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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2015 23:04:11 GMT -5
This may finally be the year that it is all over. I went to a store on Naaman's Road in Delaware, and the manager told me that everything was 25% off and likely the store was closing. She had not received a shipment since mid December. I asked her how long she was a manager, and she told me 3 years. I told it is good experience and you should be able to catch on to something else. I could see the disappointment in her face, but she could also see the disappointment in my face.
A quick google shows that they do not even have enough money to close all the stores. So they are doing it a handful at a time. Their pay is abysmal.
I hope they can salvage the name and become a web based store based on their true heritage. It is just sad to remember all that eye candy that I could never afford as a kid.
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Post by No Streak on Jan 20, 2015 5:57:51 GMT -5
It was a great store at one time. A shame they got away from their true calling as a great electronic store. Now it's mostly a cell phone store. Sad  |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 20, 2015 7:38:52 GMT -5
This may finally be the year that it is all over. I went to a store on Naaman's Road in Delaware, and the manager told me that everything was 25% off and likely the store was closing. She had not received a shipment since mid December. I asked her how long she was a manager, and she told me 3 years. I told it is good experience and you should be able to catch one to something else. I could see the disappointment in her face, but she could also see the disappointment in my face. A quick google shows that they do not even have enough money to close all the stores. So they are doing it a handful at a time. Their pay is abysmal. I hope they can salvage the name and become a web based store based on their true heritage. It is just sad to remember all that eye candy that I could never afford as a kid. I predicted this would come back in 2011. Looks like it took a little longer than I had forecast at the time. But it was inevitable. Radio Shack once was a unique store that catered to the electronic hobbyist. They added component stereo, and other consumer electronics to round out their offering, and to give it a less "surplus-y parts" feel, and more like a mainstream retail store feel. During the 1970's the CB and scanner fad was a sales boom for RS, and that drew people in for other related products as well. When CB died, they bet the farm on the fledgling home computer market. But their offerings eventually became overshadowed (and underpriced) by the hundreds of other PC-clones that became available. Their next "big thing" was cell phones. But as we all know, you can buy cell phones just about anywhere, right from the major carriers. And while RS was jumping from one "big thing" to the next, they were slowly crowding out their core business of all types of radios, parts and supplies for the electronic experimenter. So by their own decision to try to become more "mainstream", they got their butts kicked by the Best Buys and other big box consumer electronic stores. Had they kept to their eclectic electronic roots, they may have fared better. Yes, the electronic hobby has changed a lot in the last 50 years, but RS could have kept up with the latest trends in electronic hobbies. It's really a shame that I will no longer have a local brick and mortar store to buy a quick part that I need, and that I'll have to buy all of my parts exclusively by mail-order. I honestly believe RS missed their niche market while they were busy trying to chase the big fish. At least they outlived Lafayette by 3 decades. RIP |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 20, 2015 8:53:26 GMT -5
in light of Radio Shack's imminent demise, here's an interesting parts supplier, with some good prices: www.mpja.com/ |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jan 20, 2015 13:03:13 GMT -5
At least us local guys have... www.kemnerenterprises.com/ A little pricey on some things, but I'd rather hand my cash over to a hard-working local guy than some massive corporation. |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 20, 2015 19:59:29 GMT -5
At least us local guys have... www.kemnerenterprises.com/ A little pricey on some things, but I'd rather hand my cash over to a hard-working local guy than some massive corporation. Ah, that's right! I forgot about him. |
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Post by BBB on Jan 22, 2015 16:48:51 GMT -5
My local RS is turning into a "Clearance Center". Probably going to be taking in stuff from the RS warehouse and other stores that have shuttered. In the mean time everything in the store is 25% off, so myself and another local operator have been helping them reduce there inventory  I stocked up on stuff like diodes, fuses, voltage regulators, Caps, knobs, and a few project boxes. Also scored an AC/DC clamp-on True RMS DVM for $50. Always wanted a DC clamp meter. |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 22, 2015 17:26:15 GMT -5
My local RS is turning into a "Clearance Center". Probably going to be taking in stuff from the RS warehouse and other stores that have shuttered. In the mean time everything in the store is 25% off, so myself and another local operator have been helping them reduce there inventory I stocked up on stuff like diodes, fuses, voltage regulators, Caps, knobs, and a few project boxes. Also scored an AC/DC clamp-on True RMS DVM for $50. Always wanted a DC clamp meter. See, I need to do this before it's too late. I'm not so concerned about common parts, but I'd like to relieve them of radio related stuff like antenna mounts, mast, mobile mirror mounts, maybe a 102" whip, or a dusty 35 year old radio still in the box.......  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2015 12:07:39 GMT -5
Well, looks like the time has finally come. News of selling stores to Sprint and Amazon, and asset sales.
RIP
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Post by MonkeyMan on Feb 4, 2015 14:22:31 GMT -5
Today I made what might be my last stop at RS to pick up a 75 To 300 OHM balun. RIP.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2015 19:03:21 GMT -5
Well, today is the day. They filed for bankruptcy. It's all over.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Feb 6, 2015 7:16:36 GMT -5
Well, today is the day. They filed for bankruptcy. It's all over. Actually, if you read the reports, it's not all over. Yes, many of their stores will close, but they've evidently inked a deal with Sprint, where Sprint will operate most of the remaining stores, and will keep much of RS's branded products, and not just run it as a strictly cell phone store (yech!  ). But now would be the time to seek out the stores that have been converted to "clearance centers" and see if they have some old discontinued radio products tucked away in some dark dusty corner of the store........ |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2015 7:29:12 GMT -5
They did not mention that Sprint would operate with RS products yesterday. I still think they have a chance to become an internet only old school Radio Shack store.
My guess is the name will be sold to a small investor.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Feb 6, 2015 11:54:08 GMT -5
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Post by Night Ranger on Feb 6, 2015 20:01:04 GMT -5
The Radio Shack I knew and loved ceased to exist a long time ago. I think their biggest mistake was discontinuing most of their own brand names and models (like stereos and stereo speakers). Why buy the same brands and models from Radio Shack that you can buy from WalMart or Amazon.com for less? Oh yea...and they stopped carrying the Realistic TRC-451 40 channel sideband mobile, the Realistic Navaho TRC-490 40 channel sideband base, and the 3 element CB beam. The TRC-451 mobile was an even better radio than the original Cobra 148 GTL. : ) Night Ranger |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Feb 6, 2015 23:59:09 GMT -5
The Radio Shack I knew and loved ceased to exist a long time ago. I think their biggest mistake was discontinuing most of their own brand names and models (like stereos and stereo speakers). Why buy the same brands and models from Radio Shack that you can buy from WalMart or Amazon.com for less? Oh yea...and they stopped carrying the Realistic TRC-451 40 channel sideband mobile, the Realistic Navaho TRC-490 40 channel sideband base, and the 3 element CB beam. The TRC-451 mobile was an even better radio than the original Cobra 148 GTL. : ) Night Ranger The TRC-451 was equivalent to the Cobra 146, and it was a great performer, if channel expansion wasn't a priority. For a better channel expansion situation, the TRC-450 would have fit the bill better. Better yet the TRC-449. IMHO, what made Radio Shack great were those products aimed at the electronic hobbyist. I kept hearing the argument that this wasn't a large enough customer base to sustain their business model. Yet it was certainly enough of a customer base to build up their stores from their humble single store beginnings. I think the suits in the front office severely underestimate the number of hobbyists still around. True, they're no longer building tube circuits for the most part, but Radio Shack could have kept pace with the cutting edge of the technologies and trends in the electronic hobby sandbox. Software & hardware tools, Arduino supplies, parts, computer and networking, and yes, even ham radio. SDR general coverage radios would have been interesting. They could have kept up with their component audio and video stuff as well. Where they went wrong was in trying to compete in the consumer widget market, where they were hardly unique. Betting the farm on cell phones? No wonder they went out of business...... |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Feb 7, 2015 20:34:09 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Feb 8, 2015 10:33:01 GMT -5
I wonder if this means the value of my vintage TRS-80 MC-10 will shoot through the roof. |
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Post by Sandbagger on Feb 9, 2015 7:09:31 GMT -5
I wonder if this means the value of my vintage TRS-80 MC-10 will shoot through the roof. Hard to say. There are guys who are already waxing nostalgic for the first generation of home computers, and some of those are worth some decent money in good shape. I would imagine that there will be a bunch of E-Bay sellers who will try to spin Radio Shack's demise (however incomplete it may be), into an excuse to try to gouge people on selling prices. It all depends on what the buyers are willing to believe...... |
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Post by Sandbagger on Feb 27, 2015 6:55:07 GMT -5
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Post by BBB on Mar 1, 2015 8:54:55 GMT -5
I'm assuming their online data base will be going down. That's a shame as I go there to get RS equipment manuals and it went back pretty far. Traveled to the Quakertown RS the other day on a tip that they were selling the electronic parts in "lot" boxes. When I got they every thing was already gone and they were selling the store shelves. Some dude bought the last remaining non-furniture item, a hand truck.
Several other RS stores I've stopped at swear they are staying open. I think it's just BS to make the remaining customers keep shopping. Sad to say, I predict they're all going down. Maybe I'll get to remove a RS store sign someday for the collection.
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 1, 2015 10:46:38 GMT -5
I'm assuming their online data base will be going down. That's a shame as I go there to get RS equipment manuals and it went back pretty far. Traveled to the Quakertown RS the other day on a tip that they were selling the electronic parts in "lot" boxes. When I got they every thing was already gone and they were selling the store shelves. Some dude bought the last remaining non-furniture item, a hand truck. Several other RS stores I've stopped at swear they are staying open. I think it's just BS to make the remaining customers keep shopping. Sad to say, I predict they're all going down. Maybe I'll get to remove a RS store sign someday for the collection. Yea, over at the Warminster store, they also claimed to be remaining open (But unfortunately Woody's BBQ closed ), and the store was pretty much fully stocked. I don't know how that will all shake out. There are entities bidding on the name and presumably will take over those remaining stores. There are also franchise stores who are independent. But I don't know whether Radio Shack branded merchandise will continue to be available and who will be responsible for maintaining the supply. |
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Post by bill on Mar 1, 2015 10:48:52 GMT -5
Perhaps Download as much of the Information as you desire and Save it, or Burn it onto a Disc... Just to ensure you will have access to it... Here are some Realistic Manuals, etc., on another Website www.cbtricks.com/radios/realistic/index.htmI have not scoured the Internet looking for Realistic Radio Info, but perhaps enough is out there, in case Radio Shack shuts their Website down  I was unable to view the List of Closing Stores.... Need to have Microsoft Office Is Southbridge, Massachusetts 01550 on the List Other nearby Stores I too always find myself a Day late, or a Dollar Short in order to take advantage of any Savings I never put 2 plus 2 together but had noticed an increase in Radio Shack Packaged Component Sales on EBay The Merchandise must have come from some of the Stores which closed first It takes Money to make Money... SO, I'm out Any Savings would be nice... I can think of too many Items I'd like to try to get |
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Post by bill on Mar 23, 2015 9:49:37 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 25, 2015 19:17:56 GMT -5
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Post by cbrown on Mar 26, 2015 8:28:06 GMT -5
I just read that too. Amazing, isn't it? I guess customer data is worth money.
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Post by Night Ranger on Mar 26, 2015 21:23:55 GMT -5
I just read that too. Amazing, isn't it? I guess customer data is worth money. I wasted a year of my life working for Radio Shack when I was in my early 20s. They were not an ethical company then either. They treated their employees poorly. Night Ranger |
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Post by cbrown on Mar 27, 2015 9:26:04 GMT -5
Any company that treats people like that deserves to end.
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Post by MonkeyMan on May 8, 2015 13:39:20 GMT -5
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Post by cbrown on May 11, 2015 8:56:02 GMT -5
I may have some loose change around somewhere...  |
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