Slightly disappointed with the Radio Shack superbowl commercial

[Stonent]

When I saw it, I was like "Are they going back to their roots? Nope, just further trying to be more like Best Buy"
I'd gladly go back to the 80s to shop RadioShack.

But on the other hand, it did have a Delorean in it.

[Len]

When I saw it, I was like "Are they going back to their roots? Nope, just further trying to be more like Best Buy"

Don't worry about it, they're probably closing your local store anyway.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303442704579362870830018510

[Sigmoid]

http://youtu.be/AJ599TQUiug

[scientist]

I think they were mocking the people who want the 80's Radioshack back, and saying, essentially, "all you'll do is rob us of profits, so f*ck you. We're going to sell shitty headphones and iFads, come watch us roll in money."

[romantronixlab]

When I saw it, I was like "Are they going back to their roots? Nope, just further trying to be more like Best Buy"
I'd gladly go back to the 80s to shop RadioShack.

I thought exactly the same thing, to me they are going nowhere with that D.I.T thing it is just dumb. When I saw the end of the commercial  I was like 
 It is becoming more a cellphone business than nothing else.

[dfmischler]

Don't worry about it, they're probably closing your local store anyway.

I'm not worried about it.  Radio Shack was my favorite toy store when I was 12 or so, but they haven't had anything interesting for many years.

[Excavatoree]

The EL wire ad, (with John Ratzenberger) on their website,  makes it sound like they are trying to be Adafruit.

My local RS is a joke.  I went in for a 1K resistor - they didn't have it.  They did have several dried electrolytic capacitors, however. 

The people at work keep asking me if I can go to Radio Shack and get something to fix some problem.  I always laugh.

[c4757p]

I think they were mocking the people who want the 80's Radioshack back, and saying, essentially, "all you'll do is rob us of profits, so f*ck you. We're going to sell shitty headphones and iFads, come watch us roll in money."

Yeah, that's precisely the impression I got.

[BravoV]

In a business sense, does anyone believe that RS will survive or even make money gloriously  , if they're back to the old business model like in 70 or 80 ?

[Sigmoid]

In a business sense, does anyone believe that RS will survive or even make money gloriously  , if they're back to the old business model like in 70 or 80 ?

I'm pretty sure it's too late for that - or for anything for that matter.

http://www.finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=rsh
Their debt to equity is 1.27. Earnings per share, and all their margins are in the negative. This is a trainwreck.

They already spent a lot of money trying to market themselves as a hip headphone store with Apple-inspired interior. It may or may not work - I'd vote on not, they are an underdog in this market, and honestly their image is real tacky.

Moving to something closer to their 70s image would not simply be a "return", they'd have to reinvent the entire image (and partially, the market segment itself), and spend a shitload of money to communicate it. From the figures above, I seriously doubt they have the reserves to do anything like that.

[Stonent]

A 20 pack of assorted LEDs in the mid 80s was $1.99.  That is still an enormous profit today.

[BravoV]

In a business sense, does anyone believe that RS will survive or even make money gloriously  , if they're back to the old business model like in 70 or 80 ?

I'm pretty sure it's too late for that - or for anything for that matter.

http://www.finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=rsh
Their debt to equity is 1.27. Earnings per share, and all their margins are in the negative. This is a trainwreck.

They already spent a lot of money trying to market themselves as a hip headphone store with Apple-inspired interior. It may or may not work - I'd vote on not, they are an underdog in this market, and honestly their image is real tacky.

Moving to something closer to their 70s image would not simply be a "return", they'd have to reinvent the entire image (and partially, the market segment itself), and spend a shitload of money to communicate it. From the figures above, I seriously doubt they have the reserves to do anything like that.

Now, imagine somehow they get help from a fairy  that they don't need to re-invest for the 70s remake and magically they transformed just in a night with these :

= Company's image re-building, no more crap phone or headphone stores.
= New wave of inventory that makes Digikey to a shame 
= New internal supporting infrastructure, systems & procedures and etc
= New staffs improvements, this is important as you want the shop keeper knows what they're selling like in the old days, right ? 
= Did I miss anything else ?

All of these happened in over night, now, with selling stuffs "ONLY" to walk-in customers in their stores throughout US like in the old days, instead of through online like Digikey does, do you still believe they can survive ? 

[Sigmoid]

Now, imagine somehow they get help from a fairy  that they don't need to re-invest for the 70s remake and magically they transformed just in a night with these :

= Company's image re-building, no more crap phone or headphone stores.
= New wave of inventory that makes Digikey to a shame 
= New internal supporting infrastructure, systems & procedures and etc
= New staffs improvements, this is important as you want the shop keeper knows what they're selling like in the old days, right ? 
= Did I miss anything else ?

All of these happened in over night, now, with selling stuffs "ONLY" to walk-in customers in their stores throughout US like in the old days, instead of through online like Digikey does, do you still believe they can survive ? 

Okay, let's brainstorm. If I was the CEO of Radio Shack, and suddenly had a lot of cash on hand (say, from having been acquired by Google), and complete freedom as to what to do with the brand...

Let's move the obvious out of the way. RS never has been a competitor of Digikey, and trying to be one is kind of self-destructive.
What IS it that RS was? Basically, a hobbyist's haunt, tech-related novelties and toys for the kids, components available readily but at a premium, and knowledgeable personnel.

So, my secret master plan to turn RS around as a maker's haunt:
- Visit university job faires, build on the "retro cool factor" of the brand, and pull in as many engineering students as I can with flexible time and part-time job offers.
- Go talk to the guys behind the UP! 3d printer, and stock my shops with them. Develop a RS exclusive supercheap, supersmall UP!, preferrably the cheapest ready built 3d printer on the market.
- Go talk to Makerbot, and offer them a nationwide reach via physical stores. This way, if it goes well, I now have two brands of 3d printer.
- Get stocked with Arduino boards and shields, and Raspberry Pi's. Offer a huge selection of enclosures and other paraphernalia related to Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
- Offer 3d printing services in store. You bring an stl on a flashdrive, we print it for you. Also, offer a recycling service, if people bring in 3d printed objects, we buy them up for the price of granulated PLA / ABS, with the credits spendable in store.
- In select stores, offer a rapid PCB prototyping service, at a premium.
- Offer kits, children's experimentation boxes, etc.

EDIT: Also, step into the open hardware movement. Create a branded online resource and community portal. Stock kits from popular open hardware devices. Become a name in the community, so people appreciate and like the brand.

Innovate (or rather, have the community innovate for us), and get the students I hired to contribute when they are just daddling around in the shop. Get into stuff that screams "future", like brain-computer interfaces - have kits of bluetooth-enabled EEG and GSR sensors, with a set of software to experiment and build upon - yes it's mostly toys, but there's nothing wrong with toys. And so on...

I'm sure this would turn out pretty well for all, and become a profitable business. But kicking it off wouldn't be trivial.

[AG6QR]

What IS it that RS was? Basically, a hobbyist's haunt, tech-related novelties and toys for the kids, components available readily but at a premium, and knowledgeable personnel.

So, my secret master plan to turn RS around as a maker's haunt:

...

I like your thinking.

The problem is, Radio Shack currently has no focus.  Is it a "me too" cell phone store?  Is it, as its name suggests, a specialty radio store, with scanners, ham radios, shortwaves, CBs, and related products?  Is it a computer store?  An electronic parts store?  An audio store?  A toy store?  A gadget store?

I don't know, but it's a retail distribution network with outlets in almost every major mall in the US, and lots of outlets in small strip malls, as well.  Its locations are fairly high rent and high traffic, so they've got to generate fairly high sales per square foot to pay the rent.  If it's going deep into a niche market, it should probably change to lower rent, less visible locations.  The hobbyists will find a good store even if it's not in the biggest local mall.

If it's going to stay in the big malls, it's got to keep a reasonably broad appeal.  I don't know if 3-d printing is enough to do that, but maybe.   

I know I don't have the vision to turn it around.

[Sigmoid]

Well, looking at what they are doing, they are trying to be a "me too" cell phone store. It's not pretty, and may be a sad thing looking at the history of the brand, but it's a direction.
That said, I don't know if it will help them or not. Bets are on not.

[AG6QR]

Well, looking at what they are doing, they are trying to be a "me too" cell phone store. It's not pretty, and may be a sad thing looking at the history of the brand, but it's a direction.
That said, I don't know if it will help them or not. Bets are on not.

Right.  The problem with being a "me too" cell phone store is, they're not better at selling cell phones than all the other kiosks and stores that are found everywhere else in the mall.  If you need a cell phone, there's no reason to go to Radio Shack to get it.  OTOH, if you want a police scanner, or an audio patch cable, a replacement wall wart for some odd small device, or a small switch or relay, it may well be that Radio Shack is the most convenient place to pick up what you need quickly in person.  It's probably a better bet than any other place in the mall, at least.

Furthermore, the cell phone sales hurt the rest of their business, IMO.  I hate going in there to browse, or to pick up a miscellaneous connector, switch, or relay, and having the staff hassle me to change my cell phone service.  Or worse yet, I hate having to wait to pay for a small simple purchase while the staff and manager are all busy dealing with someone complaining about complicated contract issues on their cell service.

[linux-works]

slightly related (and a little funny): I once saw a resume that listed all his professional organizations and clubs he belonged to.  at the end of that list (at the end of his resume) was:

"member: radio shack battery club"

I literally LOL'd at that.

too bad I never kept one of those old battery club cards.  would be almost a collectable.

[scientist]

I just visited my local RS today, and saw a massive 6"x3" baggie with a single SMD LED in it for $6.95. :cries: