Radio Shack to carry full line of electronics once again?

[cherubim]

Are RadioShack anticipating a revival in hobbiest electronics or is this just a last gasp attempt at heading off imminent demise ?

[mmckenna]

Good question.

I believe there is starting to be a shift in the younger generation away from being just consumers. It's small, but who knows? When I was in high school, 25 years ago, wood shop and metal shop were just about it. Now, I'm hearing more and more about schools that are starting to teach more hands on stuff. Schools are doing more electronics, mechanical and technical training. 25 years ago it was all science and math. What that left out was people that could actually do the hands on work. We only need so many engineers before you have to train people to go out and do what the engineers designed. A buddy of mine is a middle school teacher and one of the instructors there brings in old lawn mower engines that they take apart and reassemble. He was also talking about some kit building and the like. So, maybe RS is starting to aim towards that crowd, as well as the "Maker" groups. Just research the "Maker Fair" and see what I mean.

No matter what, it is likely a last gasp of a dying brand. With on line shopping so easy and common, brick and mortar stores that are very focused are hard to keep afloat. There are so many cell phone dealers out there that we won't miss one. RS has to change or die, or possibly change and die.

Only time will tell.

[Fuzy_GSXR1000]

In Clifton New Jersey there's a great Radio Shack with two knowledgable people working there...they both told me to go to this website and the manager told me he would HELP me program my scanner!!! Imagine that?! It's nice to know folks are still into radios!!!

[RoninJoliet]

I was in the local mall RShack today, they had on the shelf Uniden 396XT-$469.99, Uniden 125 H/H-159.99, and a RS106 dated "05A12....Said RS scanners now in very short supply....

[HopperD]

I visited my local Radio Shack on the weekend and asked about what was mentioned about shifting toward carrying more radios such as scanners and HAM's. I don't believe that the clerk actually knew what I was talking about.

He said that's the plan and they already have desktop and handheld scanners in stock. I took a look and sure enough they had them. I hadn't seen them there previously except for the really inexpensive ones.

They might be trying to go back to the good old days of having more equipment. I just hope the stores don't get any smaller, seems like they've shrunk considerably in the last 10 years. Cell phones don't take up that much space.

[N1SQB]

As someone else posted earlier, I used to practically LIVE in Radio Shack stores in the 80s and 90s.
I had a good aquaintance that started out as a local store sales clerk in Bridgeport, Connecticut back when scanner crystals and 4,6,8,10 channel crystal scanners were the thing to have. I remember when I bought my Pro-48 10 channel unit which I still have. This aquaintance, Mr. John Torres, became the New England North East Regional Manager for Radio Shack. The one thing I can tell you, after many lengthy conversations with him, is that Radio Shack has nobody but themselves to blame for their current shortcomings and failures. John believed in things like proper training and proper pay for all employees. This is something RS was not interested in investing in at the time. At one time, RS had employees that were knowledgeable in all aspects of the products they sold. Knowledge and experience cost money. In other words, if you don't pay your knowledgeable and experienced employees properly, they will not be willing to stay around for long. Why should they? I wouldn't! John was offered an executive position at a major banking institution and he took it. He told me at the time, that he did not like the direction in which RS was heading. This was before the big "cell push" took over. He got tired of getting turned down and / or ignored when suggesting changes in pay and training. John knew that if you didn't pay your employees properly, experience would just go somewhere else. John came up the right way, sales clerk, Asst. store Mgr., Store Mgr., Area Mgr., then eventually Regional Mgr. He could relate to every position because HE had experienced them himself. Little by little RS has made changes that brought them to their current condition. I havent seen John in a long time, but I bet he is very happy that he made the move to another line of work. He saw the writing on the wall, and he turned out to be right.

Manny

[RoninJoliet]

There was a "Torres" that used to write alot on the scanner sites, was that him?...My daughter years back was signed on out of college by RShack, she ran up to 4 stores...Then the pay scale went down the tube...She is now VP of a credit union, seems like they all turn to banking!!..

[N1SQB]

I don't think so! John was very much to himself outside the job.

Manny

[NYG]

I still have a Radio Shack HTX-212 2meter rig. The radio shack stores in my immediate area have always carried scanners and portable shortwave receivers. They also have the parts bins but don't carry nearly the number of items that they used to.

I'll support them with my wallet if they carry more items of interest.

[zz0468]

Originally Posted by cherubim

Are RadioShack anticipating a revival in hobbiest electronics or is this just a last gasp attempt at heading off imminent demise ?

Like someone else said a few days ago, it might be a result of the 'maker' movement. There's a LOT of people getting into building things again.