A eulogy for RadioShack, the panicked and half-dead retail empire

[RKP5637]

Last edited Mon Dec 1, 2014, 08:17 AM - Edit history (2)

Nice way they treat people - NOT. Radio Shack open on Thanksgiving Day! (FYI, update, the link below is 2014, but some of the narrative in the link is 2004. As I understand, Radio Shack was open this past Thanksgiving.)

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/11/26/7281129/radioshack-eulogy-stories

4:30 a.m. We show up an hour and a half before the store opens, as demanded by the district office. We stand around and do nothing.

6:00 a.m. We all line up in expectation of hordes of customers. Six on one side of the store, six on the other side, pallbearers of an invisible casket. The manager opens the doors. No one is waiting on the other end.

7:00 a.m. Nobody has walked into the store. Nobody has been seen even walking past the store. This infuriates the manager, who at this juncture elects to fire one employee, right there on the spot, because her sweater is a shade of red that is inconsistent with the dress code.

8:00 a.m. Someone almost walks in. She kind of turns toward the store, sees 11 of us just standing and staring at her, and turns a 180. Don't blame you, ma'am.

9:00 a.m. First customer! Someone just walked in and bought a cordless phone battery. One of us would have made approximately 23 cents on the sale (18 cents after taxes), except you don't start making any sales commission until you surpass a monthly sales figure that is usually unreachable and arbitrarily set. (I worked at RadioShack for 43 months, and barely hit this mark once.)

12:00 p.m. We've sold maybe $90 worth of stuff. Two more employees walk out and don't come back.

2:00 p.m. A couple comes in to return a pair of cell phones I sold them a couple weeks back. I received about $40 for the sale on my last paycheck, and now they will take $40 out of my next paycheck. Voiding a cell phone contract is a process that takes an hour or so of waiting on the phone and talking to three or four different gatekeepers. This time, it's even longer, because someone errantly slapped them with a $200 cancellation fee. My manager gets wind of this and starts screaming at me: "JON, WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" She then tries to initiate a shouting match with my customers, who don't bite.

3:00 p.m. Two more employees quit, one because the manager has refused to give her a lunch break over a 10.5-hour shift.

9:00 p.m. Mercifully, and with sales numbers that are beyond abysmal, the district office tells us to close the store and not to remain open until midnight, as planned. Someone else came in to return a phone, so my sales are now about $60 in the hole. I make $5.45 an hour, and have worked a 16.5-hour shift, so that's about $90. Minus the $60 I've lost, that's $30. So today, I have made about $1.80 per hour, for a shift of nearly 17 hours. Before taxes.

9:45 p.m. Ha ha ha ha I am still at the store, counting the money and helping clean up and such, but not getting paid for it. This is RadioShack's thing: if you're working while the store's closed, they might decide to pay you and they might not. I worked countless hours they never paid me for; this is one. We finally close up. On the way to the parking lot, I ask my manager whether I can take Christmas Eve off; this would allow me barely enough time to make the seven-hour drive home to Kentucky to see my family, then head back. She doesn't say no. She yells no, and tells me I'm not special.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. My God. That is pitiful.

[SheilaT]

2. Radio Shack pays less than the minimum wage?

How are they not covered by the federal minimum?

Also, making employees work off the clock is illegal, and needs to be reported to the NLRB and your state equivalent.

[robinlynne]

8. The job I just quit from also made me work off the clock, every day.

You can report it, and be out of a job, if you don't want the job. What you can't do is report it and keep your job.
As my boss put it, you're not working during these hours. I'm not making anything.
Yes, I explained that being at work means I'm working, etc. etc.

[SheilaT]

11. I believe there are supposed to be protections for workers who report such things,

but I realize that it doesn't always work out that way. I know that some big stores (Nordstrom's was one, I think) got sued big time over the off the clock bullshit. I believe it's possible to make complaints anonymously.

Nonetheless, retail jobs are sufficiently common, the turnover is so great (at least based on what I notice whenever I walk into most retail stores) that workers need to be willing to report and get another job if they have to.

Employers count on workers being too cowed to do anything. But there was more union organizing during the Great Depression when there really were no jobs, than at any other time I know of in our history.

[catrose]

42. Dell too

A friend received a settlement of over $2000 for all the unpaid time she'd put in--but she'd already quit. The people still working in her dept didn't dare join the lawsuit.

[Eleanors38]

84. Good summation. Corporate power is pretty hep:

They understand today's culture of worldly cynicism and communal impotence, and they wade right in with a little finger-popping, Bobby Darin cocktail jazz to knowingly re-enforce our cutting-edge beliefs.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

16. so different that when i was working hourly

i waited tables and on more than one occasion i asked to work off the clock just for tips (i was beyond broke) but that was denied saying that i HAD to be clocked in to be on the floor... some sort of workman's comp rule i was told.

sP

[robinlynne]

20. Things have changed drastically, in so many ways, for workers in our country.

[SheilaT]

63. The manager or owner was being honest, ethical, and legal.

Some time back my two sons, then teenagers, worked at the local multi-plex. One afternoon they weren't working and we went there to see a movie. When we walked in the theater manager told my sons a shipment of supplies had just arrived, and could they help him put the boxes away. They said yes, and the next thing he said was, "Go clock in." The worked maybe 15 minutes each, and he was such a good guy they would have willingly worked off the clock, but he wasn't about to let them. They got paid for their time.

Every business manager and owner should be like that.

Back when I was an airline employee, we benefitted from the fact the industry was at the time highly unionized, although the ticket counter, where I worked, wasn't. One nice thing was that if you were called in to work you got paid a minimum of four hours, even if you worked less. That happened to me once or twice, where I came in, worked an hour or so, but got the four hours, which was actually at time and a half because it was in addition to the 8hours/day, 40 hours/week we always put in.

[Mnpaul]

22. Walmart tried that here

and got nailed with 2 million labor law violations(for one year). They settled out of court.
http://consumerist.com/2008/07/02/judge-orders-wal-mart-to-pay-65-million-for-violating-labor-laws/

[unrepentant progress]

9. I worked at Radio Shack in the 1980s

At that time it was base ~or~ commission. Base was minimum wage, of course. If you made more in commission than you would with minimum wage, then you got the commission. However, then they took out commission on returns. So if a customer returned a TV they bought from you two weeks ago, the next week the commission on that would be subtracted from your check. And as the author noted you often had to do tasks off the clock like opening or closing out the store, attending those Amway-like district sales meetings, and inventory. So it was quite possible to get commission, and yet wind up earning less than minimum wage. If you've ever wondered why it's so hard to get someone who knows what the fuck of which they talk at Radio Shack, it's because it's a toxic environment and anybody who has any real knowledge gets out of there as soon as possible.

[LiberalElite]

14. i've only gone to RS for

a phone battery or some such a couple of times. The one time I needed some expertise (recording a TV program on my PC) instead I got a wild goose chase from one store to another, which I could have done by myself, thanks Radio Shack!

[RKP5637]

21. I only go in there to recycle batteries I've bought from someplace else. And that is only because

it's just down the street. I've never found going into RS to be very pleasant.

[ErikJ]

33. $5.45 an hour? Some states actually have NO min wage!

http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

[SheilaT]

64. Yes, but the federal minimum wage applies to a very large number of jobs.

Most of them, in fact. Certainly something like working at Radio Shack would be included.

[Odin2005]

54. Labor protections are a joke in this country.

No worker will protest being made to work off the clock because they are terrified of being fired, there is always somebody more desperate than you are.

[RKP5637]

69. "At-Will" employment really needs to be renamed to "Fire At-will" employment, to say it

as it is rather than this sugar coated bullshit fostered on many sometimes unsuspecting Americans.

We're really back with a 21st century need for massive unionization. I really see no other solutions. ... one might be massive voting to get individuals into office with some guts to change the status quo for employees, but I really don't see that happening as most politicians are rewarded by the $$$$$ donations, etc. And most Americans don't seem to comprehend what they are voting for/in.

[AngryOldDem]

74. The way unions have been destroyed in this nation is shameful.

Too many people gave their lives for workers' rights, and where are we now? Damn near back to the sweatshop days. Some education is in order about why unions are needed, not that anyone will listen.

[RKP5637]

77. All that work that went into building up unions in this country wasted/lost in today's

world. Americans today seem so uneducated and also seem to want to be walked over by employers/corporations. Most American workers today are just a doormat, but yet they just don't seem to get it or care. They just cave in. It's very said. I often wonder how much more American workers are going to take before they get a clue and quit being so damn DUH.

[Freddie]

80. This takes place in 2004

But certainly could today except the minimum wage did go up a bit.
The entire article and comments (more stories from former Radio Shack employees) are priceless

[rosesaylavee]

86. My company did that for awhile -it's called wage theft

To make a monthly arbitrary goal, I had to work an additional 16 hours of my own time to keep my job and do what was 'minimally' required for our goal.

And then, policy changed, the goals were no more, and we were told to not work past the allotted hours, and every one was switched to salary... and knowing how salary can mean extra hours, when I asked if there would be an expectation of additional hours, they just restated that our hours end at 5 pm.

And that was a year ago. So far, so good. All I can think is that someone in upper management became enlightened somehow or there was a lawsuit over wage theft.

[Dustlawyer]

87. He must go to the E.E.O.C. and file a complaint. They will investigate (ha,ha) and find nothing

wrong. Then he will be given a "Right to Sue" letter and he can sue their ass under at least the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They must pay for every hour worked.

[happyslug]

95. Actually the National Labor Relations Board or the State's Labor Department

Those are the agencies in charge of making sure overtime pay is paid not the EEOC. They enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act not the EEOC.

Remember the National Labor Relations Board has jurisdiction over anything related to unionization, including things done by employees that are NOT the actual formation of a union, but can be related to later efforts at unionization.

June 18, 2012

The National Labor Relations Board today made public a webpage that describes the rights of employees to act together for their mutual aid and protection, even if they are not in a union.

The page, at protected-concerted-activity, tells the stories of more than a dozen recent cases involving protected concerted activity, which can be viewed by clicking points on a map. Among the cases: A construction crew fired after refusing to work in the rain near exposed electrical wires; a customer service representative who lost her job after discussing her wages with a coworker; an engineer at a vegetable packing plant fired after reporting safety concerns affecting other employees; a paramedic fired after posting work-related grievances on Facebook; and poultry workers fired after discussing their grievances with a newspaper reporter.

Some cases were quickly settled after charges were filed, while others progressed to a Board decision or to federal appellate courts. They were selected to show a variety of situations, but they have in common a finding at some point in the NLRB process that the activity that the employees undertook was protected under federal labor law.

The right to engage in certain types of concerted activity was written into the original 1935 National Labor Relations Act’s Section 7, which states that: “Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all such activities.”

That right has been upheld in numerous decisions by appellate courts and by the U.S. Supreme Court over the years. Non-union concerted activity accounts for more than 5% of the agency’s recent caseload.

“A right only has value when people know it exists,” said NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce. “We think the right to engage in protected concerted activity is one of the best kept secrets of the National Labor Relations Act, and more important than ever in these difficult economic times. Our hope is that other workers will see themselves in the cases we’ve selected and understand that they do have strength in numbers.”

http://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/nlrb-launches-webpage-describing-protected-concerted-activity

A construction contractor fired five employees after several of them appeared in a YouTube video complaining of hazardous working conditions. Following an investigation, the NLRB regional office issued complaint. As a hearing opened, the case settled, with the workers receiving full backpay and declining reinstatement.

The employees, all immigrants from El Salvador, learned they were building concrete foundations at a former Superfund site and worried that the soil they were handling was contaminated with arsenic and other toxins. They also said they were required to wear badges indicating they’d been trained to handle hazardous materials, when in fact, the badges belonged to other workers and they had never been trained.

Three of the employees took their concerns public in a YouTube video posted on July 21, 2008. Speaking in Spanish, they hid their faces in shadow in an attempt to avoid retaliation. However, within 10 days, the three who appeared in the video and two others who were close to them had all lost their jobs with Rain City Contractors. Through the ensuing months, according to charges filed with the agency’s Seattle office, the employer continued to threaten and interrogate other employees, warning them not to talk about working conditions with outsiders.

Following an investigation of the charges, the NLRB Regional Director determined that the YouTube video was protected because the employees voiced concerns about safety in the workplace, and the public airing of their complaints did not lose the Act's protection because they accurately described their concerns about working conditions. On behalf of the NLRB General Counsel, the director issued a complaint calling for a hearing before an administrative law judge.

As the hearing began in June of 2009, NLRB attorneys were prepared to play the video, and to present evidence that the employer had been fined for numerous violations of state law regarding the same concerns as those raised by the workers. However, on the second morning of testimony, Rain City Contractors agreed to settle the case by giving all five workers full backpay for the period from their discharges to the settlement date. The workers declined reinstatement.

http://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/protected-concerted-activity

February 15, 2013

The National Labor Relations Board has found that a Texas engineering firm unlawfully fired an employee for discussing salary information with co-workers, and ordered the company to offer reinstatement and to pay back wages for the time out of work.

Under the Board Order, which issued February 8, Houston-based Jones & Carter, Inc. also must rescind its policy of forbidding employee discussion of salaries. The National Labor Relations Act protects the rights of workers to discuss their terms and conditions of employment, including wages.

In the absence of exceptions, the Board adopted the November 26 decision of Administrative Law Judge Margaret G. Brakebusch. During trial, company officials said the employee – a training coordinator - was fired for “harassing” other workers. But the judge noted that the same company officials told state unemployment investigators a different story, including that the employee was fired for discussing salaries with other workers, and that sharing such information was a “pet peeve” of the company.

As a result of the Board action, Jones & Carter offered the employee reinstatement to her former position, which she declined. The employer agreed to make the former employee whole by paying her backpay, 401(k) contributions, medical expenses and interest in the total amount of $107,000, to revise its policy to delete the prohibition on employees of discussing their salaries, and to post a Board Notice describing these actions.

http://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/news-story/board-finds-houston-engineering-firm-unlawfully-fired-employee-discussing

[Ms. Toad]

88. My guess is that it works like it did when I worked for H&R Block

During the busy time, in order to keep up we often had to put in extra hours. We were permitted to clock those hours, as a draw against our commission, but encouraged not to because it would decrease our commission check. At the end of the season, you got paid your commission, less any draw. But they didn't make you return the draw since it represented minimum wage for the hours you worked. The first year I decided to clock all my hours, since I wanted to ensure I got paid at least minimum wage. I didn't get a commission check that year. Not even close. The dead time leading up to around January 15 & between February 15th and April 1, when someone had to be working even if no clients walked in the door, ate up any potential commission. So - those individuals who didn't clock the hours they actually worked during the busy times may have gotten a commission, but they almost certainly weren't paid minimum wage.

This system sounds a bit different, since the draw is lower than minimum wage, but still with hours off the clock.

[lpbk2713]

3. Many years ago I recall them asking for my home address.

And this was on a small cash purchase. I never went back there much after that.

[RKP5637]

6. That used to drive me up the wall. I had one clerk tell me once I could not buy anything at RS without

giving them my home address. The customer base had a huge uproar about them always wanting an address, but as usual RS was deaf.

[louis-t]

94. They wanted to mail you their catalogs.

At one time, I was getting 3 catalogs a month. I finally started telling them I "already get your catalog". I haven't been to RS in 10 years, I bet. The service got worse and worse. They had less and less stock that I wanted to buy.

[daleanime]

4. All too familiar....

[olddots]

5. this is the slow death nobody cares about

I drove to the abandoned Promanade on the corner of Victory & Defeat on Consumer Sunday ,its nearly empty and it was once the fancy new mall.

If corporations were people they would be as doomed as people for letting things get this out of hand .Radio Shack used to thrive now it will go the way of all 3000 sguare foot businesses to be replaced with abandoned big box stores .Sad...........

[RKP5637]

7. And they just don't get it! Just like Circuit City didn't get it. In the very very early days

Circuit CIty was a pretty good place, but then they decided to follow the failure mode. If anyone deserved to go under it was Circuit City. I think similarly of Radio Shack.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

47. What happened with them, anyway?

n/t

[RKP5637]

50. They eventually went totally under. Here's some info ...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/money/circuit-city-closes-doors-good-article-1.368854

RICHMOND, Va. - What began 60 years ago as a humble television store in this sleepy Southern capital ended Sunday as Circuit City closed its doors for good - its 567 remaining U.S. stores to be left broom clean and vacant.

For the last month and a half, a group of four liquidators have conducted going-out-of-business sales for what was the nation's second-largest consumer electronics retailer, selling its remaining $1.7 billion worth of inventory weeks sooner than expected.

In its wake Richmond-based Circuit City Stores Inc. will leave more than 18 million square feet of vacant space in a faltering real estate market. And more than 34,000 employees, some who worked through the liquidation announced in January, will be jobless. Shareholders will likely get nothing and creditors may receive far less than what they are owed.

Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November with hopes of emerging as a stronger company able to compete in the ever-expanding marketplace; shedding its $2.32 billion in debt and getting out of older real estate.

Unable to work out a sale or secure new financing, the company will instead spend its remaining days tallying money from the sale of its assets, breaking or assigning its leases and paying off its growing list of creditors.

Circuit City owes nearly $625 million to its 30 largest unsecured creditors - mostly vendors who supplied the DVDs, flat-screen TVs and headphones on Circuit City shelves. They must wait to be paid until secured creditors such as bank lenders are satisfied.

A small staff will remain at the corporate office during the wind-down process, but Circuit City's bookkeeping may ultimately be reduced to a laptop computer running small business accounting software.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

65. I remember them going out of business

I was never clear as to why. This article helped. Thanks!

[WillowTree]

66. There's a book about it.

I think it's called "Good to Great to Gone". Also video documentary that you can stream from Amazon Instant for $2.99 called "A Tale of Two Cities: The Circuit City Story". Pretty interesting, really.

Strange that this little sub-conversation came up just now as I just so happened to have watched that very documentary earlier this evening. Who says there are no coincidences?

[RKP5637]

70. Yep, sometimes I think most of life is a string/series of coincidences. n/t.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

91. Not me

Though I attribute it to the will of the force.

[pstokely]

99. They ditched appliances for video games and small electronics that could found cheaper online

people had no reason to go there anymore, people might walk out with a TV if they also buy a dishwasher at Best Buy

[Phentex]

105. I am no expert but this is where I feel Sears has gone wrong...

people used to go to Sears for tools and appliances. Yeah, they had the toy catalog and some clothing and such. But somewhere along the line, they decided they needed to become an everything store. And now they are just another department store with no real identity.

[PatrickforO]

89. But, hey, the top executives 'earned'

gi-normous paychecks and great bonuses!

Because just LOOK at all the value they created!

[RKP5637]

93. Yep, and they often move onto other companies into directorships, etc. It's often an

old boy's club. They look out for each other and always, generally, make out quite well and the employees are totally F'ed over.
It's the SOS over and over again in USA, Incorporated.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

10. How depressing!

Had no idea things were this bad at RS. I've never had a problem there - they've always had what I needed and sales force friendly and helpful. VERY depressing.

[LiberalElite]

12. Joh should look into

a career in writing. I'm serious.

[JI7]

13. i'm surprised they made it past the 1980s

[SheilaT]

15. In all honesty, I keep on being surprised that Radio Shack is still in business.

A couple of decades ago, when my sons were young, I'd occasionally shop there for Christmas presents that were tech based.

I just went on line and to my surprise there are actually three RS locations in Santa Fe. I don't believe I've ever noticed any of them.

[sendero]

17. It's been sad for me..

.... as a young radio hobbyist starting in the 60s, Radio Shack (or Rat Shack is it was semi-affectionately known among amateur radio operators) was essential. They were the only place to get components (transistors, resistors, diodes, etc) without resorting to mail order which back in those days was incredibly slow (weeks).

By the late 70s the quality of their offerings began to deteriorate. By the late 80s you could see they were in trouble, not knowing who their market was, engaging in all kinds of off-putting sales/retail policies and they've been on a downward slide ever since. It seems most analysts don't expect them to survive in anything like their present for more than another year or two.

It's too bad really. When I was younger, RS was a virtual candy store to me and many of my friends.

[waddirum]

23. I don't think RS has sold the electronic components

for many years now.

It's just phones, batteries, chords, chargers, and other boring crap.

[Treant]

27. Mine still does

I stop in for resistors if I ran out of one I needed right friggin' then and didn't feel like (or didn't have room in the project) combining two or more for the correct resistance.

Fortunately, I know what I need as they really aren't terribly much help. But for a really odd-ball piece, I certainly don't expect them to be.

They have plenty of stuff, but after reading this, I don't think I'm inclined to go back.

[pstokely]

100. it's now an overpriced electronics accessory store

nt

[RKP5637]

26. Pretty much the same experience for me, actually Lafayette Radio before RS, and then before that

a really great electronics store that seemed to have everything in the world from components to really cool ham gear. I do miss those days. Fortunately online works well, but it's not the fun of wandering around the old electronics store, and they always had a neat smell about them like the wax on the old wax capacitors.

[GP6971]

32. Bought a stereo system from them in the late 60s

It lasted a long time. Good quality at that time

[brewens]

37. I got 20 years out of one of their top of the line stereo recievers I bought about 1981.

That included a side going out, sent in for repairs and back in about a week. At one time, they were great.

[GP6971]

49. I remember my parents

spending a lot of money for their quality products. And as a kid, it was fun going there. My parents bought their stereo system there which lasted until they retired about 25 years later. Mine, I had my system for about 20 years with the exception of the speakers......got 30 years out of those HEAVY (physically) guys....and I had 4.

[RKP5637]

75. Yep, some of their re-named gear way back was really good. I have one of their record changes I

recently restored, top notch German one. Then some of their stuff was pure junk. Some of their scanners were excellent, big names/quality renamed as Radio Shack and sold under that label, of course, at RS. In many ways they remind me of Sears & Roebuck and also Montgomery Ward, the latter now of course gone. Sears, for example, has dropped way down. When I was a kid both Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward were top notch, go to first, retail and catalogue stores.

[sendero]

68. Yes...

.... RS sold decent equipment back in the day. It wasn't top-of-the-line, but for the price it was generally a good value.

There are certainly many reasons for the impending demise of RS, but you can't be honest without mentioning seriously bad management.

[Art_from_Ark]

92. Back in the days of cheap American-made black-and-white sets,

they didn't come with remote controls, but they did come with annoying commercials:

"Louann, you look like you could use a truckload of Ex-lax!"

"Ha! You think you're soaking your hand in lotion, but it's actually dishwashing liquid!"

"Mr, Whipple, please don't squeeze my.... Charmin!"

One day I was in Radio Shack and found a great new gadget that I could use to zap, or at least mute, those commercials. So I bought one and installed it as follows:

"First, unplug the TV. Failure to unplug the TV might result in getting the shock of your life.

"Then, let the unplugged TV sit for a while to disperse the static electricity inside. If you don't do that, well, see above.

"Now, remove the cork backing of the TV and find the speaker wire. Are you sure *that's* the speaker wire? You'd better be darn sure it is. Otherwise...

"Have you made sure that's the speaker wire? Really? You're sure, now. OK, good. Now, cut the wire. You read that right-- cut the wire. Just cut it, OK?

"Are you sure you cut the *speaker* wire? OK, then move on to the next step.

"Strip off about an inch of the plastic at the two ends of the cut wire with a wire stripper (available at Radio Shack). Now, make sure the two wires of your commercial zapper are also stripped. OK, now intertwine one set of exposed wires from the speaker wire with one set of exposed wires from the commercial zapper, and wrap tightly with electrical tape. Then do the same with the other exposed wires.

"OK, you're almost ready to go! Now, run your commercial zapper cable through the hole in the cork backing that the power cord goes through, and reattach the cork backing. Then plug in your TV and turn it on. The moment of truth is here! Are you seeing smoke coming from the back of your set? No? Good! Now try your commercial zapper. It works! Hooray! Now you can zap those pesky commercials, as long as you're within about 10 feet or so of your TV and have your commercial zapper in hand!

[secondvariety]

103. Same here.

I had a nice receiver and the Optimus One speakers that I finally sold to get a quad 8 track for my car.

[0rganism]

45. yep, a convenience store for electronic components

many times between 2008 and 2011, while working on the MSEE, i'd pop over there to pick up onesies on some damn little thing i didn't want to wait for in the mail. every time it got worse -- i kept seeing more dust, more employee desperation, less morale... going there was like visiting a dying patient on life support, gradually slipping away. but someone still stocked the drawers with transistors and diodes and caps and the other damn little things i used for prototyping and projects, so i kept coming in. i know they wanted to sell me a cell phone, but then they'd see me head over to the component drawers and sadly turn away. sometimes i wondered if my $5 in part sales was the best they were going to see all day.

[customerserviceguy]

107. Same here

I played around with electronics back in the early Seventies, and the Radio Shack that opened in my town was a godsend, rather than waiting for mail-order parts.

Of course, the Internet makes it much easier to get what you need, without paying for the overhead of a brick and mortar, so RS is indeed on the way out.

[Voice for Peace]

18. Everything I ever bought from Radio Shack broke almost immediately.

[RKP5637]

28. They sure did relabel as RS some real junk from time to time, and it just got worse and worse. n/t

[Stargleamer]

19. Meanwhile, over at Costco. . .

Costco
NASDAQ: COST - Nov 28 1:07 PM ET
142.122.37 (1.70%)

(on Decemember 4, 2009 it was at $59.19)

AND

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023365065

Costco workers are supposedly paid $45,000/yr. and have a union.

[bobclark86]

24. You missed a part two paragraphs before your excerpt...

During the 2004 holiday season, I worked in a RadioShack situated in a dying mall with virtually no foot traffic.

10 years ago on Black Friday, not Thanksgiving, and in a bad location. Just bringing that up for the sake of accuracy.

But yeah. I go in every now and then looking for a few doohickies (like capacitors, switches, jacks, etc.) when I don't feel like ordering from Mouser or Digi-Key. But its 10 times the price ($1.99 instead of 19 cents for a capacitor), and the staff have no idea what I'm looking for, so when asked -- because most of the staffers know better now -- I just say "I know exactly what I need, thanks." I also peruse the clearance stuff, too. As soon as Walmart starts carrying transistors, I'll stop going to RS, though.

How the mighty have fallen...

[Treant]

30. Same Here

Although I tend to just use Jameco.

Still, in the past when I needed that 470 Ω resistor right friggin' then, it was handy. No more.

[RKP5637]

31. Good point on the mall! Anymore, I just go to Mouser or Digi-Key. n/t

[freedom fighter jh]

39. That explains the low wage. nt

[thesquanderer]

40. Yes, OP should have included that it was 2004

but the amazing thing is, it's ten years later and they're still around! (Though maybe that particular location isn't...)

[RKP5637]

72. Yep, thanks, hadn't noticed that. It is amazing, 10 years later, still appropriate more

or less and they are still around. They must have had tremendous cash reserves or something.

[mysuzuki2]

25. Why would anyone expect people to shop at Radio Shack on Thanksgiving?

Nobody shops there anymore even when it's not a holiday!

[murielm99]

29. My son and I stopped in one

for phone batteries. It was after dark. I was surprised by how deserted the place was. The stores on either side were not busy, either. I was a bit concerned for the attractive young lady who was working there alone.

[brewens]

34. My local Radio Shack is right by where I work and way handier than Walmart or others

if only for the fact that it's a small shop and I can park right outside the door. I had a manager get pretty snotty with me a couple years back. I bought this Dish chimney mount contraption that didn't work right. The dude acted like I messed up but it was a DISH contrator/installer that couldn't make it work. I brought it back fair and square and I rarely return things anywhere.

Back in the 80's and 90's I recommended their stereo equipment. I had great luck with their high end equipment, especially after years of use and sending it in for repairs. They had a service center less than 100 miles from me and my reciever one time was back within a week. I got another eight or ten years out of it.

If I need some cheap cable or adaptor I know they will have, I'll still go there but that's about it.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

35. Maybe this is all retaliation for Romney losing.

[wercal]

36. I think competition from the internet sales has hurt Radio Shack

Having said that, they also seem to have a knack for hiring rude and condescending people. I quit going in there because it was the same story every time - they would spot my cell phone...make some off handed comment about how old it is...ask me if I was currently in a contract, etc. It was comical.

And just because I ask for a product that RS apparently no longer carries and tye young clerk has never heard of....it doesn't mean I'm an idiot. These guys think cell phones are the only electronic device ever invented.

I am shocked they are still open...but in alot of ways they are a cell phone storefront that happens to make sales on other merchandise occassiinally...so I guess they scrape by.

[1monster]

38. They've always been like that. I was offered a management position in the early '80s just

because I was female. I listened to the hype and listened to the bottom line, which I was I would be working only on commission.

Then I accepted a job as a retail clerk at abysmal pay. But I probably made better pay and was much happier than I would have been at Radio Shack.

[appalachiablue]

41. What an awful work situation. I used to go to RS often, one near my house in NoVa

much closer than big mall electronics stores. Bought my first 2 laptops & printers there. Heard several yrs. ago they were limiting to batteries, accessories- the e-commerce effect I think. We also used to buy lots of stuff from Circuit City in DC- microwave, vcr, even a stove- no big box stores then at all, esp. in tight city lots.
What a shame-

[The Jungle 1]

43. stink

They can't go under soon enough.
Their warranties stink as much as their products stink.
I stopped using them years ago and will never go back.
The classic was when I wanted to return an item and that clerk got in my face. Until I returned the favor. He was a bit taken aback. I don't deal well with ass.

They are corporate America at it's stinking rotten worse. Shut um down.

[SunSeeker]

44. Yeah, one near my house closed years ago.

Used to go there for speaker wires and such. Now everything is wireless.

[SeattleVet]

46. The RS nearest me has some great people working for them...

and I feel really sorry for them every time I need to go in there.

It's a smaller store with a few (shared) parking spaces that's extremely difficult to get out of (on a very busy street, on a curve, with almost zero maneuvering space).

One guy in particular really knows his stuff and usually goes out of his way to try to find things for me, but their inventory is sorely lacking. Unless it's a *very* common resistor or capacitor, you're unlikely to find it. They did start selling some Arduino stuff and other 'Maker" types of things, but I think that this is just a last-gasp 'too-little, too-late' attempt at making a few dollars in their last days. At least they don't try to push a cellphone on me every time I go through the doors, or demand a phone number and address for every little cash sale. They try to help, but if the inventory just isn't there, there isn't much that they can do.

If I want to get something quickly and don't want to wait for a shipment from Jameco, Mouser, or Digi-Key,I 'll either try this RS or drive 15 miles to the nearest Fry's - if I want to spend time in that completely mis-organized shopping hell - without having any high hopes of finding what I really need in either place.

Radio Shack just seems like a place that been going out of business for the past 15 years or longer.

[Mojo Electro]

104. I noticed that too,

That they now have Raspberry Pi and Arduino stuff. I don't think it'll be enough to save them. They seem to be the epitome of an out-of-touch company.

Radio Shack just makes me think of the 80's, and those old remote control cars with a cord, that only can go straight and turn left when you go in reverse.

[PatSeg]

48. Been there!

Horrible company to work for. Can't believe they are still in business.

[MANative]

51. Radio Shack has been hanging on by a proverbial thread for years.

It shocks me that they've managed to survive to this point. The last time I went in to look for a phone charging cord, I found one that I'd seen online. Same brand, same color, same part number. It was exactly triple the price of what it cost online, shipping included. I asked the clerk whether they matched pricing from other suppliers and rather than just telling me that they don't, he got really, really nasty. I left, ordered my phone cord online (which arrived at my door just two days later), and haven't been back since.

[RKP5637]

52. I've never found Radio Shack to be a pleasant experience, not for years and years. I've had some

run ins with the clerks and I'm a very pleasant person. One time I was returning an item and the clerk did not believe I had purchased it from them for whatever inane reason. He took the receipt and items and went to other clerks asking if I had purchased them from them. The manager came over to get involved. It was embarrassing at first, but then I told them off, like really told them off until they cowered. The store had a lot of people in it. I got my refund, but decided I would never go into one of their stores again. I've just always found most of the sales help to be jerks, rude or totally ignorant.

[AngryOldDem]

73. Never liked going in to Radio Shack.

Employees were always following you around, trying to be "helpful," when I think all they were doing was making sure you weren't ripping off any of their crap.

And what's with stores charging triple for stuff you can get much cheaper online? Could that be one reason why they're barely hanging on? You think?

[ChazInAz]

102. My recent experience.

My home-built electric recumbent tricycle blew its 48 Volt 40 Watt main fuse, not a common size. The only way I could get one immediately and back on the road was to purchase a whole bag of assorted fuses at an inflated price, just for the one in my size. After that, I went online and backed up my supply of these....just in case.

[burfman]

53. Would you like a cell phone with that sir?

Yeah I used to put up with the place in the late eighties when I really needed parts the same day. Always hated to go into the store, just an unpleasant experience having to interact with ignorant staff and very overpriced parts that seemed to be out of stock a lot of the time. Today it usually isn't worth the trouble to go in there. Someone should write a book on how RS has managed to last so long. The 'eulogy' is even worse than how I thought the place functioned. Maybe they should try selling quality items at a fair price with a sales staff that is actually paid real wages - what a radical thought.................
Burfman

[RKP5637]

56. Same feelings here. Just an unpleasant place to go into. When I went there on occasion I used

to wonder beforehand, what kind of nonsense am I going to run into this time.

[appalachiablue]

55. Retail electronics sale story to share, what the heck. NYC friend worked in a photo store in DETROIT

late '80s, early '90s. It was near Xmas holiday time, and while working he saw as he said, "a middle aged black woman, (frumpy) average type" but didn't assist her thinking no big deal I guess. Turns out as he told it, the woman was none other than ARETHA FRANKLIN, who bought many cameras and items for her nephews, etc. that day. Joke was on him, and he was thinking about the money (as ever) not realizing some of his own class, sex and race issues I guess. He's Hispanic, btw. Hey, you never know about us women, even the dowdy, middle aged ones who look like we don't have any money!

[RKP5637]

60. Yep, that happens a lot. There's a guy around here, looks totally homeless and he's

worth millions and millions and millions. Nice guy too, extremely well educated, just doesn't fit the millionaire look or attitude and is ultra liberal.

[appalachiablue]

62. I believe it, good to know. On the other hand I recall Whoopie G. shopping with her mother

not that long ago, maybe 10 yrs., at Bloomies in NYC. The sales lady asked her mother if she wouldn't feel more comfortable looking at dresses at another store. Unreal. Also Oprah got some stuff at a European store, a few years ago, Switzerland I think. Stupid people.

[Initech]

57. Radio Shack killed themselves, just like Blockbuster and Tower Records.

Aging retailer relying on aging methods can't survive in the internet era. Big surprise.

[RKP5637]

61. Yep, they stick to business as usual feeling omnipotent, like they control the world. I've

seen that happen when a CEO builds up a company from scratch and just can't adapt to change and what made them a great leader at one time later makes them fail doing the same old dog tricks. It's sad for them, the employees and the company.

They just get so caught up in their own world and surround themselves with peers just like them, and hence the executive 'group think' right into ultimate company failure still wondering to themselves WTF is going on, why are we failing. They really move into a state of denial and delusional thinking. And sadly take the employees down with them and no fault of the employees.

[eppur_se_muova]

90. Actually, Tower was one of the first big retailers to go online.

They had lots of other problems, though. Tower.com is still selling music (and books, and DVD's, and games) online, but the retail stores in the US all closed in bankruptcy. Apparently they still have retail franchises overseas.

Since Amazon.com doesn't seem to be a nice corp to work for, I've been looking for another source for CD's, and was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of stuff at Tower.com.

[RKP5637]

108. I had forgotten all about them! Glad you found them again! n/t

[ileus]

58. I'm gonna call BS on he wore the wrong shade or red firing.

Sounds good for the story, but I highly doubt this occurred.

[RKP5637]

59. Yep, agree, I think that sounded a bit over the top too! n/t

[hobbit709]

71. Don't bet on it.

A friend of mine was a RS store manager for 23 years until they dumped him. He can tell you all about some of their BS little rules that changed arbitrarily.

[AngryOldDem]

76. Two words: At will.

They don't need any good reason at all to fire you. Yeah, it's become dark humor that you can be fired because your boss doesn't like the color shirt you're wearing, but with at-will employment, it can be done. They don't owe you any reason for dismissal.

[Orrex]

82. I concur

Struck me as obvious exaggeration for comic effect. The piece as a whole seemed deliberately hyperbolic, so that would fit with the overall tone.

[Rex]

67. I remember being a young computer nerd and lusting after the Tandy 1000.

No way I could ever afford the price tag but I could dream. Poor Radio Shack. How far it has fallen from geek grace.

[Shankapotomus]

78. LOL (sorry)

I smell hit reality show!

[RKP5637]

79. It is, isn't it, or at least a SNL skit! n/t

[Orrex]

81. An old but relevant classic from The Onion.

Even CEO Can't Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business

[GreatGazoo]

83. Great! Perhaps Radio Shack will soon get the "historic" treatment...

[RKP5637]

85. Best paragraphs!!!

Despite this cheerful boosterism, Day admitted that nothing has changed during his tenure and he doesn't exactly know what he can do to improve the chain.

"I'd like to capitalize on the store's strong points, but I honestly don't know what they are," Day said. "Every location is full of bizarre adapters, random chargers, and old boom boxes, and some sales guy is constantly hovering over you. It's like walking into your grandpa's basement. You always expect to see something cool, but it never delivers."

Added Day: "I may never know the answer. No matter how many times I punch the sales figures into this crappy Tandy desk calculator, it just doesn't add up."

[rhett o rick]

96. We need change. H. Clinton will not provide that change. nm

[RKP5637]

111. I wonder about that too! To me, it will be SOS again. n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

97. Tandy (Radio Shack) ripped me off so many times when I worked there.

Hours not paid. Entire paychecks 'missing' for days. Comps/bonuses not paid. Hours declared not billable. You name it.

When I quit, I gave them 2 weeks notice and actually trained a replacement. (I ran the AS/400 that controlled all the POS's for some 30+ stores) On my last day, the Director of our store told me that he wasn't going to cash out my vacation pay, because when I submitted my 2 week notice, I only told my Manager and Payroll. I didn't tell *him*.

Basically, Tandy stole an entire paycheck from me, back in '98. A nice middle finger to me as I escaped to greener pastures.


Fuck em. They can burn to the ground for all I care. That company has been dying for over a decade. It exists not in the margin of its sales, but rather in the margin it can bleed out of its poor workers.

As far as I'm concerned, WalMart ain't got NOTHING on Tandy for fucking over employees. WalMart is just greedy and indifferent. Tandy has it down to a deliberate science.

[RKP5637]

110. I would not mind seeing them gone, they deserve it, but I feel sorry for the employees.

Radio Shack has been a creepy outfit for decades IMO.

[lark]

98. My husband, regrettably, used to work for the same corporation.

He was a manager, paid based on a 40 hr. week. He was required to come to work 1/2 day on his day off for a company meeting and didn't get paid. He was often called in on his other day off for this or that and of course wasn't paid for that either. They used deceitful advertising and were scum in so many ways. I was sooooo happy when he got a better job and could knock them off his boots like the excrement they were.

[Liberal_in_LA]

101. I always wonder how RS stays open, I'm usually one of 2 or 3 in the store.

[SweetieD]

106. People have been saying Radioshack is dead for the past 10-15 years but

there are still stores. In fact, there is a Radio Shack right next to a Best Buy near where I live. I don't know how it stays in business. But obviously someone is still buying stuff there.

[happyslug]

120. Radio Shack sold Tandy Leather in 2000

Tandy Leather is still making money, but given the time since that sale (and the sale of Stores locations in Australia and Europe) Radio Shack is running out of options.

[penndragon69]

109. No wonder

why i rarely ever walk into the RS in the mall to buy anything. They really SUCK.

[One_Life_To_Give]

112. When they took out the Tube Tester

When they took out the Tube Tester it spelled the end. Hastened along by CableTV and the loss of rooftop antennae sales.
Fortunately there is a semi-local parts store with quite a good inventory.

[RKP5637]

113. Yep, I used to buy tubes there and way back at Lafayette Radio. As I recall RS had the better ones

in gold colored packages, something like that, or maybe that was Lafayette Radio.

Way back both Lafayette Radio and Radio Shack had some good products, probably not audiophile quality, but some of their tuners/amplifiers and changes weren't that bad that they re-branded from some pretty good OEMs. I have one of their German Radio Shack Realistic Elac Benjamin Miracord record changers that I rebuilt recently. It's a very good changer. I found it in an estate sale and knew what it was. I'm sure it was still sitting there because it had the Radio Shack label on it.

Then, they descended into a lot of junk IMO. I used to buy capacitors and resistors from them when in a pinch. It's been a long time since I was in RS other that to drop off batteries for recycling.

There is one down the street here and it's depressing to go into. It seems one guy runs it, even the lights are really dim, like most of the florescent tubes have been removed. I drive by as it's on a main road and I never see anyone in the parking lot.

I thought they had closed, but then a few weeks ago I dropped some UPS batteries off for recycling and there was one guy in there with no customers. I told my friend when we pulled up this is really dumb, they have to be closed, even the front door looked closed, but there the guy was, but not overly friendly, typical RS clerk.

I miss the really old electronics store that had everything from hookup wire to sophisticated ham gear.

[happyslug]

114. Dating myself, I remember its much better competitor Lafayette Electronics, closed in 1981.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Radio_Electronics

Lafayettes were larger stores that had more items for sale. Just bigger and nicer stores, but the advent of digital electronics and the attitude of replacing not repairing electronics killed it.

People forget that till the 1970s Televisions were REPAIRED not replace when they broke. Hardware stores had devices to test tubes to see if they were working or not. Radio Shack was barely a step above the local hardware store, Lafayette was the step above Radio Shack on par with television repair shops (Which also sold Televisions, Lafayette was just a national chain as oppose to the local television store).

As electronics became more and more digital in the 1960s and 1970s, such repairs became more and more NOT cost effective. Transistors rarely burned out, and when they did generally something else was wrong and it was often cheaper to buy something new then repair what you had. With tubes, generally all you had to do is replace the tube, not a big expense or a big job. Furthermore tubes tended to burn out way before anything else, thus cost effective to repair.

Replacement and Repair is what kept Lafayette in business in the 1940s-1981. Yes, profits were made in selling televisions, radios and other electronics, but what paid the month to month bills was repairs, and with transistors repairs on electronics died out, and with the lost of those repairs Lafayette went out of business.

Radio Shack should have followed the same path, but its stores were smaller and thus could survive on the small market for small electronic devices and parts that remained with the switch to transistors. I go into Radio Shack once every decade or so and see what they are selling and try to figure out why I ever thought they may have some obscure electronic device or part that I wanted. With the net, it is easier to find those parts and get those parts then going to a Radio Shack to find out they do not have it. The only thing keeping them in business is selling phones, and some gadgets.

Now in December 1987 I purchased my first laptop from Radio Shack. I was in school and had broken my wrist and could NOT write, so I thought about a small portable typewriter (it was December of 1987 they still existed) but opt instead for a Radio Shack Laptop. It was an 8088 processor and had two 2 1/2 inch floppy disks that I would use to load Wordstar word processing, but I used it for till it broke in the late 1990s (I had upgraded it to with an after market hard drive in 1991 to replace the one floppy but by the late 1990s it was hopelessly obsolete, no longer worth repairing).

I bring it up for it up for when I was in school in the late 1980s I was the only one with a Laptop, now everyone has one. In the late 1980s Radio Shack dominated that market, but then left it go. They refused to upgrade, they wanted to sell what they had sold in the past and never accepted that fact they had to throw things away. For example, it was an aftermarket provider that I had to ship my laptop to to get it upgraded to have a hard drive, Radio Shack did NOT provide that service, or even mention it in their ads (I found out about the place from an electronic magazine, how much things have changed since 1989). Radio Shack in 1989 did come out with a laptop with a hard drive, but only as something to buy new NOT an upgrade.

In the mid 1990s commentators were already making comments how Radio Shack had dominated the laptop market, and then left it get away from them. Laptops in the 1990s were still high price, and high profit items, compared to desk top computers. Once you dominate a market, you do all you can to dominate that market, in the case of Laptops others moved into the market and quickly took it over. I suspect the reason Radio Shack lost the laptop market was they refused to upgrade their laptops, but tried to sell what they had, as oppose to selling what people wanted. A fatal mistake and they lost that market.

According to one source on the net, the model I had, the 1400 LT, could be purchased with a hard drive, but I never saw one. On the other hand I saw 1400 LTs for sale in Radio Shack well into the 1990s, long after having an internal hard drive was a given (i.e. the models should have been withdrawn or sold at a steep discount and newer machines used).

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1197

Technically being an 8088 machine I should have been able to run only MS-DOS on it, but the first version of windows did run on mine. Great little computer for its time period. Inferior to the desk top computers of the time period (generally 2-3 years behind the desk top in capacity), but if you accepted its limitations a great computer (i.e. use it for word processing and data base management, I did have a modem for it, but never used it for the net was in its infancy and it was easier for me to walk to my local library then to figure out how to get the modem to work).

Thus Radio Shack had the market, but then left it go. They treated it as a fad, not something that would change how people communicated and processed data (i.e. they would NOT see how the computer, let alone the laptop would replace the typewriter). I was in the National Guard at that time and took it to the field. I had a Smith Corona Typewriter with a Centronics port so it could be used as a printer and I had access to electrical power for I was attached to the Maintenance section of my Battalion. People loved getting reports typed instead of bad hand writing on paper (I am talking 1988 and 1989, my last years in the National Guard).

Now, people who had access to desk top computer joked that the laptop was inferior to their laptops (They also had access to dot matrix printers, which could print faster then my typewriter and were a lot smaller) but I never saw any of them take those machines into class.

Now today, the same class rooms I attended all have power cords so more people can use laptops. If Radio Shack had been aggressive when it came to laptops (as oppose to selling them as the latest electronic fad) they would be profitable today.

Just a comment on Radio Shack and how they have shot themselves in the foot over the last 40 years by trying to stay in business as in the days of Television repairs, in the days when something breaks it is replaced not repaired. Staying in the days that people will buy what is in your store, for it is good enough for them. The problem was by the 1990s computers were upgrading so rapidly that holding onto an item for two to three years, drop the price from $1500 to Zero, a concept Radio Shack refused to accept and it cost them the laptop business.

Radio Shack had a window to become the dominate laptop provider, by just insisting on selling the latest laptops, instead they kept selling what had been great three years before. If Radio Shack had fought to dominate the Laptop market, they be raking in the money, but they refused. Radio Shack opt for profits this year as oppose to profits over the next ten years and is now suffering the cost of such short sightedness.

The next step in computers is handhelds, that can be used to transfer data to a main frame via electronic connections with interface with the main frame. i.e. your hand held phone able to be connected to laptop (direct connection, cable connection or even Blue tooth) given that the lap top has a full size keyboard and screen. All data will be kept on the hand held or the main frame (and probably both), the "Laptop" or "Desktop" Computer will just be an interface device (i.e. just a device to type in or have a bigger screen then the hand held, all actual working data and chips would be in the hand held). The Keyboard is still one of the best way to input data (Voice recognition software is better then it has ever been, but they is something about typing that provides clarity).

Is Radio Shack ready for this move? No. Thus Radio Shack will die, the only question is how long will it take to die. Lafayette in many ways had better management, when they saw that they market was dieing they decided to get out of it and sold what they could. Radio Shack is not willing to do that thus it will linger waiting and hoping for another electronic craze that would bail it out for another ten years or so (CB radios in the 1970s and 1980s, Desktop Computers in the 1990s, cell phone from the late 1990s till today).

[RKP5637]

116. This is an exceptionally astute reply and right on target IMO. Yes, they often remind me of a

gasping voice stuck in the past. Thanks for having posted this. It is excellent!

[BootinUp]

115. Half dead? They been a zombie for years

and their debt burden shows it.

[RKP5637]

117. How do they sustain themselves? They can't be making much of a profit, not even to

meet expenses. They must be running through all reserves and piling on enormous debt.

[tammywammy]

118. They've been on the verge of bankruptcy all year. n/t

[happyslug]

119. Radio Shack has been marginal since the death of Charles Tandy in 1978.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandy_Corporation

Charles Tandy had taken his father's leather business in a new direction, into home leathercraft business. This had boomed in the post WWII era and by 1962 was expanding into other home craft areas. As part of this expansion Tandy took over Radio Shack in 1962 and converted it from a mail order specialty electronic store aims at the HAM Radio market, to providing electronic parts in their craft stores for other electronic projects. Radio Shack became the place to go for rare hard to find electronic parts. It did sell radios, and other electronics but its main thrust was electronic devices. In that era it boomed, but Charles Tandy died in 1978, just as the CB boom was in full swing. His successors basically abandoned craft electronics and concentrated in BS radios. When CB radios died out, they expanded in computers, then came up with the great idea of NOT making their own in the US, but to import Computers from overseas. On a short term basis that increased profits, but its also made it clear, that any repairs would take months and there was NO advantage to buying a Radio Shack then from any other dealer (i.e, none of them could repair the computer, and what repairs could be done could be done by anyone just ordering the part AND Radio Shack did NOT carry the parts in their Stores).

Tandy's family had lost control of Radio Shack at the death of Charles Tandy in 1978, but was able to get control of Tandy Leather again in 2000. Tandy Leather and its Craft business is booming for their have stayed with the home craft movement. Radio Shack has abandoned anything to do with repair of electronics (Radio Shack retains some aspects of this but it is clearly a sideline, an ignored sideline kept for its high profit margins but ignored for it is low volume thus low total profit).

Thus Radio Shack has abandoned the market that made Radio Shack. Radio Shack did this in the search for greater short term profits. It needs to go back to being a place to go for hard to find electronic parts, but that means accepting low profits on a year to year basis, and that is something the present management has refused to do since 1978.

If I was the head of Radio Shack I would do the following:

1, Abandon all of the high rent stores they have in malls today. Go with stand alone stores and get out of the Cell Phone Business (I would still sell them, but considered them a side line, but concentrate on other things for the cell phone, including chargers, batteries, wires and electronic PARTS and Accessories that go with Cell Phones, even phones Radio Shack does not carry).

2. Abandon any concept of commission. Good idea when you were selling high end leather and other supplies, but lousy when it comes to service. You want to be the place people go when they have problems.

3. Get away from the youth centric (and cheap) sales people. Yes, a lot of youth do know more about the modern equipment then us older people, but they know nothing about anything older then five years old. PAY for experience help, This work force will take years to build up and need to be retrained every year. You would be selling actual service and everything else would be a sideline. Such service can only be obtained by training AND experience, thus NOT youth centric. Yes, I hate going into a store and their "Service" is some collage age kid who can read the same box I am reading. Service means dealing with someone who knows what they are doing (and knows what they are selling).

Do I see Radio Shack doing anything close to the above? NO, they like minimum wage teenage workers for they are cheap. Radio Shack's definition of "Service" is a live body as oppose to you reading the box label alone. Radio Shack do NOT want to become a place where people go to talk about electronics and where on goes to get items to do something that is NOT out of a box. Radio Shack today is a rejection of what made it boom in the 1960s and 1970s. It is no longer the place to go to find odd ball electronic devices. If something is not high volume, it is NOT in their stores (and given the rent in the Malls, keeping long term hard to find items not profitable, thus why I would close all the stores in high rent locations, make the shopper come to the store, not just enter as they are going some place else).

It would take at least a decade to repair the damage the present management has done, and given the net the above may be to little to late. Radio Shack should be the first place people think of when they want some odd piece of electronics, but it is NOT do to NOT stocking the odd ball parts AND not retaining long term employees (i.e. pay them a good wage so they stay for 20-30 years) and for those reasons it will fail. The above MAY have saved Radio Shack if implemented in the 1990s, but I suspect it would be to little to late if done today.

On the other hand Tandy Leather, now part of the "Tandy Leather Factory" is doing fine, not great but also not facing bankruptcy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandy_Leather_Factory