have to go a few towns over.

A lot of times when i rode by there i would check to see if they were still there. I expected someday to see them gone anyway, so it's no surprise at all to me.

It a name that big cant stay open, it's because they didnt know how to manage it and market products anymore. Might as well get rid of them and hope someone with some real know how gets in there instead.

[dacflyer]

Dyarker >>> mostly cell phones...

radio shack ( shit shak ) started going down hill when they stopped carrying home audio ,
and car audio. they cut back on a lot of electronics parts..and the workers were total dumbsh*ts
sometimes.. i used to love to go in and tease the newbies..
asking for fuse repair kits, 20amp aluminum foil etc. they'd just look at me totally lost.
there was times they would sell me all their returns, defects etc for cents on the dollar, i'd drag it all home fix it and resell it...or scrap it and use parts for other things..

[MrAl]

Hi,

I've had my ups and downs with them.

In the last 1970's i got a nice stereo from them.
I also bought a pack of like 10 diodes and only one or two worked and when i brought them back to the store the guy told me, "That's par for the course". He eventually took them back though.

Over the years in general i've found many things i needed. Sometimes the stuff was overpriced, maybe too many times, but sometimes it wasnt. I got a nice pair of cutting pliers for five dollars USD, which is about right.
I have also found wire and other stuff there in a pinch.

So overall i still have to say that i am glad they where there for the time they were there, and still it would be better to see them stay than go, but they are in control of that not me so they left.

It will be interesting to see how long the remaining stores stay active, and even the online store.

I also hated to see Lafayette go long time ago. I got my very first (analog) meter from them way way back, maybe in the 1960's. I still have it today and only stopped using it because i got a bigger face meter more recently that has better (analog) resolution.