Radio Shack Bankrupt

[Cpo1944]

Sad to see this good company going away. I hope something can be salvaged from the ashes.

[RonJ]

Last I heard, Sprint may be taking over their stores.

[NZshooter]

Why are they still around? Who even goes there any more? Surprised they made it past the 90s.

[vigil617]

<sniff, sniff> I remember when you could buy the parts for a crystal radio there <sniff, sniff>

[vigil617]

Originally Posted by NZshooter

Why are they still around? Who even goes there any more? Surprised they made it past the 90s.

Well, me, for one.

I went in there looking for that black cord with the colored plugs on it to connect the thingmabob on my computer to the whatchamacallit on the back of my TV, and they knew just what I was talking about, and sold me one.

Was I ever a hero when I got home.

[hudsonvalley]

They should have been the computer store of America......couldn't even find a calculator last time I was there..

[Dennis The B]

The bankruptcy filing is for Chapter 11 Reorganization. RS is selling up to about 2400 stores to Sprint, and it's my understanding that some of those remaining stores will operate with both Sprint and RS goods. The other 1600, or so will close.

I read an article somewhere, that RS's original personal computer, the TRS80 had an OS designed by Bill Gates. I used one in the early '80's, and they were fairly good when it came to spreadsheet and document processing.

It's always seemed like RS jumped from one dying market to another, and never got ahead of the technology curve.

When I bought my first serious stereo, they had great equipment, but it was as much, if not more, than similar Sansui, Fisher, Marantz and others' gear.

They were a pretty good niche seller with scanners, electronics parts, etc.

[Muss Muggins]

They've been dying for years. Nobody had the guts to tell them They're the Hardee's Restaurant of the electronic store world. Got away from their roots, and then tried to be everything to everybody. Ended up being nothing to anybody . . . I was done with them about 20 years ago when I went in looking for two specialized but not uncommon electronic parts, got the blank stare and a catalog, wanted to know if I needed a flashlight.

[johngalt]

A high school buddy had a TRS80 color computer. It was a decent computer, except for the chicklet keyboard.

Back when you could get all kinds of electronic components it was a cool store. Now it is just yet another cell phone store.

[truckemup97]

If it really goes away, I will miss it. The employees are absolutely no help, but if YOU know what you are looking for, you will probably find it. I guess I have to wait two days now for Amazon Prime to deliver parts for my projects.

[dirty gary]

Wow, a TRaSh80, I remember those. They had a data storage system that used a cassette deck (!).

[Dennis The B]

Originally Posted by dirty gary

Wow, a TRaSh80, I remember those. They had a data storage system that used a cassette deck (!).

At the time, that was about the only I/O device for a micro computer. There were Bernoulli disks, and the IBM XT's were still out in the future, and even they had OS's that had to be booted from floppy disks.

We bought our kids an Atari 400, and then encouraged and bankrolled them to upgrade as far as they could take it. We had an Atari 410 tape deck for data storage. We used an old RCA B/W TV for the monitor. About a year, or two, after we got them the Atari, we found an IBM XT, and rebuilt it from scratch, adding a hard drive, and upgrading the floppy drives. Both kids really learned the heart and soul of PC's from those early days.

I worked in IT at Ford from 1993, until I retired. For a long time we had a display of the various PC's Ford bought over the years. The IBM AT's cost about $6K when they were first introduced.

[Kernel Crittenden]

My first PC was a Radio Shack MC-10 I bought in 1983. It was on closeout, and me an my roommate went in on it 50/50. IIRC it was $150. Used a little 10-inch B&W TV for a monitor. Cassette tapes for storage.

What a piece of junk. But I did learn a lot about programming in BASIC, since it used a unique operating system (different than the TRS-80) and there was NO commercial software for it. Wrote a great little program to help facilitate playing Avalon Hill's Panzer Leader board game.

[labworm]

True story.

Years back I went in to purchase one of those small B&W Potable TV's, 5 inch screen.

The clerk said they had one left, he went into the back to get it.

Placed in on the counter in front of me and began ringing it up.

Standing there, I picked it up and said Wow is this thing light.

Opened the box and it was empty, imagine if I paid for it and walked out of the store?

Strange things happen.

[JayFramer]

Aw, I remember my Dad buying me the little science toys from there when I was a young boy. I really like the one with the solar panel that made the fan turn! That tripped me out so much as a kid, it really seemed like it was magic and the fan was refreshing on those hot summer days. I played with it all the time.

Yes, I was and still am, easily amused.

[GerSan69]

Spent a fortune in there, starting in the 1960s. Stopped going in when I had to tell employees, "Yes, you damn sure do carry those, and it goes on this rack right there!" nearly every time I'd go in. Not to mention, "No, I don't need a new #$%^^&** cellphone!" Any parts I still need are available for much less on the internet, so... farewell, RS. You used to be a shack full of radio stuff...

[Ivan the Butcher]

From the time I was 10 until I was 16, mom would drive me to RS for my free battery every month. I had 6 or 7 member ship cards, so I had lots of batteries. But never quite enough. My first short wave receiver was from RS, It was so exciting for a 12 year old to listen to guys from Spain talk about the girls they went out with. When my wife and I moved last year, I found my log book of all that, instant memories, then into the trash, just like the store. The other Tandy company was their leather working supply. I went in about a year ago for some waxed thread. They were outrageous! Ivan

[HOUSTON RICK]

I will not miss it. Never had what I was looking for.

[chief38]

The plain hard truth is that there is not much need in todays society for the vast majority of the products and parts they sell. The Cell Phone Company's have the Lyons share of the cell phone business and not too many people are into electronics anymore. Batteries are half the price at places like Costco and so many of their other products are purchased from on-line sources. Even if they do find alternate financing I doubt they can sustain a viable business anymore and there are only a handful of long time customers like myself that will miss them. Just my opinion of course and would love to be wrong on this one!

[Salty RI]

I heard Verizon was going to take over some of the stores.

[venomballistics]

Originally Posted by vigil617

<sniff, sniff> I remember when you could buy the parts for a crystal radio there <sniff, sniff>

Digikey, Mouser, Allied, Tube Depot, Parts Express ....
you might have to play a little hopscotch between them to bring a project to completion but if you ask me, it's a far better setup than radioshack was at any time in history.
From retro tube circuits to bleeding edge "just thought it up" devices, its all at your fingertips on the web.
Keep that solder tip clean and tinned

[M3Stuart]

I worked in Ft. Worth, where RS is based, for several years (a couple decades ago). I knew tons of people that worked there.

There's one thing, and only one thing, to know about Radio Shack; they are the cheapest, discount-minded management on the planet. They scraped every last penny out of every last...well, everything. There is no evidence, whatsoever, that RS mgt. ever had any focus on anything other than cutting costs. No technology focus, no product focus, no marketing focus...none at all.

All those people who lost jobs will invariably be much happier. They will go out into the world, look around, and VOILA - they will come to understand that people in a capitalist society actually get to pick what they want to buy rather than have-to-buy whatever junk is on the shelf.

That's it. That's all there is to know about RS.

[venomballistics]

LME49811TB/NOPB Texas Instruments | LME49811TB/NOPB-ND | DigiKey

I built a few things from the RS parts list. some actually useful.
I've built some of the most impressive things after I discovered better sources for parts.
The above link goes to a part any audio enthusiast and experimenter should be made aware of.
With a few calculations and some sanity, this part is the nerve center of what might be the finest solid state power amp you may ever live to know.
I've used this from 40W up to 350W with uniform stunning results.
It's theoretical 500W maximum is obviously overkill.

The strength of RS was the parts shelves. no other corner shop had anything like it.
Had they kept pace with developments and expanded this selection, they'd have easily dominated the current leading suppliers.
Instead, they stripped the selection down to uselessness and kept playing second fiddle in the tech arena with their idiotic me too attitude.

[Dennis The B]

Well, they did outlast Olson Electronics.

[Old 44 Guy]

I lost the battery in my calculator [desk model] & nobody had the right one in town. Finally I called RS & Yes, they had one.$6.95. So I bought it but that will be the last time I enter their store.

[rwsmith]

Adapters, jacks, cords/cables, filters, connectors, wire, antennas, transformers, tools and somebody mentioned project kits. At this stuff they were great. Need something like that, where is the nearest Radio Shack. Their components were crud. They did have one advantage though. A friend broke into the DJ business and he used RS stuff because if something went out, no matter what town he was in he could find a RS open till at least 8 pm or so. However, their amps and equipment were very low grade and he found it better to get REAL equipment after a while.

Even in the last few years I ran to a RS at night to get a ground-loop adapter that fixed the hum in our PA system at church.

I never liked RS's marketing after a certain point, but hey, consumers and the world was changing fast and they just didn't keep up in an effective way.

[moralem]

Originally Posted by M3Stuart

I worked in Ft. Worth, where RS is based, for several years (a couple decades ago). I knew tons of people that worked there.

There's one thing, and only one thing, to know about Radio Shack; they are the cheapest, discount-minded management on the planet. They scraped every last penny out of every last...well, everything. There is no evidence, whatsoever, that RS mgt. ever had any focus on anything other than cutting costs. No technology focus, no product focus, no marketing focus...none at all

All those people who lost jobs will invariably be much happier. They will go out into the world, look around, and VOILA - they will come to understand that people in a capitalist society actually get to pick what they want to buy rather than have-to-buy whatever junk is on the shelf.

That's it. That's all there is to know about RS.

Agreed, management ran it into the ground, built themselves a palace that is now owned by the local,community college district with RS leasing space. You knew they were bad when the retiring CEO hired his replacement without any background check and come to find out the successor had falsified his resume. It was down hill from there. The retired CEO lived happily ever after....hopefully the employees will not be screwed.

[Kernel Crittenden]

I had a Radio Shack credit card in the late '80's. Long before anyone would give me a "real" credit card. I use to go in the store all the time. Bought some cools stuff.

Like a neat electronic flux-gate compass I mounted in my car. A compact 40 channel CB radio. A handheld digital scanner that picked up fire, air, police, and cell phones. A 40-channel handheld CB radio. And a, for the time, state-of-the art Radar Detector. Felt like James Bond speeding down the interstate with all my electronics on (this was back in the days of the 55 mph speed limit, so I really needed all that stuff).

It was actually all pretty high quality stuff the served me well for many years. Most of I still have and it still works. But I really haven't stepped foot in the store since the early '90's. My interest moved elsewhere, I guess.

[WR Moore]

I remember when the employees were the local geek squad for all things electronic. They'd actually fix stuff for you (including stuff they didn't sell) correctly, but were reasonable.

When they started reprising the Spanish Inquisition when you went to check out, I quit going there-except when there was no choice. I'll kinda miss them. It was handy to walk in there for odd ball stuff, find that plus stuff you forgot you needed.

[CajunBass]

There was a time when I spent more time and money in a Radio Shack store than anyplace else I suppose. Maybe the grocery store was ahead, but I'll bet it was close.

If it didn't have "Realistic" on it, I probably didn't have it. CB radios, FM converters (anybody else remember them?), scanners, walkie-talkies, short wave radios, tape decks (8 track and cassette), countertop radios, Co/Ax cabel, PL/259's, ( one to use and one to lose. How did I remember that?), antennas, toys for the kids, five cell flashlights, free battery every month, ten packs of cassette tapes, and those blanking flyers. I'll bet I got two or three a week. One to me, one to my wife, one for the dog...Oh, and yes, a TRS-80 computer. I never did figure out just what I was supposed to use it for, other than playing "Jupiter Lander."

Times changed. I haven't thought about Radio Shack in years. I really didn't even know they were still around.

How about Heathkit? Are they still in business?

[Salty RI]

I used to like the Lafayette, Heathkit, Allied, Icao there were a few other's that I can't remember.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I still buy things at RadioShack. Last time I was in there I bought a 30 foot 3.5mm audio cord. also bought the magicJack there because of the 30 day return policy. One of the best gadgets ever.

When I get dragged to the mall with my wife, I'll go in just to look around at all the electronic parts in the back. Brings back memories of building speakers and switch boxes and other simple things I used to do.


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[mtgianni]

They were great in the 60's with the battery card program and the 70's had a great paper catalog. Haven't been back since the 80's.

[Comrad]

Should be a case study as how to ruin a good business. Somehow they managed to seize defeat from the jaws of victory.
They could have owned the PC and electronic world but didn't.

[venomballistics]

here is one of my electronics projects.
a tube fired guitar amp based largely on the trainwreck express, with a Marshall 18 tone stack.
This amp is only about 5% RS parts. Knobs, switches and wire.
The rest does not exist in the RS inventory.
and THAT, I feel is how they failed.

[cmort666]

Radio Shack's been pretty useless, other than for minor parts, for years.

Even back in the '70s, there was a local Chicago store called Olsen's that was much better for electronic parts.

When I was stationed at Ft. Knox in the '80s, I picked up a couple of pair of bookshelf speakers at a local Radio Shack that were excellent for the price and are still going strong, long after my much more expensive (and admittedly better sounding) ESS speakers died. They don't appear to have any such deals anymore.

Other than a kitchen timer, the last thing I bought from Radio Shack was the parts for a remote shutter release for my Canon SLR that I built a few years ago.

Word last week was that Amazon was planning to buy some of the stores so that they'd have some brick and mortar outlets. That would be GREAT, since I'm betting that you'd be able to order online and pick up locally. Since I have no safe place (other than friends' businesses) to have expensive items shipped, that would be PERFECT for my needs.

[deanodog]

The local RS started selling a full line of Stihl power products with parts and repair. I hope it stays.

[pharmer]

Radio Shack doesn't have what I need 9 out of 10 times. Last trip I needed 2 AG10 batteries. Nope, and the 2 packs of batteries they had were $7. At least the one employee can help you right away, no one else in the store. Joe

[THE PILGRIM]

I know a lady here in town whose dad was one of the Radio Shack founders. He was a ham radio guy and apparently the other founders were more component - parts oriented.
So Judy Halligan's dad moved to Chicago started a company named Hallicrafters. Early on he was fairly successful with ham radios.
Then World War II came along, Hallicrafters made radios for the military 24-7.
He had a personal ham radio station which one of the very best anywhere.
During the war, The Justice Dept - FBI took over his ham operation for undisclosed purposes.

[EugeneNine]

I don't know what Radio Shack the OP is calling a good company, maybe he had a local store that happened to franchise the RS name but the rest was far from good.
As others said, they left their roots for more $ and then tried to sell the same consumer electronics as everyone else but at a higher price.

[JcMack]

I used to buy police scanners from them. Now since most police and fire calls wind up in my neighborhood I don't scan anymore I just look out the window. 50 years ago when I could remember OHM's law and resistor band codes I bought stuff from Allied, then Tandy, then Radio Shack. I don't even have a solder sucker anymore.

[fencr]

Yeah.. I know RS declared bankruptcy the other day but today I was hoping they were still running the store ½ block from my office.. I was in recently and picked up a two-pack of 3.5 mm jacks to fix the little ear buds / headphones I use. Of course gf, S&W Forums, life, computers, bikes, and other distractions got in the way and I finally get around to repairing the headphones and find I’ve lost the damn pack o jacks. I just checked at lunch, the store down the street is closed.. I’m going to call the one close to my house and see if they’re still open.

Others have pointed out that RS often failed to meet the need but still.. they’d surprise you. Twenty five years ago I was fencing (and no, not the picket or chain link kind) and went in there and got all the parts, lights, battery connection, and a little project box to make a circuit tester for my foils. A couple years ago I went in and bought a breadboard, a bunch of resistors, a couple switches, diodes.. a bunch of odd stuff to do the little projects in a “Make: Electronics book I picked up (yeah, silly little stuff just to mess with) but I saw they’d come out with a project of the week thing on flyers. That was a good idea. Maybe it needed more marketing.. maybe only the little uber-kids building spy drones for DARPA were interested I don’t know..

The other thing about RS.. even if they did often fail you.. at least you had someplace that represented some shot at getting what you needed. I just can’t see myself ordering a single package of 3.5 mm replacement jacks from Mouser Electronics or some online place that, with shipping it'll cost twice the up the street price at RS. Maybe Grainger can get them shipped to their store. Then, I can cross the city to pick them up.

I still have a solar powered calculator from them that's 30 plus yrs old .. it's about 2.5"x4" only about 3 quarters stacked thick ..

I never was really pulled to buy one of their remote control helicopters or whatever piece of plastic, made in China cr@p they had in the window but I’m already sorry to see them go.

Marc

[venomballistics]

yeah ... the loss of the bonehead basics like jacks, plugs and switches will be a loss, though I deemed most of their jacks and plugs not gig worthy.
The stuff just don't hold up well outside the project space.
I'd rather eat the shipping for a jack I can count on in my guitars, amps and effects than face the wrath of random flakeouts as the RS ones wear.

the components are over priced at RS by a huge margin.
OpAmps are a fairly standard thing to have in your parts mine, TL072 or TL082 both should be stocked at ones bench in good numbers.
When you stock up, you can get 3 for the price of RS's 1 through most of your online houses.
When you prove the concept with these, an upgrade to OPA types is advised where audio is involved. ... Entirely unavailable at RS.
I suppose its a bit like building a hotrod.
you will not forget the engine or transmission but you will kick yourself over that 25 cent bolt needed for a proper installation. That is what RS is. The place to find that 25 cent bolt.

[Kinman]

The thing I remember the most about the old Radioshack was that for guys like me that are not electrical geniouses they used to be great. I could go into a Radioshack back in the 70's and be assured there would be a guy in there with a pocket protector in his shirt pocket that probably had a slide rule in it. I could ask that guy virtually any electrical question and more often than not he could answer my question and set me up with what I needed to accomplish my task. Today you go into a Radioshack and unless your looking for a cellphone or other gadget they are helpless, even batteries...they need a stock number or something.

[Bajadoc]

They have had over priced **** for many years. Sadly, the company was unable to keep up with the times. They had name recognition and a long history but could not overcome corporate inertia. Businesses must remain nimble and relevant or die.

[S&WIowegan]

Chuck Tandy died suddenly way back in the late 1970s and Radio Shack went into a long slow decline to 2015 bankruptcy. I always used RS as my go to store for electrical/electronic items not found elsewhere.

I also wear hearing aids and bought my batteries at RS. The last time I bought batteries in 2014 they were pure junk. They voluntarily sold them to me at half-price. On the way home from RS I began to wonder why the big discount? Answer: the batteries were junk and went dead in a day or two vs. Duracells which last two weeks.

RIP Radio Shack!!

[venomballistics]

what I find most telling is that in another forum I frequent, pertaining to electronics engineering, not one has bothered to even mention the fall of the shack there.
What most would think was the end of the geek world is really being met by a geek yawn.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Originally Posted by JcMack

I used to buy police scanners from them. Now since most police and fire calls wind up in my neighborhood I don't scan anymore I just look out the window. 50 years ago when I could remember OHM's law .

You might be surprised how much of that electronics code comes back to ya. I hadn't used it for decades... then I took a class for my ham radio license a couple years ago. All the circuit stuff and symbols we're a breeze. I was surprised.

[RonJ]

Originally Posted by S&WIowegan

Chuck Tandy died suddenly way back in the late 1970s and Radio Shack went into a long slow decline to 2015 bankruptcy. I always used RS as my go to store for electrical/electronic items not found elsewhere.

I also wear hearing aids and bought my batteries at RS. The last time I bought batteries in 2014 they were pure junk. They voluntarily sold them to me at half-price. On the way home from RS I began to wonder why the big discount? Answer: the batteries were junk and went dead in a day or two vs. Duracells which last two weeks.

RIP Radio Shack!!

Only the giveaway batteries were junk Their premium batteries were made by Energizer for years. When they raised their price RS switched to Duracell as their manufacturer. The news stations used to run battery tests every year at Christmas and RS batteries inevitably scored very high.
At one time they carried three types of batteries. Red ones were super cheap, green in the middle and premium alkaline batteries. I used the alkaline batteries in my Nikon flash equipment and they were great. I can't speak to hearing aid batteries.