Author Topic: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!  (Read 46239 times)

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Offline Razor512

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #75 on: February 08, 2015, 05:59:49 pm »

The shelves had been pretty much picked bare of all cameras, cell phones, radios, toys, etc.. All of the electronic components and related supplies were there still there. The general public does not give a rats ass about electronic engineering and there are not enough hobbyists to keep something like that going anymore. The infamous Radio Shack metal sliding drawers were all still full.  What does that tell you..



Seems to tell me that it is not the best idea to charge 5-10 times the price that an online store is charging for the same item.
 

Offline Stonent

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #76 on: February 09, 2015, 12:10:17 am »
I stopped by a nearby Radio Shack today.  All the cell phones except for the Verizon display were gone.  The very back area where they keep the home security stuff was completely empty.  There seemed to be a few things on sale or clearance but nothing out of the ordinary.
The larger the government, the smaller the citizen.
 

Offline cosmicray

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #77 on: February 09, 2015, 02:08:36 am »
I stopped by a nearby Radio Shack today.  All the cell phones except for the Verizon display were gone.  The very back area where they keep the home security stuff was completely empty.  There seemed to be a few things on sale or clearance but nothing out of the ordinary.
Stores that are not closing, are likely going to be Sprint stores. Stores that are closing are clearing out the little stuff, and sending the good stuff elsewhere. Either way I would expect the cell phones to grow legs and move elsewhere. I was in the local store less than 60 minutes after he opened Friday morning. The Apple stuff had been sent out before the bankruptcy was announced.
it's only funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious - R. Rabbit
 

Offline TheNewLab

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #78 on: February 10, 2015, 12:37:05 am »
Radio Shack is not gone. They filed Chapter 11. This is re-organization. Renegotiating debt liabilities, usually dumping all upper management and providing a business plan to the courts of how they can re-invent themselves when they come out of bankruptcy.

My question is what are they going to be selling? Maybe become a mini Best Buy? or a cell phone store like PC Metro??  Who know
Maybe they might become a leather goods store. Sell Tandy leather goods. the same company that bailed them out in 1962. We'll see.
Personally, I have no fond experiences of them, except a hot Asian chick that worked at a local store the last two Christmas seasons.
 

Offline EEVblogTopic starter

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #79 on: February 10, 2015, 01:08:32 am »
 

Online xrunner

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #80 on: February 10, 2015, 01:18:56 am »
My question is what are they going to be selling?

How about a game? A re-make of the ubiquitous Monopoly, call it -

Radioshackopoly

You could buy and sell Radio Shack stores in different priced areas of town and try to guess what kits would be hot. Even buy shipments of cell phone cases?

The cards would be like "Get out of Bankruptcy Free" and "All your stores have just been over-supplied with Arduinos - you lose $50,000"  ^-^
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 

Offline cosmicray

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #81 on: February 11, 2015, 12:22:05 am »
The cards would be like "Get out of Bankruptcy Free" and "All your stores have just been over-supplied with Arduinos - you lose $50,000"  ^-^
Speaking of which, they had a Yun on the shelf. Price rang up $30, thought that was a bit much. Upon checking after I got home, maybe I should have grabbed it. I think I'm spoiled by the sub $10 32u4 boards I picked up on Black Friday.
it's only funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious - R. Rabbit
 

Offline JNB

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #82 on: February 11, 2015, 03:27:39 am »
I still miss Heathkit way more than I will ever miss Radio Shack.... Life goes on and nerds will always find a way.
 

Offline mtdoc

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #83 on: February 11, 2015, 04:30:40 am »
Our local paper today had an article about the bankruptcy and the fact that none of the 3 stores in our area are slated for closure.

We are a rural area in a county of 60,000 people. 2 of the 3 stores are franchise stores.  The owner of the 2 franchise stores is quoted as saying:

"We aren't going to close,” and “We have no financial liability for their problems.”

Also:

“I feel that we're direly needed here "
“We get people in here every day that reiterate that.”

Who'd a thunk? :clap:
 

Offline orin

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #84 on: February 11, 2015, 05:44:54 am »
Here, it's only the stores in the "high rent" areas that were on the list for closure when I looked last week.  The others in out of the way strip malls weren't on the list.

One particular store is/was in a mall where even Barnes & Noble couldn't get a reasonable lease:

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2016417727_barnesnoble06.html

They're not dead (yet)*.

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Offline miguelvp

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #85 on: February 11, 2015, 06:16:44 am »
That's quite alright since Malls are a dying breed as well and converted to data centers and even apartment complexes.
 

Offline TSL

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #86 on: February 14, 2015, 02:23:27 am »
G'Day from a fellow ex Tandy repairman :)

I joined Tandy almost right out of high school in 1980.

 I had learned basic electronics at school with a bit more in depth stuff because my physics teacher was a ham and the school had an active amateur radio club. My parents had bough me a 50in1 and I did the same with my pocket money and bought the same meter :)

It was still known as Tandy then, not Interntan , that would come later.

I got the job over another chap who had gone to uni  because even though he had all the theory, he couldn't solder for shit!

Soldering and desoldering components was a good 1/2hr+ of the interview. The manager also pulled many schematics and pointed at various parts and asked me what they were and/or questions like... "What voltage would you expect at this point?"

I suspect, that being a 17yo, I was pretty cheap to hire too!

It was an education. As a repairman you were expected to fix any thing in the product line in 45 minutes. It didn't matter if it was a radio control car, a 3in1 stereo or a communications receiver like the DX160 - 45 minutes was it. DX300 was a nightmare to repair and align often taking a couple of hours!!!

Needles to say you got to know things intimately and my knowledge increased at a rapid rate. The pressure was relieved somewhat when items developed common faults.

I remember a certain digital clock that would slowly gain time until the display looked like a stop watch running, the fault... a leaky capacitor - badly made, that faulted in the entire run of these clocks.

I was there when the first TRS80m1 came out and we didn't actually have a computer dept at the time and a single chap, Manfred ?, did all the repairs on them.

Who remembers the CoCo aka "Colour Computer" ?

That too had a cap fault that involved the entire service dept spending a week or two doing nothing but cap replacement on the entire Australian stock! I can still remember the forklift bringing pallets of the things into the back of the service dept :)

We had fun - the obligatory green service tag sometimes ended up with odd repair descriptions to send back to the customer.

"Found short circuit - lengthened it"

"Replaced broken spoke in megacycle"

Sometimes, the gear would almost kill us.

I had an amp come in - "doesn't work" - didn't notice the customer had replaced the 3 pin mains plug.

Did notice when I took the timber shell off and touched the  metal sub-frame!!

One of the oddest repairs was a combo record player/amp/radio came in from out west with a fault report of "doesn't work"

A colleague scored this repair and gave out a great shout when he loosed the sprung screws holding the turntable down and tiny black snakes came wriggling out. There was a small nest of snakes hatching in the unit, and a mouse must have found the eggs since its fried carcase was draped across the input of the power supply.

Most mains stuff didn't have the heat shrink or shielding it does today so it was awful easy to come in contact with, something that happened way too often.

I have more stories from those days I might share at some other time :)

Anyway suffice to say, repairing stuff at Tandy gave me a great breadth of knowledge in electronics that's buried somewhere underneath the pile of computer knowledge I have today.

I spent a few years there until I moved on and ended up repairing Apple kit for a dealer. Moved on from that to other computer based endeavors these days.

cheers

Tim

« Last Edit: February 14, 2015, 02:28:57 am by TSL »
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Offline Stonent

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #87 on: February 14, 2015, 05:51:21 am »

Who remembers the CoCo aka "Colour Computer" ?

My first computer was the MC-10 and second was the 64K CoCo2.
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Offline alien_douglas

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #88 on: February 14, 2015, 10:45:24 pm »
No matter what you think of Radio Shack, it is a sad day when these sorts of stores shut down or morph into just another electrical appliance store like Dick Smith Electronics in Aussie and New Zealand has done.

I used to love visiting Tandy in Australia (Although Jaycar was always better.) and Radio Shack on my visits to the USA.

Even coming from a small city like Wellington, New Zealand, I can still remember all those that have disappeared from the local scene in the last 30 years.
(Wiseman Electric, WR Sturm, Kit Parts, David Reid Electronics, VSI Electronics etc)

If it wasn't for these guys I would not have gotten into electronics.

RIP Radio Shack

Regards
Alien
 

Offline PJTirino

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #89 on: February 16, 2015, 07:16:30 pm »
I worked at Radioshack just a couple of years ago. Yes, me, with my BS in Mathematics, a certified high school instructor who teachers Arduino workshops on the side, thought it would be fun to work at the local electronics store for a summer. That's how much I liked Radioshack. I even would have stayed if the job was halfway decent.

Like Dave, I started learning electronics with a Radioshack spring terminal breadboard IC chip lab playing with 555 circuits. Once I got good with that I began learning about guitar and audio effects circuits. Those circuits have lots and lots of RC filters in them that had to be tuned to frequencies which required capacitors that were far beyond the small stock of caps that Radioshack had. I had to do a lot of online ordering. My scope, power supply, LCR meter, etc... my only option was online! If it wasn't for Dave doing his reviews and teardowns, I would have had no idea what I was looking for or what I was ordering... Thank you Dave.

One of my first costumers at Radioshack came in looking for a meter. I asked him how he was doing and I got a dirty look. I said a few more words to him, and I think he realized that I wasn't going to say - I have no idea about a meter but would you like a cell phone. So we talked about meters for a bit. I sold him on an Extech 430 (I have one too) as well as a probe set and some other stuff. After he left, the boss comes out from the back and asks me if I FOUND OUT WHAT TYPE OF CELL PHONE HE HAD!!! and then he YELLS AT ME!!! I began to like Radioshack or more so what it had turned into less and less.

We need a good electronics hobby store. One that isn't going to charge $30 for an ultrasonic distance sensor I can get on ebay for $3 a piece. But I still hate to see Radioshack go.
 

Offline Skimask

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #90 on: February 17, 2015, 04:03:59 am »

Who remembers the CoCo aka "Colour Computer" ?

My first computer was the MC-10 and second was the 64K CoCo2.
Same here.
Thems was the days...
I didn't take it apart.
I turned it on.

The only stupid question is, well, most of them...

Save a fuse...Blow an electrician.
 

Offline cosmicray

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #91 on: February 17, 2015, 10:38:58 pm »
RS here has moved all the parts in the drawers to 70% off, last day will be the 26th (which I think is one week longer than originally expected). Sign said all the fixtures were for sale, but the lady behind the counter had no information about what will cost how much.
it's only funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious - R. Rabbit
 

Online xrunner

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #92 on: February 17, 2015, 10:41:52 pm »
The parts drawers were $175 at the last store I went to (one module with ~8 drawers).
I told my friends I could teach them to be funny, but they all just laughed at me.
 

Offline cosmicray

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #93 on: February 17, 2015, 11:42:17 pm »
The parts drawers were $175 at the last store I went to (one module with ~8 drawers).
The ones here must be gold plated. $250 for each module, one vertical column is 2 modules, so $500. The parts section is 4 columns wide, so $2k for the entire section. I'll wait until the final day and see if anyone bit at that price.
it's only funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious - R. Rabbit
 

Offline TheNewLab

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #94 on: April 29, 2015, 11:39:50 am »
LOL! LOL I fell off my chair!

Dave's link to video

Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #80 on: February 10, 2015, 12:08:32 PM » the youjtube link


Thank YOU!   still laughing
 

Offline 1xrtt

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #95 on: April 29, 2015, 02:50:59 pm »
Out of curiosity, what is the status of RS bankrupcy?
I just happen to be in Guayaquil, Ecuador this week and, lurking around in the mall, I just found a regular Radio Shack store, working normal, business as usual. Did they bankrupt only in US?
 

Offline Tandy

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #96 on: April 29, 2015, 04:14:23 pm »
In Mexico Grupo Gigante bought the store leases and Mexican trademark, so now operate as an entirely independent business.

The trademarks in Latin and South America, the Middle East and Africa have also been sold, so the business in those countries will continue under new ownership.

In the United States Standard General bought 1,743 store leases, most of them are currently being run as joint Sprint / RadioShack stores. Standard general are able to use the trademark for 6 months. In the mean time the US RadioShack trademarks are to be sold in May. If Standard General buys them, then essentially they will be the new RadioShack. They will sell batteries, charges, headphones and mobile accessories. Electronic components, audio gear, computers etc will no longer be sold in the stores.

There are also 800 or so independent dealers/franchisees in the US and around the world that use the RadioShack name. They are under contract arrangements with RadioShack, those contracts are being offered for sale with the trademarks in May. As yet it is uncertain what will happen with the dealers. If the buyer of the trademarks does not also acquire the dealer contracts, or does not wish to maintain the dealer relationships they will have to stop using the RadioShack name and find alternative sources for their products.
For more info on Tandy try these links Tandy History EEVBlog Thread & Official Tandy Website
 

Offline SeanB

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #97 on: April 29, 2015, 05:01:42 pm »
There is a Radio shack in ZA?
 

Offline Tandy

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #98 on: April 29, 2015, 05:12:40 pm »
I don't think there are any RadioShack stores in Africa but there are trademarks in ZA.
For more info on Tandy try these links Tandy History EEVBlog Thread & Official Tandy Website
 

Offline SeanB

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Re: eevBLAB #7 - Radio Shack Declares Bankruptcy!
« Reply #99 on: April 29, 2015, 07:28:25 pm »
I don't think there are any RadioShack stores in Africa but there are trademarks in ZA.

They are not enforcing it then, there is Radioshack.co.za which is in no way affiliated with the US operation.
 


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