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Why did Radio Shack fail?

I see, all references to Radio Shack and Tandy will now be in the past tense. Probably someone from China, Inc. will buy their once famous trademarks for their own stuff. $50 "Realistic" Android tablets anyone? LOL .....see also Magnavox, Sylvania, Polaroid and RCA.

BTW did anyone mourn the demise of Circuit City? Although they never came to Europe. Best Buy tried Europe for about a year, and then gave up.

Radio Shack's real glory days are like 30-40 years ago now.
AP7708251181.jpg



I suspect a few former RS stores might continue independently, especially if there's a good radio ham community in the area to support them. Like what happened when RS ceased their UK "Tandy" operation in 1999. Many RS stores are actually franchises, rather than wholly owned company stores. In the UK, Maplin basically serves the retail hobbyist component needs, radio ham, project kits etc, Which was something Radio Shack/Tandy once did.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/

BTW this was always my favourite Radio Shack computer, the Model 100. Used one for years. :)
Radio_Shack_TRS-80_Model_100.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100

However it wasn't designed by RS, it was a Kyocera and just badged as "TRS-80".... the ROM actually contains code written by Bill Gates himself. It was also Kyocera that made many of the Realistic audio systems and CB rigs as well.
 
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I'm anxious to see what my local store does. It is clearly a Radio Shack but most of the sales and service is armature radio related. It's by far the go to spot for such items, new and used, in a three or four state area.
 
olbriar said:
I'm anxious to see what my local store does.
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RadioShack has filed for bankruptcy, will now share its stores with Sprint

Under the terms of the new agreement, Sprint would effectively operate a store within a RadioShack store, occupying approximately one third of the retail space of each location. Sprint employees will sell mobile devices and plans on all Sprint brands including Boost and Virgin Mobile. The stores will be co-branded with Sprint being the primary brand on storefronts and in marketing materials.

...another doomed technology also-ran.
 
Sure, I read the article. My phrasing was poor. I more wonder what the local owner of said Radio Shack is going to do. I could see him gladly closing the store and opening a stand alone ham store. He already has a store within his Radio Shack. I can't see him giving up space to Sprint. He would have no place for all of his amateur gear. It takes most of the floor space now. I think he saw the writing on the wall years ago and decided to not put all of his eggs in one basket.
 
One thing I noticed, not that I know anything about this, is that Radshak always had franchised stores over the years, but 'real' corporations like McDonalds bought them all back over time, guaranteeing their control of the outlets.
 
This is
pastafarian said:
Just went into the local radio shack, haven't been in there in years. Needed an audio cable. Checked the wed site first, $6. A bit high, but it's local. In store? $12 and this is generic find for a buck on ebay quality, not name brand!! Ethernet cables, I'm short a couple. Can buy online ~.75 ea, $1 with free shipping. In the shack, cheapest albeit 3ft is $9.99 (4.99 online). I expect to pay a bit more, not get fleeced. Since Home Depot is around the corner, I found 1ft cables there for $2.65, a buck more for 3ft. The audio cable will have to be ordered online.

Not only is it not surprising they're all but bankrupt, it's surprising they lasted this long.
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because nine times out of 10 they terrible overprice everything to cover the cost of overhead. while you get buy the same items online for way cheaper and not have to drive out to seek it. The stuff they sell is old and outdated and most people are not in need of it. I never buy anything from radioshack because i know i can buy everything online for the 1/5th of the price and i am in no hurry or need to get an electronic item immediately. its not a life or death situation.
 
jefboyardee said:
One thing I noticed, not that I know anything about this, is that Radshak always had franchised stores over the years, but 'real' corporations like McDonalds bought them all back over time, guaranteeing their control of the outlets.
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There was a few Radio Shack/Tandy franchises in the UK, also sold things that weren't "Radio Shack", especially radio ham stuff, like rigs and antennas. And those stores actually continued trading, because it's basically their own business. Probably the same stateside as well. On the hand I've never seen a McDonald's selling anything that isn't "McDonald's", franchise or not. :D

Seems to me that Radio Shack had become a cellphone dealer and selling iPhones and things was their primary concern, and anything else was just incidental.
 
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We just got the list of store closings announced in the paper this morning. It looks like, at least for the time being, all the mall stores are closing while the smaller localized stores seem to be staying open.
 
I wonder if there will be some great sales on NON-sprint devices. Stuff that needs to be moved out.
or are they just going to ship it to a central discounter?
 
Ours has been converted to a prepaid cellular reseller since the early 2000s, but still has some electronic kits left. I think the era of people who fix their own things or build radios and 'Heathkits' is sadly over in favor of our throw away society
 
Heathkit went out of business years ago, probably about the same time that Radio Shack became primarily a cellphone dealer. Most hams don't actually build their own radios any more, they just order a Japanese or Chinese one from Amazon or something.
Kit_HEATHKIT_HW8.JPG

Heathkit ham rig, circa 1960s. Completely analogue, not a single chip, and could be built with just basic tools.


Not necessarily we've become more throw away, plenty of things were discarded and and thrown in the trash decades ago, like transistor radios from Hong Kong. Technology has changed, become much more advanced. Try repairing something like an iPhone to component level, apart from changing the battery, and maybe swapping out complete modules, can't do much else with the thing. Plenty of people are still building PCs, but they're not doing any soldering of components though.

I think the hobbyist and home construction scene is very much still alive, things like Raspberry Pi, but you're not soldering large wire ended components into strip-board any more.

BTW I was a radio ham for over 20 years, not now though because it's extremely difficult for a foreigner to get a "radio-sport" license in the PRC. But I still know many though, in fact went on holiday with them last summer. :)

Radio Shack has been in trouble and had difficulty making a profit since about 2000. It is surprising they did last this long, frequent restructuring, initiatives, refinancing, lay-offs, etc. They haven't always done electronics, Tandy started as a leather company, and Radio Shack was an unprofitable business that Tandy bought into.
 
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It's purely become more economical to just replace things when they break. The electronics of today are not as simple as they used to be. And many of us don't know how to work on them anyway.

Unfortunately for those who do like to work on things, they're not enough to keep places like RS alive. It's the same agony I feel as a person who prefers manual transmissions....watching them disappear because everybody else thinks it's too hard or inconvenient to drive one.
 
my 42in LCD TV is failing.. I might be able to repair it for $100 to $200.
I paid $1000 for it 5 yrs ago.

or I can get a new one with warranty with same specs for $300.

or get a new better spec 42inch LED Smart TV for $500.
or go bigger...

makes it hard to want to "try" to fix things.
 
I got space heaters I bought at Walmart that cost $12. One or two break a few times a year, usually something simple to fix (loose wires, broken switches, dirty heating elements requiring cleaning) but cost nothing to repair. Electrical tape and spare wire. Not hard. I cannot subscribe to throwing things away. My environmental half can't do it.

I have a HDTV (my first actually, Vizio 32") that has two fried HDMI ports. The rest (s - video, component in, antenna in) work fine. The TV works fine. I kept it as a spare in case I needed a second tv or a temporary replacement in the event my new Samsung tv dies.

Whatever is irreparable I gut parts like wire, switches and the like and keep that. Me throwing things like that away are quite rare though. When I buy something I intend to keep it.
 
dan330 said:
my 42in LCD TV is failing.. I might be able to repair it for $100 to $200.
I paid $1000 for it 5 yrs ago.

or I can get a new one with warranty with same specs for $300.

or get a new better spec 42inch LED Smart TV for $500.
or go bigger...

makes it hard to want to "try" to fix things.
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Back in the '60s and '70s. colour TVs could be very expensive, and were definitely worth repairing. Our family couldn't afford to buy one, we had to rent. But like that '60s Heathkit ham rig I posted earlier, components were large, and faults easily diagnosed and fixed. However valved/tubed TVs could be rather unreliable and ran hot. The first solid-state colour TVs, also ran hot and might not have been very reliable either, Thorn 3000 anyone. :D

Most transistor radios on the other hand were basically disposable, and often not worth reparing professionally, ever since the early '60s and mostly made in Hong Kong. Cheap Realistic brand radios were very popular. For a DIY fixer they were quite easy to get going again, usually just crappy soldering.

That was about all the electronics tech we had, TV and radio. Radio Shack's, Science Fair electronic kits were popular, wire ended components and spring clips. Just a few transistors, diodes, resistors, and capacitors, make a radio, small amplifier, Morse oscillator, lie detector, etc. No tools needed at all.
 
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My local Radio Shack still survives. It is THE place to shop for ham equipment for multiple states.
They also do repairs and mods on transceivers. They have a large area of used equipment that they sell on consignment. It's a small market but he has it cornered which has allowed his door to remain open. It has become the meet-up place for many operators. No "cracker barrel" but the place has that feeling about it.
 
olbriar said:
My local Radio Shack still survives. It is THE place to shop for ham equipment for multiple states.
They also do repairs and mods on transceivers. They have a large area of used equipment that they sell on consignment. It's a small market but he has it cornered which has allowed his door to remain open. It has become the meet-up place for many operators. No 'cracker barrel' but the place has that feeling about it.
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That doesn't sound like any RS store we ever had around here. Even in their heyday when Radio Shack actually sold radios it was the HTX handhelds and 10m transceivers, and that's about it. I don't recall them doing repairs or mods at local stores. Sounds like you're really fortunate to have that resource.
They did have a good selection of components (eventually relegated to those metal drawer cabinets) and various electronic doodads like small power supplies and connectors- very handy to have nearby in a pinch.
Fortunately where I am there are a couple of Microcenter stores close by and they've taken up some of the slack offering tools, some components, maker stuff etc.
For real ham gear these days it's all online at least as far as new stuff goes (unless I want to drive a couple of states away to the nearest HRO), for used there's the local hamfests (or there will be as they start up again) as well as the online swaps.
 
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olbriar said:
My local Radio Shack still survives. It is THE place to shop for ham equipment for multiple states.
They also do repairs and mods on transceivers. They have a large area of used equipment that they sell on consignment. It's a small market but he has it cornered which has allowed his door to remain open. It has become the meet-up place for many operators. No "cracker barrel" but the place has that feeling about it.
Click to expand...


That sounds very much like an independent dealer, who does his own things, but also operates a Radio Shack concession or franchise. There's a current Radio Shack dealer in this video.

AFAICT the original Radio Shack Corp or Tandy Corp is defunct, there's no company owned stores any more, and there's another company(s) just using RS brands for whatever products they can source from China.

There's a "Tandy Corporation Ltd" operating in the UK, that's selling online. But I'm pretty sure this has not much to do with the original Tandy Corp or Radio Shack Corp, who closed their UK operation in the late 90s.
https://www.tandyonline.com/
 
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