If this doesn't make you miss Radio Shack.....

YES!
Glaser Steers and Fisher-Lincoln. Two turntables that I don't have yet. BTW, anyone out there willing to go $14 a month on one?:)
 
I don't miss Radio Shack, but I miss 1963...
I missed 1963 completely...
I wasn't born until 13 years later. :)
...but boy do I wish I had a time machine just to visit the late fifties and early sixties manufacturing principles and business models and product quality.

This thread made me jump on Ebay and buy some old Radio Shack Catalogs... Thanks jerks!;)
 
I missed 1963 completely...
I wasn't born until 13 years later. :)
...but boy do I wish I had a time machine just to visit the late fifties and early sixties manufacturing principles and business models and product quality.

This thread made me jump on Ebay and buy some old Radio Shack Catalogs... Thanks jerks!;)


Yeah, me too... I was born in '64!
 
I had to wait until I was 16 to start working at Radio Shack. That was back in "the good old days of Radio Shack", in 1966. Those were the days! The first 23 of the next 25 years were pretty darn good. The early days were exciting, especially for a young kid. When I think back to some of the great gear that passed through my hands, wow! The store that I worked at in Pittsburgh helped to sell off a lot of the "excess" inventory from Allied Radio when Tandy bought them in 1970 (?). A lot of the equipment that we received flew out the doors at bargain prices. Some of the brands that I remember were Sony, Scott, Ampex, Dual, Garrard, AR, Wharfedale, Benjamin Mirachord, Sansui, Kenwood, Teac, Roberts / Akai, KLH, Crown, Hartman Kardon, JVC (only a few pieces IIRC), and some Fisher equipment. There probably were a few more in the mix that I can no longer remember. I clearly remember that the Realistic brand audio equipment sold very well right along side of all that great gear. There was also a lot of non-audio related items that we got to sell off. If only I knew then what I know now -- and had the money to do something about it!
 
I had to wait until I was 16 to start working at Radio Shack. That was back in "the good old days of Radio Shack", in 1966. Those were the days! The first 23 of the next 25 years were pretty darn good. The early days were exciting, especially for a young kid. When I think back to some of the great gear that passed through my hands, wow! The store that I worked at in Pittsburgh helped to sell off a lot of the "excess" inventory from Allied Radio when Tandy bought them in 1970 (?). A lot of the equipment that we received flew out the doors at bargain prices. Some of the brands that I remember were Sony, Scott, Ampex, Dual, Garrard, AR, Wharfedale, Benjamin Mirachord, Sansui, Kenwood, Teac, Roberts / Akai, KLH, Crown, Hartman Kardon, JVC (only a few pieces IIRC), and some Fisher equipment. There probably were a few more in the mix that I can no longer remember. I clearly remember that the Realistic brand audio equipment sold very well right along side of all that great gear. There was also a lot of non-audio related items that we got to sell off. If only I knew then what I know now -- and had the money to do something about it!

Back in the 80's a ran a store that sold closeout/refurbs. I picked up one of my JVC QL-Y55f's there for a whopping $120 in the 80's (and it's still going too!). They bought out all of the Akai stuff when Mitsubishi bought them out too. "Stack it high and let it fly' was the motto - and it did, believe me. Now you can't even find a stereo store around here :(
 
I had to wait until I was 16 to start working at Radio Shack. That was back in "the good old days of Radio Shack", in 1966. Those were the days! The first 23 of the next 25 years were pretty darn good. The early days were exciting, especially for a young kid. When I think back to some of the great gear that passed through my hands, wow! The store that I worked at in Pittsburgh helped to sell off a lot of the "excess" inventory from Allied Radio when Tandy bought them in 1970 (?). A lot of the equipment that we received flew out the doors at bargain prices. Some of the brands that I remember were Sony, Scott, Ampex, Dual, Garrard, AR, Wharfedale, Benjamin Mirachord, Sansui, Kenwood, Teac, Roberts / Akai, KLH, Crown, Hartman Kardon, JVC (only a few pieces IIRC), and some Fisher equipment. There probably were a few more in the mix that I can no longer remember. I clearly remember that the Realistic brand audio equipment sold very well right along side of all that great gear. There was also a lot of non-audio related items that we got to sell off. If only I knew then what I know now -- and had the money to do something about it!

I see you're in State College! I lived there from 1979-1988 (high school, college, and a little beyond).

I'm not sure how long you've been there, but I worked from 1984-88 at Arboria Records in its original location at 151 South Allen St. My understanding is that basement retail space had previously been a hifi store in the '60s.
 
I got my first AR TT at Allied for $48 with a Pickering cartridge. It was on sale for some reason.
How times have changed.
 
Radio Shack was great in it's prime, but spent the last 15 years trying to be a cell phone store with untrained idiots behind the counter. Hard to feel nostalgic for that.

Compare that to the trained idiots that worked the counter before the cell phone takeover.

"I see you're buying something (anything). May I have your address and phone number to put in our computer?"

"No."
 
I see you're in State College! I lived there from 1979-1988 (high school, college, and a little beyond).

I'm not sure how long you've been there, but I worked from 1984-88 at Arboria Records in its original location at 151 South Allen St. My understanding is that basement retail space had previously been a hifi store in the '60s.

I moved from Pittsburgh to State College in 1973 to build and open the Radio Shack store in Nittany Mall. It was essentially a Joint-Venture with Tandy Corp and me. After seeing one marketing blunder after another and seeing the direction that they were heading, I left in 1993. That was almost 25 years ago, almost as long as I was with them. So don't blame me for what they became after that. We all know hat happened to those that chose to stay. Of the sixty or so people across the country that had that Joint Venture arrangement like I did, there were only two of us that chose to leave when the pulled the plug on that program. We did fight. I could write a book about the back story. If there was anything left of the company, all of the company managers, and the IRS, would find it very interesting to read. They got screwed too.

I remember the audio store in that location but I don't recall the name. I don't think they were there for very long though. Arboria was still operating until just a few years ago.

Radio Shack was great in it's prime, but spent the last 15 years trying to be a cell phone store with untrained idiots behind the counter. Hard to feel nostalgic for that.
Amen to that! There were a rapidly decreasing number of old timers that tried to hold on as best as they could. After being a part of the fast and furious rise to their pinnacle in the 70s and early 80s, watching them self destruct was disheartening at best. There were a lot of very good people that tried to reverse their course but were not successful at doing so. Its really too bad. I still say they could have been a contender -- if they did exactly the opposite of what they did to themselves beginning in the late 80s and early 90s. I knew most of the Jackasses behind those brilliant decisions as well as many of the fine folks on the other side. That's a rant for another day.

I got my first AR TT at Allied for $48 with a Pickering cartridge. It was on sale for some reason.
How times have changed.
. Mine was a Garrard SL95. I think that it originally had a Pickering Cartridge too. If I recall correctly, It was right around $100 with the base and dust cover. Those were the days.


Like so many others, I too miss "the Good old days of Radio Shack" back in the 60s and 70s. I sure dont miss anything about them since the late 80s. Those that are too young to remember those good old days and only recall the screwed up joke of a cell phone store that they became, really dont have the perspective to see the potential of what they flushed down the toilet.
 
I wish I could walk into an old school RadioShack. Alas, I am so young all I will ever see are the remnants, like this unit I had the pleasure of replacing lamps in and Deoxiting:

IMG_20170717_213740_250.jpg
 
I moved from Pittsburgh to State College in 1973 to build and open the Radio Shack store in Nittany Mall. It was essentially a Joint-Venture with Tandy Corp and me. After seeing one marketing blunder after another and seeing the direction that they were heading, I left in 1993. That was almost 25 years ago, almost as long as I was with them. So don't blame me for what they became after that. We all know hat happened to those that chose to stay. Of the sixty or so people across the country that had that Joint Venture arrangement like I did, there were only two of us that chose to leave when the pulled the plug on that program. We did fight. I could write a book about the back story. If there was anything left of the company, all of the company managers, and the IRS, would find it very interesting to read. They got screwed too.

I shopped in your store!

I remember the audio store in that location but I don't recall the name. I don't think they were there for very long though. Arboria was still operating until just a few years ago.

Right, I think Arboria moved into that space in '74 or '75. The moved around the corner after I left town.
 
In roughly 1977-79 I was living in California and me and my buddies would of course ride our bikes up to the shopping center to get the usual things that at the time 12 year old would get, .05$ candy etc. Our shopping center had of course the big grocery store, but it also had a record Store, Ice cream, an arcade and a Radio Shack (nirvana). I remember the radio shack mostly for having those handheld football game things and the original Pong video game. In retrospect that of course was probably the beginning of the end. Next door at the arcade, asteroids came out around then as well.
 
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