Radioshack to make come back?

[steve9570]

Mikejo You Blew It as we call it has gone WAY down hill. No scanners no CB the up stairs is closed It a shame. I have been a customer for 40 plus years and no more. Not worth the ride from Natick. WCVB Channel 5 TV across the way was one of there best customers for parts at the station. No More oh well
Steve

 

[prcguy]

Hope the tube tester still works.

If they go back in business will they honor the original lifetime guarantee on their tubes?

 

[prcguy]

I miss my hair from the late 60's and 70's, but I can't have that back either.

Maybe we should ban together and demand replacements or refunds. Did you keep your hair receipt?

 

[mikewazowski]

Will they honour my Battery of the Month club card?

 

[CoastalDude]

No objections to them coming back, as long as their focus isn't cell phones or overly aggressive commissioned sales people who sit outside chain smoking until someone walks into the door, then they attack them like a pack of starving dogs. I have zero desire to "shop" at a store when they don't give me an opportunity to look and discover what they have for myself, not to mention all while doing it while smelling like they single-handedly put out a tobacco farm fire with a straw and a cup of water. I'd rather shop on Ebay and take the risk of getting counterfeit or non-functional used devices than to deal with the sales people and fear of having 10 more cell phone plans shoved down my throat just because I walked in looking for a 3 feet patch of mini-8 coaxial cable.

Remember they also used to hound you for your address? Uggh. I worked there in the mall as a kid, I stopped asking because people didn't like it, you could tell it was driving them away. The CEO must of thought all those names used to send out catalogs would translate into massive sales, all it did was drive their customer base away ...

 

[ladn]

Remember they also used to hound you for your address?

Absolutely a disincentive to shop there. A lot of clerks had the right attitude as you did.
The overzealous ones got made up addresses and Zip codes.

What annoyed me far more in the mid 80's (and later) was some slick haired sales drone asking if I wanted a "free cell phone". The "you've got questions--we've got cell phones" era was the beginning of the end for RS.

 

[dlwtrunked]

Wonder if they'll change their mottos; "You've got questions---we've got cell phones" and "You've got questions---we haven't a clue".

Decades ago I had a RadioShack manager tell me that the company did not like hiring knowledgeable people for 2 reasons:
1. They would not work for the company very long as they would find a better job.
2. The company had seen that less knowledgeable people sold more stuff to customers that the customer did not need and that meant more profits.
In fact, the same store actually once asked me to answer the phone when I was in the store though I never worked for them. But the best laugh when I was in the store in Indiana, PA around 1981 when they told a lady that the UHF antenna needed to go below the VHF antenna as the shorter UHF wavelength, being shorter, could not reach as high above the ground. I laughed so hard when I overheard that that I never felt welcome in the store after that.

 

[ecps92]

Last time I was in a 'Shack they were having their going out of business sale, I bought a bunch of antennas (800 MHZ and the center loaded telescopic ones) for half price. I kept one of each in original packaging, using the rest to this day. I miss RS and Sears. The Sears stores in my area were way more pitiful in its last few years. 3 floors of mechandise and probably 4 customers between them every time I went there.

Sears - still Open in Braintree
Radio Shack - still open in Aruba

 

[bob550]

Did you keep your hair receipt?

Unfortunately not. I ended up using it when I ran out of rolling papers.

 

[StoliRaz]

Sears - still Open in Braintree
Radio Shack - still open in Aruba

The last Sears in eastern MA, I used to go to that one all the time in the 90s-early 2000s. The ground floor in particular, tools, electronics and outdoor living items..plus the tire center which was always extremely busy...I doubt it's like that anymore, unfortunately. Too much competition like Sullivan Tire across the street

 

[CycleSycho]

.


OK, my ridiculous Radio Shack mixed up 'technician' story (He WAS supposed to be the 'expert'). A customer came in for a wall-wart, the 'tech' (who was the store manager) asked what the power requirements were and the customer said 200ma. The manager showed the customer a 150ma supply and said this will power the device with no problems. The customer then mentioned a friend told him the smallest wall-wart should be the device being powered (again 200ma) so he should be getting a minimum 200ma and since the 500ma wall-wart was the least expensive supply, that he should buy that one. The manager / tech then said if you buy that one it'll burn out your device since 500ma was 2 1/2 times too much power. After the customer left, I tried discussing the fact the wall-wart would supply UP TOO 500ma (give or take) and that the device would only draw as much as it needed of that maximum power and be totally satisfied but he stood fast with his expertise. I left that Radio Shack and never went back. They were already in decline (RS in general), and were maximizing push of cellphones and battery operated toys (mostly RC ones). I have little doubt the re-opening of RS will be disposable electronic/electric devices of a wide variety.


.

 

[belvdr]

OK, my ridiculous Radio Shack mixed up 'technician' story (He WAS supposed to be the 'expert'). A customer came in for a wall-wart, the 'tech' (who was the store manager) asked what the power requirements were and the customer said 200ma. The manager showed the customer a 150ma supply and said this will power the device with no problems. The customer then mentioned a friend told him the smallest wall-wart should be the device being powered (again 200ma) so he should be getting a minimum 200ma and since the 500ma wall-wart was the least expensive supply, that he should buy that one. The manager / tech then said if you buy that one it'll burn out your device since 500ma was 2 1/2 times too much power. After the customer left, I tried discussing the fact the wall-wart would supply UP TOO 500ma (give or take) and that the device would only draw as much as it needed of that maximum power and be totally satisfied but he stood fast with his expertise. I left that Radio Shack and never went back. They were already in decline (RS in general), and were maximizing push of cellphones and battery operated toys (mostly RC ones). I have little doubt the re-opening of RS will be disposable electronic/electric devices of a wide variety.

I never understood why that confused people. If you plug in a device into a wall receptacle, it isn’t pushed 15A of current. The device pulls what it needs. The same logic applies to wall warts.

 

[Jphila20]

From a former Radio Shack employee.

I guess the majority of those making negative comments here were only able to get their driver license in the late 90's or 2000’s. When Radio Shack, Olsen’s and Heathkit were the only places you could get electronic parts these sales people knew their ****. I spent some time working at a Radio Shack and it was great until they decided to become focused on cellphones. Then, the only thing the sales people knew were the cellphone plans. They stopped hiring geeks who could help the customers and rated the sales people on cellphone sales.

Some people did complain about the name and address thing, but it drove sales. When the flyers hit your homes, the people hit the stores. Now the only difference is you give out your email or phone number without question.

As for product: Radio Shack put their name on a lot stuff made by other companies. Just like today. Based on the Radio Shack Forum here, there is a lot of items still working and being used. I still having scanners and receivers from 30+ years ago working like it just came out the box.

I don't believe any of those old brick and mortar would survive today.

I expect some feedback. Keep it clean. :{)

 

[tvengr]

OK, my ridiculous Radio Shack mixed up 'technician' story (He WAS supposed to be the 'expert').

Many years ago, I purchased a Radio Shack PRO-5 UHF 4-channel crystal-controlled handheld scanner for my mother. It didn't work well at all. I seem to remember that the sensitivity was supposed to be better than .7uv for 20db quieting. I know it was better than 1uv. I hooked up my test equipment and found that it took 10uv for 20 db quieting. I took it back to the store for a replacement and met one of those '"experts". He proceeded to give me all kinds of reasons why it didn't work properly such as the ambient noise level in Baltimore. He concluded his presentation by saying, "I am an engineer!" To which I responded, "What railroad?" He was not a happy camper, but I got my replacement. He didn't realize he was talking to someone who repaired 2-way radios.

 

[CycleSycho]

From a former Radio Shack employee.

I guess the majority of those making negative comments here were only able to get their driver license in the late 90's or 2000’s. When Radio Shack, Olsen’s and Heathkit were the only places you could get electronic parts these sales people knew their ****. I spent some time working at a Radio Shack and it was great until they decided to become focused on cellphones. Then, the only thing the sales people knew were the cellphone plans. They stopped hiring geeks who could help the customers and rated the sales people on cellphone sales.

Some people did complain about the name and address thing, but it drove sales. When the flyers hit your homes, the people hit the stores. Now the only difference is you give out your email or phone number without question.

As for product: Radio Shack put their name on a lot stuff made by other companies. Just like today. Based on the Radio Shack Forum here, there is a lot of items still working and being used. I still having scanners and receivers from 30+ years ago working like it just came out the box.

I don't believe any of those old brick and mortar would survive today.

I expect some feedback. Keep it clean. :{)

Hi John, I got my drivers license in 1972. Been a HAM tech since before that. I used to build kits from RS, various magazines, some books with kit plans in it, and heathkit's (but) since then have had a few setbacks with mini-strokes which makes it harder to build or fix many things. Don't know what the 'license' reference was about, I almost always went to RS, electronics parts stores and (when in the military found Lafayette Radio Electronics. Clean enough? Merry Christmas to all and to all have a Safe and Happy Holiday season.


.

 

[N1EXA]

Mikejo You Blew It as we call it has gone WAY down hill. No scanners no CB the up stairs is closed It a shame. I have been a customer for 40 plus years and no more. Not worth the ride from Natick. WCVB Channel 5 TV across the way was one of there best customers for parts at the station. No More oh well
Steve

I stopped in there the other day to buy some 3 foot Long Shrink Tubing in Various sizes but I was pretty much thrown back how little they
they had for stock in the place - As for Ham and Scanner stuff Nothing and No real odd duck stuff like Boxes of Mini Fans or 1/4 inch
phone jacks for guitars.... I guess Ebay is pretty much the way to go now !

Pete N1EXA

 

[rbluesky]

Hi All I saw on YOUTUBE that Radio Shack Stores are comming back ! Do you think they will sell Scanners and computers again ?
and electronics parts that would be good !

 

[bob550]

Hi All I saw on YOUTUBE that Radio Shack Stores are comming back ! Do you think they will sell Scanners and computers again ?
and electronics parts that would be good !

Link?

 

[StoliRaz]

Hi All I saw on YOUTUBE that Radio Shack Stores are comming back ! Do you think they will sell Scanners and computers again ?
and electronics parts that would be good !

I won't hold my breath. I think CellPhoneShack will be a more appropriate name.

 

[bob550]

RadioShack.com continues to show as "renovating" 5 months after the OP's post. "Nothing to see here". Seriously though, most pro-return posts on this forum are merely displays of nostalgia, and if customers didn't abandon RS to begin with, the company would never have closed. The reason for that is that RS was always overpriced, and with the advent of Internet shopping, they could no longer be competetive. Customers would come in to window shop and then buy online from someone else unless they needed the product immediately. Even in it's death throes during store closing sales, RS continued to screw its customers by increasing the prices on numerous items before reducing the price of the same items for the sale. Retail stores sometimes just beg to go out of business by their actions, and RadioShack was no exception.