A Eulogy For Radio Shack

[JSngry]

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

Just...awesome.

[BeBop]

Sad to see/think what's become of my club house. As a kid, I'd pick up non-working televisions from Styles TV and fix them (sometimes) with diodes, resistors and capacitors from Radio Shack. I guess they sold other stuff back then (60s), but I just lived for the pegboard full of stapled-closed (sometimes more than once...hmmm) plastic packs of parts. I spent a summer working there after summer school let out. They let me restock and "front" the shelves. That was about as far up the responsibility chain I got. As a sideline, I tested 9 volt batteries with my tongue. "Yep, this one's still got juice."

Now, they join my other dream jobs - travel agent, record shop owner, bike shop owner (did I say "musician") as victims of progress and that old spider, Bill Gates' World Wide Web.

[paul secor]

Sad to see/think what's become of my club house. As a kid, I'd pick up non-working televisions from Styles TV and fix them (sometimes) with diodes, resistors and capacitors from Radio Shack. I guess they sold other stuff back then (60s), but I just lived for the pegboard full of stapled-closed (sometimes more than once...hmmm) plastic packs of parts. I spent a summer working there after summer school let out. They let me restock and "front" the shelves. That was about as far up the responsibility chain I got. As a sideline, I tested 9 volt batteries with my tongue. "Yep, this one's still got juice."

Now, they join my other dream jobs - travel agent, record shop owner, bike shop owner (did I say "musician") as victims of progress and that old spider, Bill Gates' World Wide Web.

You could add book store owner to your list - especially in the U.S. (although some are hanging in there, including a friend of mine.) Book stores in France are in a different world, fortunately.

[BeBop]

Sad to see/think what's become of my club house. As a kid, I'd pick up non-working televisions from Styles TV and fix them (sometimes) with diodes, resistors and capacitors from Radio Shack. I guess they sold other stuff back then (60s), but I just lived for the pegboard full of stapled-closed (sometimes more than once...hmmm) plastic packs of parts. I spent a summer working there after summer school let out. They let me restock and "front" the shelves. That was about as far up the responsibility chain I got. As a sideline, I tested 9 volt batteries with my tongue. "Yep, this one's still got juice."

Now, they join my other dream jobs - travel agent, record shop owner, bike shop owner (did I say "musician") as victims of progress and that old spider, Bill Gates' World Wide Web.

You could add book store owner to your list - especially in the U.S. (although some are hanging in there, including a friend of mine.) Book stores in France are in a different world, fortunately.

Yes, I could add book store owner as one of my dreams.

I've been reading a lot about Shakespeare and Company (Paris) lately, since you mention France...

[paul secor]

Sad to see/think what's become of my club house. As a kid, I'd pick up non-working televisions from Styles TV and fix them (sometimes) with diodes, resistors and capacitors from Radio Shack. I guess they sold other stuff back then (60s), but I just lived for the pegboard full of stapled-closed (sometimes more than once...hmmm) plastic packs of parts. I spent a summer working there after summer school let out. They let me restock and "front" the shelves. That was about as far up the responsibility chain I got. As a sideline, I tested 9 volt batteries with my tongue. "Yep, this one's still got juice."

Now, they join my other dream jobs - travel agent, record shop owner, bike shop owner (did I say "musician") as victims of progress and that old spider, Bill Gates' World Wide Web.

You could add book store owner to your list - especially in the U.S. (although some are hanging in there, including a friend of mine.) Book stores in France are in a different world, fortunately.

Yes, I could add book store owner as one of my dreams.

I've been reading a lot about Shakespeare and Company (Paris) lately, since you mention France...

Coincidence - I recently finished reading Sylvia Beach's history of her store.

[Brad]

I had no idea it was that a bad place to work. I've often wondered how they stay in business as they seem to have few customers. However, they always seem to have everything you need.

[Chuck Nessa]

This reminds me of a wonderful book called Last Night At the Lobster - looks like you can get a hardback for $.01 - http://www.amazon.com/Last-Night-Lobster-Stewart-ONan/dp/0143114425/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417044869&sr=1-1&keywords=last+night+at+the+lobster

[JSngry]

Onan for a penny? How can I say no?

[JSngry]

I had no idea it was that a bad place to work. I've often wondered how they stay in business as they seem to have few customers. However, they always seem to have everything you need.

That was true up until, what, maybe five or so years ago...I needed some gizmo, and I thought, I'll go to Radio Shack, it'll be back in that corner.

Well, no, it wasn't. Hell, that corner wasn't even there any more. It was all cellphones and toys. I asked the guy, what happened to that corner. He said, oh, we don't do that any more. Good luck on that one, I told him, friendly, of course. Yeah, I know, was his friendly yet grim reply.

It's funny. I've been slowly but surely working my way through all seven seasons of Mission:Impossible (Leonard Nimoy as Paris, much better than remembered, btw..and Linda Day George...much higher forehead than remembered), and it's LOL funny sometimes, if this show is to be believed, the battle for world supremacy was fought with parts from Radio Shack, the parts that ended up in that corner.

No wonder the world's gone all to hell. We need that corner.

[7/4]

I think a lot of chain stores are managed that way...retail is a fucked up world.

[romualdo]

What a read - funny & disturbing - we even have/had Radio Shack stores here in Australia

love the Bill Gates Spider joke at the end

[Scott Dolan]

Sad to see/think what's become of my club house. As a kid, I'd pick up non-working televisions from Styles TV and fix them (sometimes) with diodes, resistors and capacitors from Radio Shack. I guess they sold other stuff back then (60s), but I just lived for the pegboard full of stapled-closed (sometimes more than once...hmmm) plastic packs of parts. I spent a summer working there after summer school let out. They let me restock and "front" the shelves. That was about as far up the responsibility chain I got. As a sideline, I tested 9 volt batteries with my tongue. "Yep, this one's still got juice."

Now, they join my other dream jobs - travel agent, record shop owner, bike shop owner (did I say "musician") as victims of progress and that old spider, Bill Gates' World Wide Web.

Huh? Still several independent bike shops and travel agents here in Sleepy Hollow.

[l p]

i've wondered how they've managed to stay in business all this time. maybe the owner is rich, and doesn't care about losing money.

same thing with jcpenny. sometimes i have to go in there, and it's always a ghost town.

[BeBop]

i've wondered how they've managed to stay in business all this time. maybe the owner is rich, and doesn't care about losing money.

same thing with jcpenny. sometimes i have to go in there, and it's always a ghost town.

But remember, Radio Shack is basically a franchise operation. They get fixed fees from all the people with the (struggling stores), so the corporation can hang on for a while longer. Yes, there are also variable payments based on sales (I'm guessing), but they're getting something, even on no sales at all.

[Scott Dolan]

i've wondered how they've managed to stay in business all this time. maybe the owner is rich, and doesn't care about losing money.

same thing with jcpenny. sometimes i have to go in there, and it's always a ghost town.

You can throw Kmart on that list as well. The fact that they're still in business blows my mind.

[T.D.]

Kmart's owned by Sears Holdings. Both Kmart and Sears appear doomed, and are the subjects of much debate in the financial press.

The holding company is owned by Edward Lampert, a hedge fund type.

My best guess is that Lampert doesn't really give a s**t about retail, and owns the company as some kind of real estate play.

[Scott Dolan]

Ah, yes. I forgot about Sears. Just as everyone else in the world has...

Yet another commercial wasteland.

[l p]

what would make sense to me in the cases of sears, jcpenny, radio shack, and other chains that don't seem to have any customers in the stores, is that they are getting subsidized by the government so that there is no monopoly by walmart and target (target seems to be doing fine, judging by the amount of customers in the stores).

renting those huge spaces, and the stock/employees... it just doesn't make sense how they could make ends meet otherwise.

Edited November 28, 2014 by l p

[BeBop]

10K reports are available online. Cash flow statements and sources and uses recaps are enlightening. Here is Sears'.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1310067/000131006714000007/shld201310k.htm

Not as much fun as a government conspiracy.

[JSngry]

The local-est Sears actually does a fair amount of business, lots of "working people" of various demographics still come there for tool and clothes and such. Diehards, too. Hell, I put a Diehard in all my family's cars. But one store is not a national trend, no doubt.

Is Sears still considered a leading window into consumer credit? I know for the longest, Sears would give you a credit card when nobody else would, lots of young families went there because of that.

Anyway, I like used Sears for lawnmowers and such. Buy that little service plan, run it until it drops, take it back in, get a new one, no questions asked. Two for the price of one, really.

[Dave Garrett]

The local-est Sears actually does a fair amount of business, lots of "working people" of various demographics still come there for tool and clothes and such. Diehards, too. Hell, I put a Diehard in all my family's cars. But one store is not a national trend, no doubt.

Same at the one closest to my house. There have been several other Sears stores that have come and gone here over the years, but that one has been a fixture in the area for damn near 50 years and still keeps chugging along somehow despite not having nearly as much traffic as it did in its heyday. It's one of the stores with a multi-bay Auto Center, too, which also does a decent amount of business (although I gave up using them for anything except Diehards long ago, after the mechanics appeared to get less and less competent).

[BeBop]

Craftsman ain't what it once was, but I'm not the mechanic once was either. So I still buy Craftsman tools.(SnapOn for the fancier stuff.)

Edited November 29, 2014 by BeBop

[Brad]

what would make sense to me in the cases of sears, jcpenny, radio shack, and other chains that don't seem to have any customers in the stores, is that they are getting subsidized by the government so that there is no monopoly by walmart and target (target seems to be doing fine, judging by the amount of customers in the stores).

renting those huge spaces, and the stock/employees... it just doesn't make sense how they could make ends meet otherwise.

Considering the debt the government has, I seriously doubt that. Moreover, that's not our financial model, not that various state and local governments don't give out tax breaks, etc.

I think stores like Penny's are getting along, provided they do well during the Xmas season. It was mobbed yesterday on Black Friday.

[ejp626]

Nothing really new here (http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/29/news/companies/radioshack/index.html?hpt=hp_t4), other than a strong likelihood RadioShack won't make it out of 2015. Interesting to hear that the exec who helped on the 80s themed ad has gone on to greener pastures.

No RadioShacks in Canada as far as I can tell. The alternative here is The Source which seems to stay afloat mostly by selling customers cable/internet bundles and wireless phone contracts.

[Soulstation1]

Got "my" first phonograph player at RS late 1970s