Radio Shack

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

An interesting read:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-02/inside-radioshack-s-slow-motion-collapse

 

[4pyros]

Vary interesting, wonder how much longer they will last?

 

[tunedwolf]

Not long at all by the looks of things. They are already being delisted from the stock exchanges. Rat Shack was always one of those shops that promised much, but delivered nothing, at least that was always my experience of them. Not to mention being completely unrealistic when it came to pricing stuff. They also tried with the Tandy name in the UK, with much the same results. If it had been managed properly, stocked properly and staffed with enthusiasts that had some clue about their products, it could have been a completely different story today

 

[Overclocked]

I was reading that the only way out of bankruptcy is if they got into the 3d printer market...But that ship might have sailed long ago. Ive noticed they sell arduino shields, but Ive never bought any from there. The only thing I get from Radio shack these days are solder and ferric chloride if I make my own boards.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Component specs are always incomplete and the quality is really bad. I knew a RS manager that lost his job. He probably had one of the largest stores. If a sign was off by a 1/4" of an inch, he had to change it. The company was strict. He effectively lost his retirement because it was tied up in RS stock I believe.

 

[tcmtech]

I remember radioshack being my favorite store when I was kid and teen at least up until the mid late 90's when I got my first commercial electronic suppliers catalog from Digikey found out that electronics suppliers like them would sell me 10 of the same components for what I paid for one at radioshack.

 

[prprog]

For me , I am sure this is true for many others, it was where I started my interest in electronics. I still have some very old Forest's Mims small booklets.....

Good bye Radio Shack. .......

prprog

 

[Ian Rogers]

As far as RS goes here in UK.... I believe Tandy electronics acquired Radio Shack here and are still going...

So as far as we know, it was gone ages ago....

 

[cowboybob]

Never bought anything from them other than components. Did not care about the price since convenience and immediate gratification were the primary issues. Not the best quality, either, but sufficed for "proof of concept" circuits.

There are only two left in Charleston County now...

 

[4pyros]

For me , I am sure this is true for many others, it was where I started my interest in electronics. I still have some very old Forest's Mims small booklets.....

Good bye Radio Shack. .......

prprog

Yep thats me too.
Mostly need them to do projects for tech school.

 

[JimB]

To the best of my knowledge, in the UK "Radio Shack" was always "Tandy".

Tandy morphed into "Carphone Warehouse" which in turn was absorbed by Vodafone.

Scope for confusion for our overseas readers:
There is a component supplier in the UK called "RS Components Ltd", this company is a world class supplier of electronic components and lots of other stuff as well. They have no connection with RS as in Radio Shack.

Historical note, RS Components was originally called "Radio Spares" and changed to RS components in the early 1970s.

JimB

 

[ronsimpson]

As far as RS goes here in UK.... I believe Tandy electronics acquired Radio Shack here and are still going...

So as far as we know, it was gone ages ago....

Years ago Tandy had hobby items. Leather, art , wood burning, etc. In small towns Radio Shack and Tandy leather were in the same stores. In many small towns the radio an TV repair stores often had a mini- Radio Shack.

Hobby stores are hard to find today. Radio Shack can't sale kits. They can't make money with phones. Christmas only comes once a year. Try to find a HAM radio store.

 

[Ian Rogers]

Try to find a HAM radio store.

There's one in Leeds!!!! I was like a kid with glazed over eyes running around this place.... Bits everywhere!!

 

[ronsimpson]

Try to find a HAM radio store.
There's one in Leeds!!!!

Heck of a commute.
Our last store gave it up a couple of years ago.
There are so few old farts on the air now that some of the bands have gone quite.

 

[4pyros]

Heck of a commute.
Our last store gave it up a couple of years ago.
There are so few old farts on the air now that some of the bands have gone quite.

Sad some day we will need them.

 

[nsaspook]

The best device RS ever sold. It's too bad current management never used it.

 

[nsaspook]

**broken link removed**

 

[throbscottle]

Ian - is that the one near the station, by a bridge? Used to go to that one in the 80's when I lived in Leeds - surprised it's still there. They had all kinds of interesting stuff.
Tandy Leather - I see mention of them on Instructables from time to time. I thought the name was just a coincidence. So that one is still going.
Anyone remember the Tandy catalogues that used to get pushed through the letter-box in the 70's? I always looked forward to those as a kid, fascinated. I had one of their "75 in one" project kits my dad got me for Xmas one year. Learned a lot from it, though there was a lot didn't understand, too. We had Tandy, the local Hi-Fi shop (Techniks I think) and an ancient radio shop "Mrs Taylor's" from which to buy components when I went to college. I think Mrs Taylor had some stuff from the 20's and 30's on her shelves. Happy days...

 

[cowboybob]

In 1967-68, while I was at an ET "C" school for the NAV (at Lowry AFB!?) in Denver, CO., there was a Tandy store downtown that was pretty much leather goods only (from half hides, leather working tools on up to finished goods). Same Tandy but without the RS stuff, which was added later. When they merged I thought it odd...

 

[ronsimpson]

Back then when Tandy was doing well I was in high school and college. I payed for that by running a trap line in Canada.
Suddenly it became very unpopular to ware animals for clothes.
In Denver there were some brothers that sold fur coats. People would picket every weekend. It turns out that the picketers did not care about animals. They were paid to carry signs. Over the years, several times, when the picketing got bad, a hot dog truck came down the road. All the sign caring people would run over and get hot dogs and ham burgers. The next day there would be a big picture of people holding "save animals" signs eating animals.

In Denver people would through red paint on any one wearing fur. Tandy leather became equally unpopular.
I got out of trapping at the right time. One more year and I could not have sold my furs. At the same time China started shipping coats with dog fur trim. A Chinese dog costs much less than a Canadian coyote.

Now people eat cows and ware plastic shoes. The leather gets thrown away.
When the coyotes kill farm animals we shoot them and leave them lay. No reason to save the coat.

Good thing I did not invest in Tandy or RS or Ham radio stores.