I think a handful of the parts were actually about at cost - I figure it was in the ballpark of a dime per baggie, and the single pack of caps or maybe some of the diodes were close if they bought in bulk. Since they moved away from the blister packs with cardboard backing, the bags themselves are probably pretty cheap, but I figure it was a significant percentage of the total cost of goods for each one. There were some that I didn't go for which there's a chance they could still have been making a profit off of - 5 packs of 1/8W resistors or two packs of 0.1uF caps - but after the packaging and organizational cost, they could be around breaking even instead at this price. Those SMA to whatever cable adapters in the lower right were listed at like $16 each.... though I've bought similar through ebay for less than $1.50 shipped each...
My perspective on their bankruptcy is that they sort of over-diversified and pushed themselves out of the niche markets they could have serviced. While I certainly understand that demand for parts like this have dropped off in the last few decades, I think there probably is a market that can support a local place with a stock of components - there are plenty of times I need a quick replacement part or finishing bit and I don't mind paying a premium to get it now... but they reduced their selection, making it less likely to find the part you need and raised their prices. Something like $2 for 5 resistors or $4 for a single 220uF cap is something I'm only going to pay if I'm REALLY desperate. The one area they always seemed to have a good stock of was terminations for cables - crimp terminals, coax connectors, audio jacks... but while that may be viable for DIY types fixing equipment, it's probably not in many others' wheelhouses.
Aside from our niche, they tried to go into cell phones, toys, batteries, and sort of cables and adapters... but their prices can't compete with online and because of the size of their stores, their selection never really seemed big enough to make them a go-to place over best buy, a drugstore, a toy store, etc. While the early moves in that direction may have been able to support their huge number of stores better, I think in the long run it sort of pushed them out of people's buying habits.
While I'm sad to see them go, I really only found myself in a radioshack a couple days of a year, at most... and given that their stuff is supposed to generally appeal to people with my interests, I'm not really surprised it's worked out this way.