Radio Shack to Close More Stores

[W1RKW]

Looks like the realignment is not working well.

In the news:  Radio Shack to close more stores than anticipated.  

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/10/investing/radioshack-earnings-close-stores/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

[Pete, WA2CWA]

We hashed over Radio Shack at the beginning of the year: http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=35468.0
Or you can go here for more hashing: http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=250921
Or from the Wire: http://www.thewire.com/business/2014/02/radioshack-super-bowl-ad-500-stores/357749/
And, can't forget the melodious words from this forum: http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?388641-Radio-Shack-good-or-going-down-hill-fast&highlight=radio+shack


Close down the bulk of the stores; regroup; or fold into bankruptcy protection and then regroup.
Maybe they should take their cue from a past retailer that no longer exists: http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1858079,00.html

And then there's the Best Buy problems: http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/5-reasons-why-best-buy-is-going-down-in-2014/

Electronic consumer retailing isn't what it use to be. I just came back from Best Buy. Saw numerous sales people milling around  or just BS'ing with each other. Not one sales person approach me as I was poking around the laptops, tablets, and the TV section. If you don't have aggressive sales people on the floor, customers are going to walk, head home, get on the computer, and go to Amazon or some other electronic retailer and make the purchase. The 20th century is gone forever.
 

[WB2CAU]

Not one sales person approach me as I was poking around the laptops, tablets, and the TV section. If you don't have aggressive sales people on the floor, customers are going to walk, head home, get on the computer, and go to Amazon or some other electronic retailer and make the purchase. The 20th century is gone forever.
 

Interesting... aggressive salespeople annoy me and make me NOT want to return. 

[K9DXL]

There's a. Fine line between aggressively annoying and helpful. 

[Steve - K4HX]

Based on past Radio Shack threads, I thought no one ever went there anymore. Why would anyone care if they closed?   

[W2VW]

What else is there to complain about today?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

People like to complain; it gives them purpose.

[Steve - K4HX]

Yep.

[K1JJ]

 

We can tell the well-being of a society by what they complain or worry about.

What did USA people worry about from 1776 - 1782?  1861-1865?  1914 - 1918?  1929- 1938?   1941-1945?  2001?  Serious and real threats.


Today we worry about the end of the world because of a Myan calendar prediction, global warming, Nostradamus,   UFO invasions, underground shelters for social collapse  or an asteroid that may hit in the next 100,000 years.  All bullshit.    IE, things are pretty darn good in the USA right now. (relative to past bad times)


T

[W2VW]

People like to complain; it gives them purpose.

Your signature contains no red smiley bouncing faces.

Do you have some kind of problem with the color red?

[KB2WIG]

Better dead than red??

klc

[W1AEX]

Today we worry about the end of the world because of a Myan calendar prediction, global warming, Nostradamus,   UFO invasions, underground shelters for social collapse  or an asteroid that may hit in the next 100,000 years.  All bullshit.    IE, things are pretty darn good in the USA right now. (relative to past bad times)

T

You forgot to mention the imminent threat of the zombie apocalypse. Obviously you have not been keeping up with "The Walking Dead"!

Looks like I'll be making more trips to Cables and Connectors if my local RS goes down the tubes. The component parts cabinets were pretty well stocked in Windsor for things like resistors, relays, switches, and other low voltage type components that I can't put my hands on in my junk pile.

Rob W1AEX

[K9DXL]

Tom, I would also add 1950 through the fall of the Berlin Wall.  The threat of nuclear war during the bad old duck and cover days.  I think you hit the nail on the head.

[Opcom]

Having grown up in base housing at Offutt, I never learned to fear the bomb.

[ka4koe]

I discovered Rat Shack around 1974 at age 11. The decline over the years is like seeing a friend die slowly.

P

[K2PG]

Today we worry about the end of the world because of a Myan calendar prediction, global warming...

Anyone who believes in global warming has never spent a winter here in Northeast Pennsylvania! When a certain Slimeatron ingredient freezes minutes after being discharged outdoors...that's cold!

As for Radio Shack, I used to use them as the supplier of last resort for parts for projects or for repairing things. My primary source of parts was the now-defunct Atkinson & Smith in Eatontown, NJ. The second floor of that place was like having a hamfest six days a week, 52 weeks a year. They used to buy up a lot of surplus stuff from government DRMO auctions. But times have changed. We technically minded amateur radio operators are a dying breed. The CB boom went bust decades ago. And consumer electronics is a very difficult field for retailers. Circuit City went belly-up, Best Buy is struggling, and Radio Shack may soon account for a lot of vacant space in shopping malls.

[Tom WA3KLR]

(Hi Phil.)

RadioShack stock closed at 92 cents a share yesterday (NYSE), may get de-listed.  They were in the $22 - $23 range in 2009.

Click on the 5 year (5Y) plot at the page below:

http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/rsh/s?t=RSH

[WD5JKO]

Anyone who believes in global warming has never spent a winter here in Northeast Pennsylvania! When a certain Slimeatron ingredient freezes minutes after being discharged outdoors...that's cold!

   It's not really cold until the delivery hose freezes..

The radio Shacks here in my area (Austin/ Round Rock, Tx) keep moving, or closing. A few years ago there was three or four within a 15 minute ride from the house. Right now, I have no clue which are left. The usual ones on my path through town are gone.

last year while doing a job at Samsung, I suddenly needed four right angle BNC M-F adapters. So I went to Frye's...they have a hook for them, but no stock...took an hour in that store to figure that out as they put the same stuff more a less in three spots in the store (TV, Computer, Electronics). Go to Altex...nothing. Go to my company office, and after going through old tool boxes from former employees, I find ONE. On the way back to Samsung, I take a chance at Rat Shack....The guy knew what they were, and they had three of them! I was blown away. Two hours later, I get back to Samsung, and they decided they didn't need them after all.

I buy most of my parts these days from Mouser. If I order before 7 PM, and have UPS ground for the shipping, they always arrive the following afternoon. Shipping for a small box costs about 7 bucks. For $7 shipping, if I can wait a day, then I avoid the scenario I went through for those BNC adapters. I'm not sure why Mouser is so fast. Perhaps they have an in Texas warehouse. YMMV.

Jim
Wd5JKO

[KD6VXI]

They are based in Mansfield,  TX.

On the same note,  I get the same service from the Mansfield distribution center here in California.   Even the sales rep,  the one time I've called (easier to order online)  said 2 day shipping may slow delivery down.   Regular ground got here next day.   I've waited two days once.

YMMV.

--Shane
KD6VXI

[K1JJ]

Considering how the local TV and radio repair parts marketplaces (and local radio / TV retail stores)  slowly died out due to low demand for parts in the 70's, Radio Shack did the same thang, but just lasted longer.  It's like the smaller mom and pop stores had no staying power, but the large Tandy corp was able to pull it off a little longer due to their ability to sell stocks and bonds to the public for financing. They even tried to reinvent themselves by selling computers, cell phones, etc, a la Circuit City.  

But in the end, making a profit is the goal and when a marketplace gets poor via low demand and severe competition, it's over.  The ability to buy stuff quickly, cheaply and easily over the internet probably had a lot to do with it as well as the fact that we throw away most crapped out electronics. (No need for parts anymore)

The small $7 USPS shipping (financed by the US tax payer and in the red $billlions) and no state sales tax is not reality and also makes buying on the internet too competitive for a brick and mortar store to compete.

Probably the only way to save RS is if someone like Warren Buffet thru Berkshire Hathaway made it his  rescue poster child and poured mega bux in thru a new marketing and mission re-invent.  (Like Lee Iacocca  and  Chrysler in 1981)


Otherwise, it looks like RIP RS.


* Yep, Mouser rocks - fast as lightning.

T

[Tom WA3KLR]

And to add insult to injury, a survey just out names RadioShack as one of the 11 worst companies to work for:

http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/06/21/americas-worst-companies-to-work-for-3/2/

(No, Clear Channel isn't one of the 11.)

[WB2CAU]

Probably the only way to save RS is if someone like Warren Buffet thru Berkshire Hathaway made it his  rescue poster child and poured mega bux in thru a new marketing and mission re-invent.  (Like Lee Iacocca  and  Chrysler in 1981)


Otherwise, it looks like RIP RS.

It would take a complete change of purpose for RS to survive this decline.  They'd have to start selling something that nobody else sells. 

Warren Buffet is smart enough not to buy into businesses that have no future. 

[WB2CAU]

And to add insult to injury, a survey just out names RadioShack as one of the 11 worst companies to work for:

http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/06/21/americas-worst-companies-to-work-for-3/2/

(No, Clear Channel isn't one of the 11.)

I worked for RS in 1972 and 1973.  They were very bad then too.  I can only imagine they got worse.  At the time, the store managers on Long Island were not at all happy with the way they were treated by the district manager.  No wonder RS has always had a history of very high turnover of employees. 

[W2VW]

(Hi Phil.)

RadioShack stock closed at 92 cents a share yesterday (NYSE), may get de-listed.  They were in the $22 - $23 range in 2009.

Click on the 5 year (5Y) plot at the page below:

http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/rsh/s?t=RSH

Courson was right again.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

(Hi Phil.)

RadioShack stock closed at 92 cents a share yesterday (NYSE), may get de-listed.  They were in the $22 - $23 range in 2009.

Click on the 5 year (5Y) plot at the page below:

http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/rsh/s?t=RSH

Courson was right again.

Courson who?