[ARC5] deathwatch for radio shack?

Thu Sep 25 12:52:07 EDT 2014

During the 1970s and into the 1980s, Radio Shack would furnish parts, equipment, etc., free of charge to "recognized" authors of magazine articles.  The only requirement was to mention, in the article, that Radio Shack was a supplier of the item.

They also furnished a copy of every catalog that had a real "hard" cover, instead of the thin paper cover, to those persons.  I still have a number of those catalogs.  I have won a number of bets with Radio Shack managers who swore that Radio Shack never produced such.  I just take 2, or 3, of the catalogs to show them that the hard cover catalogs did exist.  

Glen, K9STH 

Website:  http://k9sth.net

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 11:29 AM, Joe Connor <joeconnor53 at yahoo.com> wrote:

If you want a trip down memory lane, here is a site with the old Radio Shack catalogs from 1940 onward. Great reading.

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalog_directory.html

Joe Connor

On Thursday, September 25, 2014 11:59 AM, Glen Zook <gzook at yahoo.com> wrote:

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>Many people, these days, do not know the history of Radio Shack.  The chain started in the Boston area primarily selling amateur radio equipment and radio parts.  Then, after World War II, surplus electronics.  By the end of World War II, there were 3-stores, again, in the Boston area.  By the 1950s, the new stereo / hi-fi fad encouraged the owners to start selling such equipment and to expand the number of stores into other states.  In the late 1950s / early 1960s, Radio Shack had more than 30-outlets selling consumer electronics.  Although amateur radio equipment was still stocked, the emphasis was definitely on hi-fi and associated things.
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>Around 1960, I have been led to believe, that the owners were ready to retire and were looking for a buyer of the chain.  It has also been hinted that there might have been some financial problems.  Tandy Leather Company, of Fort Worth, Texas, was looking to diversify from their very successful chain of leather-working supply stores and became interested in expanding into the electronics field.  When Tandy learned that the Radio Shack chain was available, that company was bought.
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>By 1970, Allied Radio had opened a chain of stores that were basically in competition with Radio Shack.  When that company became available for purchase, Tandy bought it.  The Allied Radio stores were either renamed Radio Shack or, if located near an existing Radio Shack, closed.  Shortly after Allied Radio was acquired, the United States Justice Department threatened Tandy with a restriction of trade charge because, supposedly, Tandy would control a significant portion of the electronics parts trade.  To avoid a lengthy legal fight, Tandy agreed to sell the parts business which is now Allied Electronics.  Since the Allied retail stores were "long gone", they were not part of the sale.
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>During the 1960s and well into the 1970s, Radio Shack did have a number of franchise stores and "joint venture" stores which were a partnership between an individual and Tandy.  However, over the years, most franchise and joint venture stores have disappeared and virtually all Radio Shack stores are corporate owned.  In some cases, a company owned store was opened in sight of a franchise operation!  Such an example happened within 2-miles of my house!  There was a very successful franchise operation in a strip mall, right on a freeway access road.  Then, a brand new mall was established just behind the strip mall.  Radio Shack immediately opened a company owned store in the mall and started putting pressure on the franchise owner to close.  It was not long before the franchise owner gave up and that store closed.
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>Around 1973, Radio Shack opened a joint venture store in a neighborhood strip mall just 2-blocks from my house.  The individual went broke in 6-months.  But, Radio Shack had signed a long term lease and was stuck with the location.  The store remained open for several years.  However, the store showed a profit for only 2-months, a November and December when Christmas toys were sold.  Eventually Radio Shack bought out the lease and moved the store a little over a mile to a strip mall next to the freeway and on a major street.  That store is now among the top 50 Radio Shack stores, in sales, in the entire country!
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>Radio Shack has had a problem with choosing the correct path to take.  The company has been trying to regroup, by closing a significant number of low performing outlets.  Unfortunately, some major creditors keep taking legal means to stop these closings!  It appears, to me, that they are actually trying to make Radio Shack fail.
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>Since Radio Shack is headquartered in Fort Worth, and since I am on the north side of Dallas, the local interest in Radio Shack is pretty great.  Often, there are articles in the Dallas Morning News about the happenings with the survival of Radio Shack.
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>Glen, K9STH 
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>Website:  http://k9sth.net
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>On Thursday, September 25, 2014 9:28 AM, J Mcvey via ARC5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
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>ditto, RS is a source of last resort ( only if I need it NOW, but they usually don't have what I need anyway) . Hamfests, Mouser, Newark,Digikey and Jamesco are the sources of choice for me these days, in pretty much that order.
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>On Thursday, September 25, 2014 10:11 AM, Francesco Ledda <frledda at att.net> wrote:
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>I go there, when I am desperate. I am lucky enough to live in a bid city with few Fry's and a couple of good electronic surplus stores.
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>Sent from my iPad
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>> On Sep 25, 2014, at
 8:57 AM, Joe Connor via ARC5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>> 
>> I hope they survive. While the focus on phones is annoying and misguided, they still have a good variety of components. If they go out, I'll miss them. It was always nice to have a local store where I could go to buy resistors, solder, connectors etc. The Internet and mail order are great, but there's something to be said for instant gratification.
>> 
>> Joe Connor
>> 
>> 
>> On Thursday, September 25, 2014 9:39 AM, J Mcvey via ARC5 <arc5 at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> RS made a big mistake by trying to become a "phone store" at the expense of a more diversified product line.
>>> It seemed that phones are all the staff knew about. Try asking for an audio cable and you will get a blank stare and a question like "what's an XLR ?".  
>>> 
>>> People are not building electronic projects like they used to, but there is a still a lot of 'audiophiles" and recording wanabees who want specialized audio equipment who could have been marketed to, for instance.
 This is what happens when a company has myopic management that fails to track consumer trends.   Everybody and their brother is selling phones!!
>>> RS was a niche store that lost it's way. 
>>> 
>>> I feel bad for the franchise owners.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On
 Wednesday, September 24, 2014 11:18 PM, john rose <brokenthumb at live.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Around 2010 the Shack’s stock traded around $20 to $22. It closed today at 88 cents. Here are links to two articles on Marketwatch.com that tell the story.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-radioshack-in-critical-condition-2014-09-22
>>> 
>>> 
>>> http://www.marketwatch.com/story/radioshack-may-not-have-enough-power-to-recharge-its-business-2014-09-23
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I have spent my share of time and money in the
 last 4 1/2 decades (OMG, I’m getting old!!). I even remember when you went there to buy a radio!! No longer. Many, many moons ago I picked up a couple of BC645s at a swap. The conversion information that came with them was published by, wait for it, Radio Shack of Boston. If the worst does come to pass, at least we might be able to stock up on some parts.
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