RadioShack set to close 500 stores nationwide

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Nasby

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Maybe Whistler's new line of scanners will save the day for Radio Shack when they hit the shelves?!
 

pyro424

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Maybe Whistler's new line of scanners will save the day for Radio Shack when they hit the shelves?!

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.
 

wise871

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Maybe Whistler's new line of scanners will save the day for Radio Shack when they hit the shelves?!

I really don't don't think the release of an item or two, especially a scanner will be able to save Radio Shack. Scanners are really not popular or known to the general public except to the hobbyist. Even if Whistler released a dream scanner that everyone is wishing for. There still wouldn't be enough sales to bail out RS.

I have to give them credit. There new commercials are funny.
http://youtu.be/oUwwZHdx6SU
 
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INDY72

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True, when they moved in the 90's to be the Sprint PCS HQ, and started moving away from the very thing that gave them the name to begin with, radios, that began the end. For a while they still had an good inventory of scanners, business radios, FRS/GMRS, marine radios, some amateur radio gear, WX radios, and even shortwave recievers. Then the radios section got smaller and smaller, cellular and PC's sections got bigger and bigger. Even the TV's, and stereo gear disappeared. DJ gear vanished. Parts and etc went from 20 drawers and a supply in the back, to just 6 little drawers, to what 3 now?

Now they close 1/2 of their stores, rip out everything that made them a household name, and make tiny displays of cell phones, some PC's, and RC Toys. One very tiny scanner display.

They basically tried to even remove the Radio from Radio Shack in their ads etc a couple of years ago, and made the move to call themselves just "The Shack". I agree, they are just that now if they can't find themselves soon, just a shack. About to get torn down and be forever in the old archives of memories!
 

bfperez

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Good riddance "Radio" Shack.

What used to be one of my goto places for various electronic components, connectors, cables, etc. as a kid and teen turned into a showcase of cell phones and overpriced computer parts, both of which could be found at numerous other places even in small towns like Ocean Springs, MS where I once lived.

I stopped making their stores the first place I checked about 15 years ago when I found that I had to order more and more of what I needed from catalog companies.

Living in Las Vegas, I now have Fry's and Kesiub for components and some radio gear and AES for radios, antennas, wiring, mounts, etc.
 

cg

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They have been hit by online retailers like any other brick and mortar store. Even with their online component, people will look for the best deal on products.
Other than convenience, you gain nothing from going into the majority of RS stores. Their prices are not very competitive, they have a limited selection, and the majority their staff does not know the product line well enough to give advice. Now they are making it less convenient to get to a RS store.
The internet sellers don't need to know their products, people search the internet elsewhere for information. There is virtually nothing that you cannot get online so you have the biggest inventory in terms of brands and amounts to shop from. The convenience of online shopping can't be beat.
So unless you need that $3 part in your hand today, RS is does not come into the picture. I have been in one once in the last two years but it was once a weekly trip.

chris
 

bravo14

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If RatShack didn't spend all that money on the commercials and paid the people they might have to close 500 stores.
 

MTS2000des

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They have been hit by online retailers like any other brick and mortar store. Even with their online component, people will look for the best deal on products.

Yep, as with all brick and mortar, you have high overhead which already makes them unable to compete with onliners who don't have to pay lease and percentages of sales to landlords of commercial retail properties.

Showrooming and smartphones have made stores like Radio Shack and Best Buy cut unprofitable product lines out completely.

While we all want to think that RadioShack will be as it was in the 1970s, it is not the 1970s anymore. Retailing has evolved. Even with an online/ship to store presence, the days of having thousands of boutique style stores all over the US are over.

There are some locally owned electronic stores around the country that are doing well, despite the online availability of cheap Chinese components- and their secret is simple: carry a wide selection, and staff who KNOW their products. Such a place has existed here in my town (Atlanta) for 45 years: Ack Electronics. They don't have a fancy website, yet they have remained in business and certainly don't have the lowest price.

Ack Inc: Your source for electronic cable, connectors and components!

They will be here when Radio Shack is a distant memory. People slam RS for not selling ham radios and scanners. Niche market, and no money. Hams and hobbyists are cheap, and the profit is just not there. Like it or not, RS answers to it's stockholders, not the local ham radio club. And their stockholders must not be too thrilled these days, $2.42 a share as of this writing:

RSH: Summary for Radioshack Corporation Common S- Yahoo! Finance
 

Intimidator21801

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Radio shack

They need to close.... I live in Las Vegas & the sales staff told me that LVMPD's Desert Sky Radio system was able to be listened to thru their Radio Shack Pro-164 scanner. And when I confronted them after the purchase & not knowing that it was unable to pickup the police chatter. They wouldn't return it!
So no big loss if they close
 

nsrailfan6130

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If the one here in Adrian closes, it's no skin off my back. All I ever needed from them were rechargeable batteries and I can get the same kind of battery at another store such as Walmart, Meijers, etc. at a lower price. My real problem with them is the customer service because they had a lack of knowledge of their items and they had major attitudes when you try to return an item.
 

vstream02

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They need to close.... I live in Las Vegas & the sales staff told me that LVMPD's Desert Sky Radio system was able to be listened to thru their Radio Shack Pro-164 scanner. And when I confronted them after the purchase & not knowing that it was unable to pickup the police chatter. They wouldn't return it!
So no big loss if they close

With a name like "intimidator" i can imagine why....Did you not do ANY research on your own?
 

SCPD

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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
 
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kg9nn

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If the one here in Adrian closes, it's no skin off my back. All I ever needed from them were rechargeable batteries and I can get the same kind of battery at another store such as Walmart, Meijers, etc. at a lower price. My real problem with them is the customer service because they had a lack of knowledge of their items and they had major attitudes when you try to return an item.

I spent a few years at SHC...well now it's SHU. Anyways, back on topic...

It's business and if they can't find a niche or get mass market appeal, they're going to fade away like Montgomery Wards, Sears, and many other retailers have.
 

BamaScan

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I hate to say they need to close all of them. There concept is bad. They don't even know there name "Radio Shack" or "The Shack" . The good old days are gone. Just look at how much everything has changed. 1) Shortwave Radio Stations are few and far between. Several big names have pulled the pug or cut back. BBC for one example. 2) TV gone digital. Just look around how many people do you know have an outside TV Antenna. I am one of the few in my neighborhood. 3) Police Scanners. We all know what the digital modes have done for scanners. Getting harder to program or encrypted or even not heard on a police scanner. 4) Sell scanner books. Not going to work. Many have bit the dust. As Bob Groove once said our hobby is shrinking away.
 

Blackink

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I remember when radio Shack use to sell Direct T.V. satellite dish assemblies.
That's where I purchased one some 20 years ago(?) It was awhile ago, I know that.

Back then, you could assemble the dishes, install them, point them according to the instructions, if you had a compass, and then call them to get it activated.

Satellite dishes were a big thing for them back when Direct T.V. first came out....
 

mrkelso

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

zzdiesel

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I remember when radio Shack use to sell Direct T.V. satellite dish assemblies.
That's where I purchased one some 20 years ago(?) It was awhile ago, I know that.

Back then, you could assemble the dishes, install them, point them according to the instructions, if you had a compass, and then call them to get it activated.

Satellite dishes were a big thing for them back when Direct T.V. first came out....
And then Wal-Mart got to selling them too.
 
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