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RadioShack never actually left? And it's coming BACK!?

wparks

wparks

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I happened to be wandering through YouCrack not long ago, and stumbled upon a video a guy posted saying that he had found a RadioShack store that was actually open (in Indiana). I assumed it was a novelty, someone with an old sign, or clearing old inventory or something and did not take it seriously. Then, the other day, I was driving through Hamilton, Montana (Where they filmed "Yellowstone") and there was a RadioShack store with an open sign. I almost left skid marks dodging into the parking lot and jogged in, my mind filled with the memories of discrete components and perf board I bought there so regularly.

There it was, with almost all of the inventory I remember it having around the time the stores in my area closed. The very nice fellow there indicated that RadioShack never actually went totally out of business, and that there were 500 "Mom and Pop" stores still open. He said the new owners of RadioShack was soon going to be opening new stores across the US, and greatly adding inventory to them each month.

From the website:

"Unicomer Group, through its affiliate Global Franchising Corporation (GFC), acquired RadioShack's intellectual property assets and domains in about 70 countries around the world, including the United States and Canada, Europe, and China.

RadioShack is coming back in the US with an extensive product selection that ensures our customers they will find exactly what they need to carry on with day-to-day lives or transform their home and office. Our electronics range including: music and audio equipment, gaming equipment, business traveling products, dependable computer accessories and more."
 
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I hope they keep selling all of the small components needed to make repairs.

There are a couple Shacks that I go to on occasion, both are around 70 miles or more away.
 
OMG - nearest to me is in the Shenandoah Valley - Woodstock, VA (within 100 miles)
 
wparks said:
I happened to be wandering through YouCrack not long ago, and stumbled upon a video a guy posted saying that he had found a RadioShack store that was actually open (in Indiana). I assumed it was a novelty, someone with an old sign, or clearing old inventory or something and did not take it seriously. Then, the other day, I was driving through Hamilton, Montana (Where they filmed "Yellowstone") and there was a RadioShack store with an open sign. I almost left skid marks dodging into the parking lot and jogged in, my mind filled with the memories of discrete components and perf board I bought there so regularly.

There it was, with almost all of the inventory I remember it having around the time the stores in my area closed. The very nice fellow there indicated that RadioShack never actually went totally out of business, and that there were 500 "Mom and Pop" stores still open. He said the new owners of RadioShack was soon going to be opening new stores across the US, and greatly adding inventory to them each month.

From the website:

"Unicomer Group, through its affiliate Global Franchising Corporation (GFC), acquired RadioShack's intellectual property assets and domains in about 70 countries around the world, including the United States and Canada, Europe, and China.

RadioShack is coming back in the US with an extensive product selection that ensures our customers they will find exactly what they need to carry on with day-to-day lives or transform their home and office. Our electronics range including: music and audio equipment, gaming equipment, business traveling products, dependable computer accessories and more."
Click to expand...
Wow, that's good news. Hope to see one locally. Hope they keep the name Radio Shack, has a nice steam punk ring to it.
 
We ran across one while we were in Michigan this Fall.

Very nice owner who has owned it since the 90's and his son is taking over.

Cell-phone repair has supplanted his retail business.

Nice selection of things including resistors, capacitors, switches, etc.
We talked about older Realistic stereo equipment and joked about the Battery Club and Lifetime Tube Warranty...
It was a great step back in time and was a lot of fun.
 
Great now more threads about crap Chinese components by old farts. :rolleyes:

Don't fool yourselves into thinking they will sell anything else.

They should probably just stick with being a cell phone store. But that's easy for me to say, I have a couple of mom and pops to get components and pieces parts from.
 
I miss the two we had near my home. The storefront at the mall was the first to shut their doors, the brick and mortar in the nearby town held on to the end. I made a few emergency trips there for hardware I unintentionally blew up...crying.gif
 
Radio Shack stores up here in Canada, which made the cut, turned into The Source (Circuit City) which in turn are now becoming Best Buy Express stores. They have little in common with the Radio Shack stores we used to know as they feature phones, gaming gear, TV and home audio type of stuff. No parts like the Shack used to have.

I sure miss the old Shack as I missed one transistor on a recent Mouser order which has brought a current project to a standstill. Chances are the old RS would have had the part I need so I could carry on. The only electronic parts supplier here in town seems to be letting their stock dry up and will probably be closing their doors one day to.

RadioShack

Welcome to RadioShack's official website. Search and shop for electronics, gaming devices, powerbanks, audio products and business traveling gear.
www.radioshack.com www.radioshack.com
 
Man I hope one openes near me soon. At one point we had two in the town across the river from me, and one here. And with just a 25 minute drive, another one. I really miss being able to just pop into one and buy parts I needed. And if they didn't have them in stock they would order them for you. Usually they showed up within a week with the next store order.
I bought most of the parts I needed from them along with speakerwire, hookup wire, cables etc.
Please come back! The one store that was here is acually empty right now.
So come on back!
 
Legacy or steam-punk or newbie- RadioShack has been and can be a touchstone in our electronics journey. I have always been amazed at how you can make the eyes light up in most of us "old farts" by talking about RadioShack or Realistic or Tandy, or Optimus- we all have our stories and memories of better times.

Personally, I was a proud member of the "free battery" club from a very early age. We got a lot of toys for birthdays and Christmas that used batteries, and the parents were never very excited about having to buy new batteries for all of it, so this was empowering for a youngster- a compelling reason for Mom to drop you off at the store to have a good look around, and come home with a battery for my transistor radio without having to spend my allowance or bug Mom for it. I am certain that this played a big role in pointing me on the path of engineering and electronics, and had a big impact on my life, so yeah, we old farts have some fond memories of the good ole days.

RadioShack also for many years used to be the hub of "come and try it, see what's new!". I remember being able to try out the speakers and amplifiers there, and that was where I had my first "audiophile tingles" experience- hearing Pink Floyd on CD for the first time on high end Optimus speakers- I remember that and feel the chills like it was yesterday, and that also sent me down this audiophile path.

Time change, quality changes, and you can never really go back, and I know RadioShack will be different, and probably not for the better, but I know the impact it can have if they do it right, and I have high hopes.


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At their peak, they had over 5,000 stores. It's really hard to believe they could screw that up, but they did. This is not uncommon in as it applies to American corporations who embrace the you're either growing or dying mentality. Gone was anyone that had even an inkling of what Radio Shack was or meant to the community. Those people were all replaced with hipsters with degrees that said they knew business. They threw good money after bad peddling cell phone service. I remember being in stores and seeing associates focus purely on that topic. People got in their cars, drove down there looking for all kinds of "radio shack" stuff only to be accosted by some salesperson trying to sell them a t-mobile plan. Meanwhile, the bins went dry - need a red and a black RCA connector, today it's red only. An antenna? Nobody here knows anything about them . . . A battery for your hearing aid? Let's take a look at your cell plan.

Let's hope the new owners understand what Radio Shack was and meant to the communities void of them at present.
 
wparks said:
Legacy or steam-punk or newbie- RadioShack has been and can be a touchstone in our electronics journey. I have always been amazed at how you can make the eyes light up in most of us "old farts" by talking about RadioShack or Realistic or Tandy, or Optimus- we all have our stories and memories of better times.

Personally, I was a proud member of the "free battery" club from a very early age. We got a lot of toys for birthdays and Christmas that used batteries, and the parents were never very excited about having to buy new batteries for all of it, so this was empowering for a youngster- a compelling reason for Mom to drop you off at the store to have a good look around, and come home with a battery for my transistor radio without having to spend my allowance or bug Mom for it. I am certain that this played a big role in pointing me on the path of engineering and electronics, and had a big impact on my life, so yeah, we old farts have some fond memories of the good ole days.

RadioShack also for many years used to be the hub of "come and try it, see what's new!". I remember being able to try out the speakers and amplifiers there, and that was where I had my first "audiophile tingles" experience- hearing Pink Floyd on CD for the first time on high end Optimus speakers- I remember that and feel the chills like it was yesterday, and that also sent me down this audiophile path.

Time change, quality changes, and you can never really go back, and I know RadioShack will be different, and probably not for the better, but I know the impact it can have if they do it right, and I have high hopes.


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I remember the bargain tables with discontinued and returned items with fondness. The discontinued handheld games that landed there with the other stuff.
 
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