News Radio Shack is dead. - Page 2

displacedinMN · 10:32 AM

RS filed for bankrupcy. Years of mismanagement, high prices and online competition killed a great company.

Let's hear those RS stories. I like to use spoilers to keep the OP short

My time working as RS

Spoiler!

From the Onion

Spoiler!

Old Radioshack Magazines online. Open, don't download anything (so I have been warned)
http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/

R8RFAN · 02-07-2015, 09:32 AM

Stewie · 02-07-2015, 09:35 AM

I loved that place as a kid (1970s). They had a ton of stuff you couldn't buy anywhere else. It was almost like a hobby store. They went mainstream with their products in the 1980s and I really had no reason to go there any longer.

"Why does RadioShack need your address to buy batteries?" - Cosmo Kramer

**Baby Lee** · 02-07-2015, 09:35 AM

Radio Shack was like the migrant farmer of retail, the only things I ever bought there were things I could not buy anywhere else within a reasonable vicinity

electrical repair parts, solder, that kind of thing.

Take that back, might have bought a Black Friday RC helicopter once.

Simply Red · 02-07-2015, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

Did anyone join the battery Club?

oh hell yes I did!

'Hamas' Jenkins · 02-07-2015, 09:42 AM

I worked at Radio Shack for 3.5 years in college. It was not a great company. They were a dinosaur who thought that pushing a cell phone on everyone would make up for the fact that cheap, disposable electronics had made their business plan obsolete.

They didn't carry nice enough products to work as a boutique shop. They didn't even carry electronics on par with big boxers like Best Buy or Circuit City either. Off-label brands at name brand prices never, ever works.

At the time I was there the company was also in the middle of a huge class action lawsuit because they had flouted California's overtime laws WRT managerial compensation.

The best thing about working there was when products would become de-listed by the corporate computers. At that point, whatever didn't have a price, we were free to take home.

I still have about one dream a month where I'm working a shift at RS after about a 10 year hiatus. It's my 'Nam.

'Hamas' Jenkins · 02-07-2015, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bufkin

How they outlasted Blockbuster is beyond me.

This was another one of RS's genius ideas: the store within a store. They entered in to a partnership with Blockbuster that went over as well as the bombing of Schweinfurt.

**BigRedChief** · 02-07-2015, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Where will I get my transistors and capacitors?

That was their problem, they never stocked the flux capacitors.

**BigRedChief** · 02-07-2015, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

How much longer do we give Sears?

Sears sells a shitload of appliances and tools. Bet they survive under a new model.

'Hamas' Jenkins · 02-07-2015, 09:51 AM

We used to have to watch these training videos every quarter or so. The host of the video was this corpulent, dog-eating-looking-mother****er named Fred Obando.

I hope this news reaches you in Hell, Obando, you gump ****.

DJJasonp · 02-07-2015, 09:59 AM

being an AV geek, I'd make a few trips a year in the 80's and early 90's for audio or video adapters you knew Best Buy probably didnt sell.

Niche at best.....and yes, it annoyed the hell out of me to get asked for my personal info for a 2.99 RCA adapter!

**Baby Lee** · 02-07-2015, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Sears sells a shitload of appliances and tools. Bet they survive under a new model.

I haven't bought appliances from them, but I understand that their appliance sales service really sets them apart. No BS deliveries that actually show up when they say they will and are in and out without muss or fuss, quality warranty service, etc.

And their Craftsman warranties are still the gold standard.

Anything that doesn't 'wear' or require electricity [sockets, ratchets, hammers, screwdrivers, hydraulic jacks, wrenches, etc.], I buy Craftsman as often as I can.

They may not be offering the hottest retail items for 2015, but for what they do offer, they stand behind it with the intangibles that foster loyalty.

**bevischief** · 02-07-2015, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

Did anyone join the battery Club?

Did about 35 years ago.

**TribalElder** · 02-07-2015, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

It's my 'Nam.

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 02-07-2015, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simply Red

oh hell yes I did!

Me too.

ILChief · 02-07-2015, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Sears sells a shitload of appliances and tools. Bet they survive under a new model.

yes, craftsman and kenmore are good brands. Die Hard batteries are really good too. Sears needs to ditch clothes, jewelry, etc and move out of malls and open hardware/appliance/automotive stores and they would do better

02-07-2015, 08:42 AM
displacedinMN It was not a fair catch Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Correcting papers Casino cash: $2972630	Radio Shack is dead. Coming back to life!!!! RS filed for bankrupcy. Years of mismanagement, high prices and online competition killed a great company. Let's hear those RS stories. I like to use spoilers to keep the OP short My time working as RS Spoiler! I worked for RS part time. Just to pick up a few extra bucks before I found a teaching job. It was going down hill then. The district manager was not happy when I told him many of our products could be found some where else cheaper. That did not make him happy. This was before the big depression. Hey, price first. six bucks cheaper at wal-mart than RS. Printer ink at Office depot across the street was CHEAPER than I could get it WITH MY EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT! We would have Saturdays where no one would be in for over an hour. Hey, Its Minnesota. Most are at their cabins on the weekend and RS is not a first stop store. Lesser named electronics, low inventory, did not focus on the electronic geek or do it yourself person. Terrible management the last 10 years. Every customer was supposed to be asked about phones and Directv. RS employees were always informed, but price sells. Have not been back into my old store much since I left. Amazon has more and cheaper. Old man Tandy is rolling over in his grave. Modify message From the Onion Spoiler! Electronics retailer RadioShack filed for bankruptcy after 94 years in business, ultimately unable to keep up with consumers’ shift to the wireless and digital technologies of the internet age. Here is a timeline of RadioShack’s decline: 1962: Retailer establishes a 40-year period of peace and prosperity among electronics retailers known as the Pax Radioica 1980: As a joke, RadioShack employee asks customer buying game-TV switchbox for name and address. Practice lasts company-wide for another 22 years. 1995: Poor microcassette harvest devastates first-quarter sales 1996-2005: Company coasts by on purchase of single VGA cord from Fort Myers, FL location 1999: RadioShack CEO assures Americans that products will break down regardless of Y2K 2001: Company introduces cordless Howie Long 2005: Corporation celebrates one-millionth customer walking in, scoffing at cost, and walking out empty-handed 2007: Email leaks reveal RadioShack in serious talks to buy pack of AA batteries from Duracell 2008: Company loses lucrative Defense Department contract 2010: Executives hold press conference to address issue of what exactly is going on with that one aisle of just copper wire and cable splitters 2015: RadioShack management forced to euthanize millions of thumb drives they can no longer support Old Radioshack Magazines online. Open, don't download anything (so I have been warned) http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/ Last edited by displacedinMN; 11-19-2020 at 10:32 AM..
Posts: 36,240

02-07-2015, 09:32 AM	#16
R8RFAN Molôn Labé Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: North Carolina Casino cash: $8566872
Posts: 23,164

02-07-2015, 09:35 AM	#17
Stewie MVP Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West of the Equator Casino cash: $1939901	I loved that place as a kid (1970s). They had a ton of stuff you couldn't buy anywhere else. It was almost like a hobby store. They went mainstream with their products in the 1980s and I really had no reason to go there any longer. "Why does RadioShack need your address to buy batteries?" - Cosmo Kramer
Posts: 13,599

02-07-2015, 09:35 AM	#18
Baby Lee Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $6838598	Radio Shack was like the migrant farmer of retail, the only things I ever bought there were things I could not buy anywhere else within a reasonable vicinity electrical repair parts, solder, that kind of thing. Take that back, might have bought a Black Friday RC helicopter once. __________________ We need the kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics - E.W.
Posts: 95,642

02-07-2015, 09:42 AM	#20
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $8009572	I worked at Radio Shack for 3.5 years in college. It was not a great company. They were a dinosaur who thought that pushing a cell phone on everyone would make up for the fact that cheap, disposable electronics had made their business plan obsolete. They didn't carry nice enough products to work as a boutique shop. They didn't even carry electronics on par with big boxers like Best Buy or Circuit City either. Off-label brands at name brand prices never, ever works. At the time I was there the company was also in the middle of a huge class action lawsuit because they had flouted California's overtime laws WRT managerial compensation. The best thing about working there was when products would become de-listed by the corporate computers. At that point, whatever didn't have a price, we were free to take home. I still have about one dream a month where I'm working a shift at RS after about a 10 year hiatus. It's my 'Nam.
Posts: 74,825

02-07-2015, 09:51 AM	#24
'Hamas' Jenkins Now you've pissed me off! Join Date: Jan 2006 Casino cash: $8009572	We used to have to watch these training videos every quarter or so. The host of the video was this corpulent, dog-eating-looking-mother**er named Fred Obando. I hope this news reaches you in Hell, Obando, you gump **.
Posts: 74,825

02-07-2015, 09:59 AM	#25
DJJasonp My work speaks for itself!!! Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: So Cal Casino cash: $2005200	being an AV geek, I'd make a few trips a year in the 80's and early 90's for audio or video adapters you knew Best Buy probably didnt sell. Niche at best.....and yes, it annoyed the hell out of me to get asked for my personal info for a 2.99 RCA adapter! __________________ Its easier to fool a man, than to convince a man he's been fooled.
Posts: 11,976