RadioShack set to close 500 stores nationwide

[902]

So much for rumors.

They did need to do some soul searching into their core business to figure out what they wanted to be when they grew up.

I suppose we wait/see where these locations will be, what the local impact will be, and any alternative sourcing locally or through ordering.

When I was a kid, taking the trip to the Bergen Mall in NJ, where the only local Radio Shack was, was a special trip made after lots of pining away into catalogs. Then, one opened up where I could take a bus, and finally one was within bicycle riding distance (all before I had a car). But like what's been said, it was different then.

Nowadays, if I found that I had to drive 12 miles outside my locality into the glorified trailer park that seems to attract all of the stores and chain restaurants just for a soldering iron or a role of 60/40 rosin core solder, I would likely find myself alt-sourcing just about everything.

 

[DaveIN]

About 30% of the stores, including franchise. If your town has one store, consider it to be gone.

 

[mrkelso]

And so it all begins again, Radio shack may be just the first in a long line of names we will hear that will close or cut. I just hope that my Bergenfield radio shack stays open.

 

[DaveIN]

An interesting email from the "CEO of RadioShack" came with a $10 Discount coupon for spending over $30 came to my in box on Saturday. I attempted to use it via tablet, which took me to the mobile site. After selecting an item, paying, and checking out, the mobile site errored telling me the quantity (1) was out of stock, yet was a new USB drive mini and USB2 product just listed in the weekend flyer. So, I went to the full web site, did a search for the 64GB version, and was able to complete the sale with no issues. This followed with a customer survey wanting to know how my experience was. As of today I have yet to hear any response from my survey. I'll be surprised if I hear from them. The item was not in stock for pickup at the local store and no option was available to ship it to the store. At least it shipped free.

Similar problems with ordering, or the store associate not knowing about the product, how to look it up in the system, or attempting to sell me a cell phone plan that I don't need is not helping the issue. While the 80's ad's are fun to watch, its the 80's Radio Shack that we really needed. The service provider we had "before" the cell phones and satellite services was actually good in the 80's. Now its going to be an attempt to survive on internet sales as a last gasp for air.:roll:

 

[Confuzzled]

Please read this thread before asking redundant questions. The best way to get any information is to go straight to the source and ask a local store manager/employee instead of relying on total strangers online. I'm sure some stores will close but it would only be to open new ones. As of now it is all speculation that any stores are closing and all this thread is doing is causing more speculation...

I wish the Mod would really just delete the thread!!

So much for rumors and speculation, eh?

By the way, do you really believe store employees are allowed to release such information?

 

[Confuzzled]

I imagine we'll lose at least one of our two, although it's been a number of years since I've been in either one and spent more than $10 or so. That's usually for some kind of connector.

 

[flythunderbird]

And so it all begins again, Radio shack may be just the first in a long line of names we will hear that will close or cut. I just hope that my Bergenfield radio shack stays open.

There are three Radio Shacks within 15 miles of my house. I suspect that at least one will bite the dust.

 

[pratzert]

I always felt that the beginning of the end for RS was when they decided to NOT put out a printed catalog any longer.

I realize it was an expense, but they had stopped mailing them for years before they altogether stopped printing them. That was OK because I was a weekly customer at the stores and picked up my copy when I visited.

I have never had much success navigating their web site looking for an item I wanted/needed. I just sort of stopped buying from them, except on rare occasion.

In years past they had some very, very knowledgeable sales people who knew a lot about what they sold. Not so much any more...... When I go into a store now and ask if they have an item, the clerk goes over to the wall rack and starts looking for it. They don't have a clue if they carry it or not. Kinda sad......

All the ingredients for failure have finally have come together.

 

[LIScanner101]

WOW!!!!

 

[E-Man]

RadioShack (RSH) revealed another quarter of red ink and a 19% tumble in same-store sales on Tuesday, prompting the embattled electronics retailer to shutter up to 1,100 stores.

RadioShack to Shut 1,100 Stores as 4Q Sales Plunge | Fox Business

 

[Blackink]

One of the quotes that caught my eye when reading through some of the press releases was this:

“Unfortunately, the press release reads somewhat like the Circuit City press releases of 2008, before they filed (for bankruptcy) in November 2008. Circuit City talked of some wins, and other positives including store remodels, but the results were overwhelmed by a broader economic malaise, and lost market share, that delivered the business to an extent that was not recoverable. ”

The full story on MarketWatch.com is here: Is RadioShack the next Circuit City? - Behind the Storefront - MarketWatch

Tough times ahead for some of the employees...

 

[bravo14]

2 weeks ago saw a closing ad for Chipley FL (Washington Co) is closing end of this month. I haven't seen anything yet in my area that are closing as of yet.

 

[902]

By the way, do you really believe store employees are allowed to release such information?

You give contemporary managers far more credit than they deserve. My wager is the store employees will have no idea until the bitter end when it's time to close the door. It's not like employees have a "need to know" anymore (if they ever did have that).

 

[Confuzzled]

I have never had much success navigating their web site looking for an item I wanted/needed. I just sort of stopped buying from them, except on rare occasion.

I always thought there was something wrong with the site. Or maybe my browser. The site just never seemed responsive, more sluggish with weird search results. Sometimes things wouldn't come up in searches or under categories that you knew they stocked. It would if you entered the stock number.

 

[AK9R]

My wager is the store employees will have no idea until the bitter end when it's time to close the door.

I agree. Don't expect to see a "Store Closing. Inventory Reduction Sale" sign in your favorite RadioShack store's window. Corporate really doesn't want their customers' last impression of RadioShack to come from someone who knows he's losing his job in a few weeks.

My guess is the stores will be closed and store employees will be terminated as quickly as possible. Then the inventory will turned over to a liquidator.

 

[dkf435]

Somebody better sound the collision alarm this is going down fast and hard hope Whistler does not get sucked in.

David Kb7uns

 

[flythunderbird]

My wager is the store employees will have no idea until the bitter end when it's time to close the door. It's not like employees have a "need to know" anymore (if they ever did have that).

I agree. The employees will probably be told the day before the store closes.

 

[Blackink]

I wonder if this announcement of closing 1100 stores is in addition to the 500 stores they first reported they were closing for "restructuring" back in February?!?

!100 stores is a lot but 1600 is a lot more.....

 

[w2xq]

Wirelessly posted (Moto Droid Bionic: Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-us; UPC300-2.2 Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

After the disastrous 4Q earnings report today, an announcement of 1100 stores will be closed. No details as I haven't yet seen the PR, just heard the headline on CNBC.

 

[flythunderbird]

I wonder if this announcement of closing 1100 stores is in addition to the 500 stores they first reported they were closing for "restructuring" back in February?!?

!100 stores is a lot but 1600 is a lot more.....

I believe that it is 1100 total, including the 500 previously discussed.