RadioShack set to close 500 stores nationwide

[durango5550]

Cellshack is just that a cell shack. Oh and don't forget your DAMN BATTERIES!!!

I say good. Close them up , pretty much worthless anyway.

 

[zz0468]

Well that sucks, Where the heck am i going to go pick up my little project parts now?

Digikey and Mouser. Both are cheaper, and sell better quality parts. If you order on Monday, your parts are in your hands by Thursday.

 

[zz0468]

I hate to say they need to close all of them. There concept is bad.

The concept of a general purpose electronics store isn't bad, it's Radio Shack's interpretation that's bad. It works well for Fry's. Fry's is successful, although their parts department is usually quite a mess.

They don't even know there name "Radio Shack" or "The Shack" . The good old days are gone.

It's worse than that. They not only don't know their name, they don't know the meaning of the name, or it's history.

Just look at how much everything has changed...

...As Bob Groove once said our hobby is shrinking away.

What Radio Shack, Fry's, and radio hobbyists in general need to to is rediscover the fun of building things. Radio Shack would do wonders for their bottom line to formalize a relationship with the Maker movement, advertise in Make Magazine, and start carrying items that Makers need for their projects. Out here in California, there are several ham clubs that are attending and exhibiting at Maker fairs and generating a lot of interest.

Thee are people who are getting into computer building, robotics, electronics, and they are being shown that ham radio is a perfect fit.

Radio Shack could turn their fortunes around and help revive several hobbies, but I don't think their management has the vision to go beyond cellphones and talking stuffed toys.

If they don't embrace the Maker movement, then the company deserves to die, and I'd say good riddance.

 

[MTS2000des]

Radio Shack could turn their fortunes around and help revive several hobbies, but I don't think their management has the vision to go beyond cellphones and talking stuffed toys.

If they don't embrace the Maker movement, then the company deserves to die, and I'd say good riddance.

The problem is stockholders don't see the "Maker movement" as increasing their dividend checks. "Makers" don't buy things like cellphones and "value added services" that bring in residual income.

The fact is, to support the large numbers of locations, a store has to do more than serve a niche group of customers who don't spend thousands of bucks a year.

It's econ 101. Fry's has 34 stores in a few states. Radio Shack has 7,150 locations in the US and Canada. Do the math. That's a ton of overhead. Fry's is the equivalent to a regional chain. RS is a giant in comparison.

there is NO WAY the Fry's model would be profitable at that level that RS operates at.

If this were the case, Fry's would be expanding into all 50 states. They are not because it would not be profitable.

And at the end of the day, we are talking about a for profit corporation that has to answer to it's stockholders. No touchy feely stuff, it's all numbers. Stockholders want to see higher stock prices and bigger dividend checks.

Radio Shack sticks with what brings in the most profit: cellphones which have high residual income from the carriers they have relationships with, and high demand consumer products like bluetooth headsets, Beats headphones, tablets and Ipods.

I'm sorry but Maker fairs just don't fit in that model at the scale of the operation they have.

RS has been a consumer electronics store since the 1970s. The consumer electronics landscape has changed. No one repairs that new Chinese flat screen TV, you can't even get parts and service for name brand stuff like Samsung once the warranty is over. No one builds there own stereo system from components. They buy some cheap plastic turdbox from China with a Bluetooth connection to listen to their tablet/phone/whatever. People want cheap, instant gratification nowadays.

RS has to do what it can to be profitable and keep it's stockholders happy. Maker fairs, ham radio operators, and scanner enthusiasts are not known for big bucks.

If that were so, Best Buy would be carrying Baofengs and Wal Mart would carry Yaesu, and have a section of their stadium sized stores dedicated to Arduinos.

 

[zz0468]

The problem is stockholders don't see the "Maker movement" as increasing their dividend checks. "Makers" don't buy things like cellphones and "value added services" that bring in residual income.

This is absolutely true... Most everything in your post is true. But...

The flaw many companies make is losing sight of the fact that, in order to generate the revenue required to pay dividends to stock holders, the company has to actually produce something that people want to buy. By produce, I mean manufacture, sell, service, or whatever...

In Radio Shack's case, the cellphone (etc.) markets have flattened out, so sales and profits are down. Otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

there is NO WAY the Fry's model would be profitable at that level that RS operates at.

I agree. Aside from the fact that they have way too many stores, they would need to come up with a business model of their own, not a copy of Fry's.

I'm sorry but Maker fairs just don't fit in that model at the scale of the operation they have.

I'm not ready to give in and agree with that. The Maker movement is growing. There are Makerspaces springing up all over the place. There are maker fairs taking place that are drawing a quarter of a million visitors in a single weekend. There is a LOT of buzz, at least in the circles I run around in.

It's not reasonable to expect a single market niche to revive a company like Radio Shack, but it's one of several that they should seriously look into tapping when they get around to reinventing themselves.

RS has to do what it can to be profitable and keep it's stockholders happy.

Yes, but in order to do that, they need customers. A whole segment of customers, people like us, has been alienated. I haven't spent a dime in a Radio Shack store in 15 years, because they don't carry what I want anymore. I can easily spend $1000 a year on parts for projects on my own, and not a penny of that goes to Radio Shack anymore. How would the shareholders feel to hear a few hundred thousand or a million stories like that?

Maker fairs, ham radio operators, and scanner enthusiasts are not known for big bucks.

Not by themselves, they aren't. But as part of a collectively larger customer base, they could be. if the Maker movement can show kids that building stuff is fun, schools could catch on and start teaching some of the things people are learning on their own. The idea isn't far fetched, and the movement IS growing, unlike cell phone sales.

If that were so, Best Buy would be carrying Baofengs and Wal Mart would carry Yaesu, and have a section of their stadium sized stores dedicated to Arduinos.

I will admit to having fairy-tale ambitions for things like the Makers, Makerspaces, community workspaces, and similar activities. I see those things as the saviors of the general electronics oriented hobbies. I think it would be foolish for a company as widely known throughout society as Radio Shack to ignore these organizations, and the growth potential it has.

 

[n6hcm]

local radio shacks have gotten so desperate that they're hosting amazon lockers. their time has come and gone.

 

[thomast77]

It's not just the fact that they don't carry radios anymore. It is also the pushy commissioned salesmen. I know because I used to work there. It was all about the numbers and the cell phones. They did not care about the customer. They cared about the customers money. I was pushed out because I did not like being the pushy salesman. I knew everything in that store back in the 90's and I was the go to guy. People always came in asking for me because I knew everything. But they got rid of me because I did not want to cram a cellphone down everyone's throat. That along with the high prices is the downfall of Radio Shack. I really liked that job too. I would work there again if they dropped commissions and let me do my thing. Maybe I should be CEO.

 

[MTS2000des]

It's not just the fact that they don't carry radios anymore. It is also the pushy commissioned salesmen. I know because I used to work there. It was all about the numbers and the cell phones. They did not care about the customer. They cared about the customers money. I was pushed out because I did not like being the pushy salesman.

Sounds like you were pushed out because you did not make the company money. That is called a sound business decision. Welcome to capitalism.

I would work there again if they dropped commissions and let me do my thing.

Yes, it would be nice if we all could just do what we wanted to and get paid for it. Problem is, when a business answers to stockholders and board of directors, they are the ones who call the shots. Again, capitalism. Radio Shack is not a cooperative, or a non-profit corporation. They are in business to make as much profit as they can.

The money they derive comes from sales of profitable products and services. Employees who do not upsell those products and services are let go. Products and services that aren't profitable (like ham radios, electronic kits, parts, etc) are also cut from the lineup and replaced with ones that do bring in the sales numbers. This happens everyday in corporate America. Not just Radio Shack.

Maybe I should be CEO.

No offense, but you would not do a very good job. If you were CEO, you would want your stockholders to be happy. You would want a big salary, and the biggest bonus you can get, and the way that happens is when the company turns record profits.

Radio Shack is on life support. We can all have fantasies about maker movements, ham radio store of the future, or play "remember when" it was 1977 and your local Radio Shack was like going to the World's Fair in a strip mall.

But reality is they are a business that has had to make changes. I personally do not shop there like the rest of you guys, but I get a little tired of the bashing of the "pushy" salespeople. They are doing what their bosses tell them to try and earn a living wage and hopefully get some benefits like health insurance and 401K.

The bigger question is how can a for-profit stockholder based company make it in the hobbyist electronics business as a big-box style retailer of the size and scope of Radio Shack?

short answer is it isn't feasible. If it were, it would already be done.

RadioShack will probably cease to exist, at least at their size and structure, in the next 18-24 months. I hate to see any American company fail, this means more people out of work, more people potentially needing government benefits to survive (like TANIF, SNAP, etc), and another icon of our landscape gone.

But that is how capitalism works.

 

[MTS2000des]

In Radio Shack's case, the cellphone (etc.) markets have flattened out, so sales and profits are down. Otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Not hardly. The wireless market is the single most growing industry. Consumers cannot get enough of the cellphones/tablets and connected devices. Proof of this is in the fact that people camp out and line up outside of Apple stores when the next iPhone or iPad is released.

Samsung is also expanding their mobile products opening retail stores. Carriers are also changing the way they sell devices. Programs like AT&T Next, Verizon Edge, and T-Mobile's JUMP are all an answer to consumer demand for MORE phones MORE often.

Radio Shack, like other retailers, are struggling with this because the previous commission structure paid to third party retailers is being revised by the carriers. The carriers aren't paying what they used to 5 years ago. The carriers (I call them cartels) call the shots on device specifications, software and control the distribution channels.

The first big boxer who can make it selling unlocked, unbranded "flexible" phones (like the ROTW has) and can do it profitably will be the new third party retailercell phone kingpin.

But the market is hardly flattening out. The carrier's ledgers say just the opposite, and their demand for more and more of our radio spectrum is in direct response to people's ever growing demand to be constantly connected to the internet and posting their every move to Facebook.

Radio Shack is struggling to regain the dominance they once had as the largest third party retailer of wireless phones. If they cannot do this, they are DONE. Scanners, CB radios, and "makers" will not restore them to profitability no matter how bad you (or I) would like that to be so.

 

[poltergeisty]

The struggling U.S. electronics retailer RadioShack is set to close 500 stores as part of its restructuring effort.

RadioShack set to close 500 stores nationwide : BIZ TECH : Tech Times

Wow! And here they have that new commercial about going back to the way they were in the 80's.

I find myself buying from eBay more often than not. Coaxial cable, network cable, connectors, whether RF or LAN I buy all from eBay.

 

[Dawn]

The bigger question is how can a for-profit stockholder based company make it in the hobbyist electronics business as a big-box style retailer of the size and scope of Radio Shack?

short answer is it isn't feasible. If it were, it would already be done.

They actually tried this during the 90's and were the first to jump out before the malaise hit the other big box electronic retailers. That you have to give them credit for being visionaries. Remember Icredible Universe? That had to be the most giant retail space ever given to computers,parts, and personal electronics. So big they even had a food court, kiddie day care, and more inventory then any store in history. They cut their losses by the end of the 90's just as the others were in their infance gearing up like Best Buy. Same went for Computer City. They already saw the handwriting on the wall that Comp USA and others were too blind to see and bailed to let the rest of the industry learn the hard way. Give them their due making long term predictions in a market growing saturated and loosing their niche. They realized that they were no longer the portal for emergent technology they once were and a whole new generation and department store chains were opening up to those same sales channels. With the wise decisions, they for some reason didn't extend that to the small, brick and mortar RS stores. What they're proposing to do right now is nothing new. They did it before with their mall entry Technology Stores from strip shopping centers as a glitzy, non techie, retail outlet for their prime, high yield products only. No parts, just the major sellers with the retail conumer friendly enviornment free from the intimidating nerd tech outlet radio shacks that average folks didn't feel comfrortable entering. This time they have no niche and their customers are the same buying from the retail giants. This is not going to end well barring some market shake-up that they again can exploit a niche. This isn't the 70's glory days with a few stores per state. They're cutting back to 4K retail locations in the states alone. That's a massive presence with no advantages over other retailers anymore. Scarlet lenses aside, they are in business to make money and keep the finance side happy and not a public service for a handfull of dreaming niche buyers that overall sales don't amount to squat. No amount of responsible B class certified corporation twist is going to endear themselves to wall street and surely not their stock holders in today's economy and maybe in dozen years when the millenials take the reigns things might change with a paradigm shift in corporate responsibility to community and employees. Not in today's economy.

 

[chankel]

Being the time is changing for ALL Law Enforcement & Fire Departments have to change to the new Digital Frequency sooner or later, because Police Scanners going to P25 Digital System , it don't surprise me any that RS is closing stores all over. All the Conventional Scanners will be OPSOLEATE be for long. These new Scanners are over priced . They need to lower the price so people can afford them. jbxfire

This is a common misunderstanding, although OT. No one "has" to go digital. Keeping it simple, anyone above 55 MHz and below 700 MHz has to narrowband. Narrowband and digital are not the same thing.

 

[wise871]

Why do some folks believe Radio Shacks Primary sales were Scanners? Going digital or the high prices of scanners have nothing to do with RS closing all there stores.

 

[thomast77]

Here is the problem. What Radio Shack is doing now is not working. So what could it hurt to try something new. Hire employees that are Customer Service driven instead of commission driven. Why? Because the customer loves good Customer Service. People will pay more for that. Hire employees with technical expertise. They don't have to have a degree. You could hire them out of high school. Kids nowadays have a knack for this stuff. Train them in the tech stuff. I am not saying you have to drop the cell phones but have some variety in the store. Bring back some radios and other electronics that have been phased out. Amateur Radio is booming right now. People are signing up like crazy. My first radio was the HTX-202. That was a decent radio. I still have it and it still works. Lower prices. People love to handle stuff before they buy it. It doesn't have to be as cheap as the online retailers. But the bottom line is that Radio Shack will never survive the way they are going now. They are just a glorified cell phone store.

 

[NUGEN]

Well I think they are going to become basically computer stores now. They will stop selling parts. Say goodbye to radios at radio shack. This means no more parts such as connectors, coax etc. I think if anything they will just move as far away from radio as possible and focus on the latest electronic gizmos like computers, cell phones, tablets etc. This is my opinion on the direction they are headed. Radio stuff is no longer profitable.

Before you go ahead and say what they're going to carry and what they aren't, go into a concept store because obviously you haven't been in one yet. Call your local shack and ask where the nearest concept store is, they are
REALLY cool. For someone who has shopped with them now for 15 years, I was amazed the first time I walked into one.

Second point, they haven't actually come out and said they are closing 500 stores, this article was leaked by the WSJ and is speculation at this point. The execs at Radioshack have already said that certain stores may close so that new ones in better locations would open. It serves no purpose to keep an underperforming location open. Also the CEO Joe Magnacca has been quoted saying "I think we are a 4000 plus network of stores" so that still gives them a large footprint.

They are constantly evolving, trying to stay relevant so yes certain area may shrink so others can grow. Look at the whole "make it" section that carries Arduino and other neat programmable electronics. It's still a DIY that is now becoming a Do-It-Together store. They're not going anywhere.

 

[LIScanner101]

I must be living on another planet or something:

The dreaming, hoping and wishing on here borders on insanity.

I personally no NOBODY who dabbles in build-your-own stuff.

It's not popular anymore.

Maybe in small circles of older generations, yeah, but I see no younger people doing it.

I keep bringing up the HRO stores I've been into in California, with the same old elderly crew chewing the fat while antennas and radios sit on the shelves and racks collecting dust.

Face it: There of course IS a market for scanners and ham radio, but it most certainly won't save RS from the dustbin of history.

 

[VGSMC_8520]

lol, so many armchair CEOs in this thread.

 

[KCoax]

I was thinking the only future marketing plan for RS store front properties would be to open a food court. Well, then again gas jumped 14 cents over night.

 

[bill4long]

I have a Fry's two miles away so I don't need RS for anything. Last time I went into Radio Shack it was a tomb. RS was pretty good back in the 70s when I was a teenager. They should change their name to Cell Phone Shack and have competitive pricing. RIP.

 

[Paco-Jerte]

I have a Fry's two miles away so I don't need RS for anything. Last time I went into Radio Shack it was a tomb. RS was pretty good back in the 70s when I was a teenager. They should change their name to Cell Phone Shack and have competitive pricing. RIP.

Agreed. I have 2 frys with 15 miles radius. Why buy an HDMI cable from RS for $29.99 when frys has them for under $4.99 and even at $1.99

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