Last visit to a Radio Shack. Maybe.

[Radio]

Very likely the last time I will ever go to a Radio Shack store, as they are weeks from closing the doors forever. (for those who did not already know)There are some cool bargains left but only my geekiest friends would find them of interest. As the prices fall I may return to pick over whatever is left.

I picked over the bones and came way with some stuff and saw other things the RVer might be interested:

They had quite a number of weather radio, most with SAME. And you know how I go on about having a NOAA SAME receiver in the camper. The nicest was an AM/FM/WX table radio that has a clock, SAME, and a remote wireless senor for Temp and relative humidity for outdoors. It has an odd wall-wart power supply that delivers 9 volts AC to the radio so it's a bit impractical for anything but long term stay RV use. I bought it for the house anyway. Reg $59sale $43

I got a small media 2.1 speaker system with subwoofer, $17

2 each 50ft and 1 2 ft RG-58, both half off $10, $8 and some HDMI and other video cables about half off. Also F connector (cable tv) stuff

Batteries off all kinds that would interest RV'ers. I got 36 count AA batteries, $9. Consumer Reports rated Radio Shack batteries pretty good.

And they have a bunch of gadgets for managing 12 vdc in the RV, car and directly off a car battery to power just about anything that runs on 12 vdc. One of the coolest is an adapter that pugs into a cigarette lighter and gives you a pair of 3 way binding posts (banana plugs) which means you can power just about anything with wires on it.

Plus radios, flashlights, headphones, a bit of iPad, tablet and PC stuff. In short, not just the ham radio interests, but there's a lot of stuff in there (on sale cheap) that suits the RVer as well.

May be the last time I ever go in a Radio Shack, but as prices fall, I may be back.

[Flybob]

I went last Thursday and store was almost empty. Mostly junk.

[Forbes]

Stopped in store here in Merritt Inland, FL Sunday and it looked like a bomb had hit it. Everything almost gone with only one person working. Shame, lots of hobbies started there over the years.

[00buck]

I bought my first computer (TRS80) there in late 79 or early 80. Sadly, the handwriting had been on the wall for a long time for Radio Shack. It's really surprising that they lasted this long.

[GATRAID]

Great memories of my dad and Radio Shack. We also had the TRS80 a worm game and a serf game on cassette. Thanks for the jog down memory lane!

[B47]

Their closing is a big blow to the Fort Worth economy and history. Many saw it coming years ago.

Another DFW headquartered company,Seven Eleven, is offering franchise free stores to hundreds of their underperforming stores,31 in Texas alone.

Interesting.

[wana65stang]

Lost Radio Shack years ago up here now we are losing Target, over a 1000 jobs gone

[davido_]

About 15-16 years ago I was a buyer for a department store chain that was one of the last that still had an electronics department. The company was gobbled up by a larger chain of department stores, and they immediately requested that I liquidate the electronics division.

We started out putting everything at 40% off (which was already significantly below cost). One point five million dollars worth of televisions were gone in eight hours. Most anything useful was gone within three days. Then 60%, and finally 80% after ten days. By the time we were done, twelve million in inventory was liquidated, and all that was left was odds-and-ends cables, spare batteries for cam-corders that had long since been discontinued... that sort of thing. The remainder was sold to a jobber for $14,000.

Radio Shack doesn't have the deep pockets that a company that has been taken over by a much larger company would have for marking down merchandise. But I suspect the feeding frenzy has been similar.

As for me, I got sucked along as a buyer into the new company with a different buying role. And most of the salespeople who were willing to be moved out of electronics were able to retain sales positions with the new company. But for months afterward I would wake up at night still thinking of the business I had spent twelve years building, only to realize as the fog of the dream wore off that everything familiar to me about the old business had vanished nearly overnight.

[chuckw5kav]

I started going to Radio Shack many, many, many moons ago
to buy radio parts, like capacitors, resisters, tubes.
I can remember walls full with all type of parts, counter
people that knew what a 50ohm resister was and not look at
you like you have three heads and five eyes when you
ask for such.

They were the go to store to test all those fine tubes you found
in old equipment.

Later on I bought trash 80, model 3 then a model 4 with two
external disk drives, ran a full blown VHF bulletin board
on that model 4, I was in hog haven that for sure

[Big Vic]

Not all the Radio Shack stores are closing. The bankruptcy will result in a merger with Sprint, which will allow the high performing stores to stay open. The RS store in my area has remained profitable, and employees have been told it will stay open.

[Forbes]

Originally Posted by Big Vic

Not all the Radio Shack stores are closing. The bankruptcy will result in a merger with Sprint, which will allow the high performing stores to stay open. The RS store in my area has remained profitable, and employees have been told it will stay open.

While working for Sprint years ago I remember them trying to buy Radio Shack then. They wanted to market their phones and service there so I guess that will happen after all.

[Radio]

Originally Posted by Big Vic

Not all the Radio Shack stores are closing. The bankruptcy will result in a merger with Sprint, which will allow the high performing stores to stay open. The RS store in my area has remained profitable, and employees have been told it will stay open.

I learned today the RS in my hometown will be the only survivor on the south side of Atlanta, and that all mall stores will close.

Good. Now I can still get all those weird, tiny batteries RS is so famous for.

[Flybob]

It looks like the RS stores that will survive will essentially be cell phone stores. I am surprised that RS was doing so poorly with the growth of the maker movement. It would seem they should have focused more on how they got their start. Trying to find a diode or LED was like asking for a vacuum tube.