Radio Shack to close 400 to 700 stores
 

On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 18:13:14 -0800, running dogg wrote:

David wrote:

On 17 Feb 2006 15:38:25 -0800, "Joe Analssandrini"
wrote:

This is a real shame. Radio Shack has strayed far from its roots - they
no longer even sell Radio Shack brand radios!

But there's really nowhere else to go when you need a small electronic
part such as an unusual adapter, different gauges of resin-core solder,
audio-video cables, unusual batteries, etc. And if they go "belly-up"
in your location, you're just out of luck. Sure you can buy from some
of the mail-order companies (Allied Electronics - owned by Radio Shack,
I believe - is particularly good) but you must wait for delivery and
shipping charges can be somewhat high. It is often uneconomical to buy
a small item from a mail-order house.

I hope they'll realize this and leave the digital cameras,
computers,.cellular telephones, toys, and so forth, to other retailers
and concentrate on being the best electronics store they once were.

Best,

Joe

www.outpost.com


Ahem. Fry's is only in CA, AZ, OR, and a couple other stores. Even in
CA, if you're outside of LA, Silicon Valley, or Sacramento (one store),
it's a LONG way to a Fry's. I believe that there's only a handful of
Fry's outside CA. I'm lucky to have a Fry's nearby. But most people
don't have that luxury. In a lot of places, if Rat Shack closes down,
there will be NO sources for electronic parts. Most mail order places
require a minimum order, since to ship one resistor is too much trouble.

That's the mail order wing. Fry's is also in Dallas and Austin.

Radio Shack to close 400 to 700 stores
 

Let me guess, and they'll want an MBA level manager and pay them less rather
than getting a qualified electronics person who has knowledge of electronics
and that sort of subject matter

"Michael Lawson" wrote in message
...

"Billy Smith" wrote in message
link.net...
Getting away from your niche market has killed a lot of businesses
over the
years. Look at the spectacle when Coca Cola came out with the new
Coke in
1985 or so. I remember the outcry about that. You still have some
pretty
good shortwave radio outfits that cater to hams and shortwave
listeners. But
in general consumer electronics are good to buy from say Circuit
City, Best
Buy or even some smaller outfits when it comes to customer service.

I find that Mouser, Newark, and sometimes even Allied even though it
is own
by Radio Shack are good places to get parts. But go to a Radio Shack
and ask
about capacitors, resistors, or diodes, etc. You'll get the duh look
and
it's best to move along!

If you're lucky, you'll get an old timer as a manager who
knows his stuff, but that's more and more the exception
rather than the rule. When I worked there (a 8 month
stint in 91-92), they were starting to emphasize the need
for MBAs as managers.

--Mike L.


"MnMikew" wrote in message
...

"Billy Smith" wrote in message
link.net...
I'll tell you a personal story. A few years ago I went in there
to look
at
one of the shortwave radios they had as an offering. As many of
you know,
they used to sell Sangean radios stamped with the Radio Shack
brand.
Anyway,
So I went in and asked a salesperson if a particular brand has
SSB
capability. He said "Yes, it does." Well I took a better look at
the
radio
and did not see a switch for SSB or a button. Came back home and
researched
the model number and nothing of the sort came up. If you do buy
anything
there, it is best to know what you want and go get it. Because
otherwise
their help isn't much good. It is a shame too considering they
were once
a
well thought up company. Say 30 years ago and more.

I was looking at the Pro-96 scanners at xmas at the local rat
shack. Asked
if they could pgm one for me right there, duhhhhh. Then he went
off on how
old my dig. camera was and I needed a new one. sheese. They cant
compete
with the best buys and circut cities, they should go back to their
roots,
radios and lectronics.

Radio Shack to close 400 to 700 stores
 

I wish there was a Fry's and a Staples store here in Jackson.There are
three Office Depot stores and one Best Buy store and one Circuit City
store and one CompUSA store and one Office Max store in Jackson (and
about five million other kinds of stores,gas statins,eat joints,etc)
that I know of,that I have been to before.There might be more by
now,considering how fast the suburb cities that surround the Jackson
area are growing.I haven't been to any of those suburb cities around
here in a million years,that includes down town Jackson too.Mostly the
only places I go to anymore is the Goodwill thrift store which is right
on my way to the Wal Mart store food department at the intersection of
Greenway Drive (the Wal Mart store is on Greenway Drive,there are about
seven more Wal Mart Supercenter stores and one Wal Mart Sams store
around here too) and Highway 18 and once in a while I go visit my old
buddy and his wife in Richland,Mississippi.Yep,there is a Wal Mart store
across Highway 49 from their house too.I dont hardly go nowhar no more
and I dont wants to go nowhar nomore neither.I am glued to doggys couch
and my tv sets and my radios.
cuhulin

Radio Shack to close 400 to 700 stores
 

In article .net,
Billy Smith wrote:
I find that Mouser, Newark, and sometimes even Allied even though it is own
by Radio Shack are good places to get parts.

Allied has not been owned by Tandy for decades. If it had, they would
not have set up their Tech America (then Radio Shack Plus) industrial
distributor experiment, (8-10 years ago), that they have since shut down.

Allied was part of Avnet, last I knew, but who owns what industrial
distributor at any one time is best described as a game of musical
chairs.

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Radio Shack to close 400 to 700 stores
 

Yeah. I remember when I spoke with a RS employee
who'd become a manager after I'd left,
he was talking about all the perks and other items
adding up to around 35k a year. This was in the
mid/late 90's. When I was working there 5-7 years
earlier, they used to tell managers the same thing
(even the same dollar amount). When the tech
bubble came along around that time, was there
any wonder that the people who were tech savvy
would skip on a Radio Shack and go straight to
an IT position at another company?

When I was there, I knew managers and full time
employees who had been there since the 70's, who
had actually built an Tandy Model 1, and were
clamoring for things like more ham equipment,
better electronics stuff, and more audio and video
component materials for cars. Those guys and their
expertise are long gone, as the emphasis at RS has
long since changed.

--Mike L.


"Billy Smith" wrote in message
k.net...
Let me guess, and they'll want an MBA level manager and pay them
less rather
than getting a qualified electronics person who has knowledge of
electronics
and that sort of subject matter

"Michael Lawson" wrote in message
...

"Billy Smith" wrote in message
link.net...
Getting away from your niche market has killed a lot of
businesses
over the
years. Look at the spectacle when Coca Cola came out with the new
Coke in
1985 or so. I remember the outcry about that. You still have some
pretty
good shortwave radio outfits that cater to hams and shortwave
listeners. But
in general consumer electronics are good to buy from say Circuit
City, Best
Buy or even some smaller outfits when it comes to customer
service.

I find that Mouser, Newark, and sometimes even Allied even though
it
is own
by Radio Shack are good places to get parts. But go to a Radio
Shack
and ask
about capacitors, resistors, or diodes, etc. You'll get the duh
look
and
it's best to move along!

If you're lucky, you'll get an old timer as a manager who
knows his stuff, but that's more and more the exception
rather than the rule. When I worked there (a 8 month
stint in 91-92), they were starting to emphasize the need
for MBAs as managers.

--Mike L.


"MnMikew" wrote in message
...

"Billy Smith" wrote in
message
link.net...
I'll tell you a personal story. A few years ago I went in
there
to look
at
one of the shortwave radios they had as an offering. As many
of
you know,
they used to sell Sangean radios stamped with the Radio Shack
brand.
Anyway,
So I went in and asked a salesperson if a particular brand has
SSB
capability. He said "Yes, it does." Well I took a better look
at
the
radio
and did not see a switch for SSB or a button. Came back home
and
researched
the model number and nothing of the sort came up. If you do
buy
anything
there, it is best to know what you want and go get it. Because
otherwise
their help isn't much good. It is a shame too considering they
were once
a
well thought up company. Say 30 years ago and more.

I was looking at the Pro-96 scanners at xmas at the local rat
shack. Asked
if they could pgm one for me right there, duhhhhh. Then he went
off on how
old my dig. camera was and I needed a new one. sheese. They
cant
compete
with the best buys and circut cities, they should go back to
their
roots,
radios and lectronics.

Radio Shack to close 400 to 700 stores
 

Sanjaya wrote:
DALLAS - Electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. on Friday said fourth-quarter earnings dropped 62
percent and disclosed it plans to close 400 to 700 stores and two distribution centers as part of a
plan to improve its financial performance.

full story
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11409391/

At one time you could count on a Radio Shack store having a reasonably
complete collection of electronic parts, various components and an
extensive collection of batteries. And store managers that in some
cases understood something about the goods they sold. But no more.
R.S. stores look more and more like the consumer electronics department
from a Target Store without the good prices.

I don't think they could have made it this far if they remained a store
that catered to electronic tinkerers. There are fewer home tinkerers
to sell little bags of expensive parts to these days. R.S. has to
re-invent itself, but I'm not sure what niche they should fill.

Radio Shack to close 400 to 700 stores
 

I had a desperate need for a pl259 Teflon connector and found then at RS for
ONLY $5.00 ea ouch. I forget that, next day found them for $1.25 es.


"John S." wrote in message
ups.com...

Sanjaya wrote:
DALLAS - Electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. on Friday said
fourth-quarter earnings dropped 62
percent and disclosed it plans to close 400 to 700 stores and two
distribution centers as part of a
plan to improve its financial performance.

full story
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11409391/

At one time you could count on a Radio Shack store having a reasonably
complete collection of electronic parts, various components and an
extensive collection of batteries. And store managers that in some
cases understood something about the goods they sold. But no more.
R.S. stores look more and more like the consumer electronics department
from a Target Store without the good prices.

I don't think they could have made it this far if they remained a store
that catered to electronic tinkerers. There are fewer home tinkerers
to sell little bags of expensive parts to these days. R.S. has to
re-invent itself, but I'm not sure what niche they should fill.