Radio Shack To Close 500 Stores

[mikepdx]

Originally Posted by trsundstrom

I much prefer the brick-and-mortar stores. Ah, Lafayette Radio and the radio rows of Cortland St and Arch St... gone forever except in memories

We had a Lafayette store here in Portland, OR for years.
They were the local authority on scanning.
I remember the bins behind the counter filled
with scanner crystals for every local freq there was.
If they didn't have the one you want, you bought
a 'crystal certificate' and sent it in to the mfr.
I spent a mint on crystals...LOL

[Ronaldski]

New CEO Watch: Will RadioShack Start Selling Prescription Drugs and Root Beer Floats? - 24/7 Wall St.

More info at the above link, but the main thing about it is;

RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) finally has hired a new replacement chief executive. Joseph C. Magnacca has been appointed CEO of the troubled RadioShack with an effective date of February 11, and he will also be on the company’s board of directors.

[rapidcharger]

I never could get over their current logo.
Have you ever seen a corporate logo as uncreative as that?
It's a registered trademark symbol with an off centered R.
In a way its fitting for a company that appears so catatonic.

[trsundstrom]

Wirelessly posted (Moto Droid Bionic: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.0.4; en-us; DROID BIONIC Build/6.7.2-223_DBN_M4-23) AppleWebKit/534.30 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/534.30)

I keep looking for an entry point for the $RSH stock, thinking I might catch a bounce or buyout. I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger...

[MK]

RSH stock was up today.

The Radio Shack CEO is being replaced on Monday.

[bear780ks]

I hope this doesn't to our new Radio Shack store i think allot of it is the sales and the one's that work there need a good Sense of Knowledge helps go a long way and to me most of people have not got a clue there just workin for the next paycheck) But there are some good people that work there and they know what's going on but even if they do the ones that could give crap is the ones that end up Hurting the store in the long Run..

The R.S. books i have are the 1990 thru 95 books but there put up but looked at every once in a while) the two i use the Most though is the last one the shack printed and there parts book i have took really goof care of them to prolong the life of the book..

[MTS2000des]

RadioShack stopped being relevant about 12 years ago. Their then-CEO, Mr. "fudged my credentials" dude had a master plan to sell wireless phones to everyone. Problem is, it's 2013, the market is saturated. You can buy a phone anywhere, and for much less- without the used car sleaze that RadioShaft is famous for. They scaled down their hobby electronics to become a "Best Buy on every corner" and it was another epic corporate failure. I am amazed there is still gas left in the bus.

Then there's the problem facing all retailers, showrooming. Radio Shack, like any other big box/small box, has high overhead (rent, lights, employees, etc) and they can't compete with Amazon.com. Yet, how many of you have trotted over to Best Buy or RS and spent time examining a product, even asking the employees questions, only to go home (or even whip out your smartphone) only to buy it online for 20, even 30 or 40 percent less from (insert URL here).com?

This problem isn't going away. Retailers like RS, BB, etc cannot afford to operate hundreds of showrooms just to assist their online competition boost sales! When you add the lack of customer service you experience in some of these retailers, combined with the lack of availability and price point, it's easy to see where this is gonna end up.

I personally LIKE going to retail and don't mind paying slightly more for being able to "get it now", and if it doesn't work, I can just bring it back for an instant on hand exchange or refund. You can never do that with Amazon, free shipping is great- but waiting days or a week turnaround isn't acceptable when you need it/want it NOW. And being able to test, try it and such before you buy is essential- especially with clothes!

I think RadioShack is gonna have to cut way more than 500 stores. And I think expanding it to "how it used to be" is not going to happen, I mean, how many scanners or ham radios will a given location sell during a week versus cell phones and overpriced accessories? And most of us wouldn't shop there anyway, we'd just buy the same Chinese made connectors and parts online with "free e-packet delivery from China" for pennies on the dollar.

Their future is grim. Next inline to be added to the wall of retail history: Best Buy.

[MK]

The main factor working in Radio Shack's favor is that the economy continues to strengthen. If the current year was 2008, RS would be headed into bankruptcy with no hope of salvage.

Expect the new CEO Joseph Magnacca to turn out as yet another RS blunder. Are any of you familiar with how badly most Walgreens employees hate their jobs? Being employed at Walgreens is like working at fast food -- something one does mindlessly just to keep the wolf away from the door for a VERY short period, and then move on to the next job. So don't keep hoping that one day you will have knowlegeable employees at RS again. It will never happen. Hiring a drugstore guy to run an ailing electronics retailer will be an even worse decision the hiring of Pepsi executive John Sculley to assist with running Apple Computer.

Radio Shack, aka Cell Shack, has new competition, too. Cell phone giants like Samsung have been opening mini stores in shopping malls. Consumers can walk up and handle the products without being hassled by store personnel whose only qualification is being able to say, "Can I help you?"