RadioShack “Express Stores” to Open in HobbyTown USA Locations

07/18/2018
According to a July 13 article in the New York Post, RadioShack is planning to open “express stores” within HobbyTown USA locations. The nearly century-old, twice-bankrupt retailer has signed a deal with HobbyTown USA to put a mini-RadioShack outlet in some 50 HobbyTown USA stores across the country that would sell items that might appeal to radio amateurs and experimenters. Those locations will be identified with RadioShack signage. HobbyTown markets remote-controlled cars and boats as well as drones and other hobby-related merchandise.

More on This can be Found Here--->
RadioShack

Original Story was in the NY Post--7/13/2018 Edition
https://nypost.com/2018/07/13/radio...medium=site buttons&utm_campaign=site buttons

Hobbytown USA Link---> https://www.hobbytown.com/

As long as radio shack goes back to what they first were, they stand a good chance of making it. This celling batteries and cell phones did not help business and drove it out of business

ipfd320 said:

Why is this HERE and Who Put this Here---This has Nothing to do with Radio Shack Scanners-----When I Posted it it was to Go to Community News as Thats Where I Started the Post---Please Give me a Reason why You Decided to Place the Post Here

If You Read the Article it states “HobbyTown is purchasing the RadioShack merchandise and offering it to its hobbyist customers who need the tools, wires, and other accessories

Can we Please Move this to the Community Announcement Section---Thank You--If Not I Would Like a Reason Why and Your Moderator Name

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Some good info on that here:

https://forums.radioreference.com/f...707-complaints-toward-moderator-activity.html

.

lindsay34654 said:

As long as radio shack goes back to what they first were, they stand a good chance of making it.

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Yes I am sure they will have a thriving billion-dollar business, selling to a tiny fraction of a percentage of the population - us hobbyist radio enthusiasts and the obscure things we want. </S>

marcotor said:

Yes I am sure they will have a thriving billion-dollar business, selling to a tiny fraction of a percentage of the population - us hobbyist radio enthusiasts and the obscure things we want. </S>

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Agreed. I don't foresee going in and buying a couple of LEDs and a DPST toggle switch. I'm sure I'll be able to buy a pink cover for my cell phone, though.

marcotor said:

Yes I am sure they will have a thriving billion-dollar business, selling to a tiny fraction of a percentage of the population - us hobbyist radio enthusiasts and the obscure things we want. </S>

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You just keyed in on something that I think is part of"the problem". Unless it promises to become a billion dollar business, American businesses don't seem to be much interested in filling niche markets. It's not enough anymore just to be profitable, it needs to pay high dividends to the shareholders.

I predict this will be yet another failed attempt to revive the now completely worthless Radio Shack brand.

If they go into hobbytown they better have scanners to sell and antennas. If they bring them little cheap rc cars they used to sell in the hobbytown they will get squashed.

seth21w said:

If they go into hobbytown they better have scanners to sell and antennas. If they bring them little cheap rc cars they used to sell in the hobbytown they will get squashed.

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Scanners may be popular in this forum but that's not the case in the rest of society. Other than my ham friends, I don't know another person who has a scanner. It's a "niche" item. No store would depend on scanners to stay in the black. To make matters worse, encryption isn't helping the scanner market. Admittedly, teaming up with another store might lower their overhead but they would have to pick the right consumer-oriented items to make any money.

And then there's finding knowledgeable sales personnel.........

KK4JUG said:

Scanners may be popular in this forum but that's not the case in the rest of society. Other than my ham friends, I don't know another person who has a scanner. It's a "niche" item. No store would depend on scanners to stay in the black. To make matters worse, encryption isn't helping the scanner market. Admittedly, teaming up with another store might lower their overhead but they would have to pick the right consumer-oriented items to make any money.

And then there's finding knowledgeable sales personnel.........

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Im 33 years old and i go into hobbytown all the time i am a rc racer hobbyist. Im sure there are like minded people like me! I think it might work if they stick to the scanners instead of the toy grade rc cars they used to sell.

seth21w said:

Im 33 years old and i go into hobbytown all the time i am a rc racer hobbyist. Im sure there are like minded people like me! I think it might work if they stick to the scanners instead of the toy grade rc cars they used to sell.

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I'm sure there are "like minded people" like you out there but are there enough to support a business? I have my doubts.

Well, I hope they succeed. Since the nearest Hobbytown is a pretty long drive from me it really doesn't affect me, I'll still have to buy stuff online.

On the who-has-scanners issue, I know a lot of non-ham people who have scanners, and a lot more who used to but got shut out by digital trunking and just can't justify the cost of a "modern" scanner. I was one of the latter for some years. At least in my neck of the woods, the hobby seems to be alive and reasonably well, if not quite as healthy as it once was.

I managed 3 Radio Shack stores in the 80s/90s down in Florida before I went to trucking, and I saw the trend begin to sway to cell phones and the stores' scanner inventory kept at minimal stock. We were schooled to push Sprint Sprint Sprint before they even worked outside major metro areas. (remember the StarTac?) and Radio Shack suffered from that partnership big time. I believe that was the beginning of the end for Tandy's retail reign, as they scrambled to several other cell phone companies with not much improvement as cell phone kiosks popped up like overnight mushrooms in every mall in America. I saw Radio Shack wilting on the vine and started looking for another career opportunity just as they offered me a raise and a new location, but I was having a problem with their ethics and weary of misleading customers and playing them on major purchase returns just until after the 30-day return policy expired so that I gave them store credit instead of a refund. I would not lose my commissions, and the store would not lose its numbers. They sent me to seminars to teach me how to lie tactfully. Not my way of doing business with people.

I wonder how the Express stores will do? I imagine they will most likely sell small stuff, batteries and such, as I think they know they cannot compete in todays cellular phone industry. I have zero respect for Radio Shack/Tandy today. If their ethics have not changed, I wish them the worst.


JD
kf4anc

I am so glad that I had the wit to sell all of my Preferred Stock in RS shortly after retiring from my position as manager of a $2M+ store, as it wasn't too many months afterwards that the stock's value crashed horribly.

I have to say though that it was one heck of a great opportunity, what other company ever offered 85% return on investment immediately? That is, every dollar invested in PS was matched immediately by $0.85?

I still maintain that the utter stupidity of using RS's success to bankroll that Great White Whore (aka "Incredible Universe") did as much if not more to destroy a once great company than cellular phones ever did. Well, that and the de-emphasis on small parts as the mainstay of profits.

IMHO of course!