[MCARC] Beatrice RadioShack owners retiring

[Kenneth Kopp]

The owners of a downtown Beatrice electronics store are calling it quits 
after 40 years.

Article with photo: 
http://beatricedailysun.com/news/local/radioshack-owners-retiring/article_88167996-3458-51e7-bf7f-b387fa77341b.html



John and Linda Linenberger, who own RadioShack at 620 Court St., 
recently announced plans to retire.

John Linenberger said the store is for sale, and the inventory is 
currently being liquidated with a 20 percent off sale. The discount will 
grow over time, with no final sale date announced.

“I would like to be able to sell it just to keep the store in town,” he 
said. “We have enough customers that rely on us for their electronic 
needs that I think it would be missed.”

He added there have been inquiries to purchase the building, but nothing 
definite.

Linenberger said he moved to Beatrice from Manhattan, Kans. to run 
RadioShack when it opened in 1976, and bought the store around 1987.

“I used to shop the RadioShack in Manhattan when I was in college to get 
cords, connectors and batteries,” Linenberger said. “When he offered it, 
I decided I would come up and give a hand at trying to run a store myself.”

Prior to 1993, the electronics retailer was located farther west, near 
the intersection of Fifth and Court streets.

RadioShack was impacted by the computer industry, and Linenberger 
recalled when RadioShack was at the forefront of the personal computer 
revolution, launching a model in 1977, one year after the Beatrice store 
was opened.

“Shortly after we opened this store in ’76 the PC market opened up and 
RadioShack was one of the first with their little TRS-80 computers, that 
most watches have more computing capability now than those computers 
had,” he said with a laugh. “Apple, RadioShack and Commodore were the 
first true PCs. That was a change.

“That was an interesting time and of course computers have been involved 
ever since. Computers have expanded the technology a lot.”

The company eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2015, though Standard 
General purchased the company out of bankruptcy and kept it alive.

The Linenbergers stuck with the store through the turmoil, and said it’s 
tough to leave their downtown store behind.

“We’ve seen a lot of changes over the years,” Linenberger said. “When 
you put 40-some years into a business, it’s tough to turn and walk away. 
We’ll miss the customer base created over the years. The community and 
surrounding community has been very good to us.”