Radio Shack Bankrupcy

[miguelvp]

It's been a few years since Tandy vanished from the UK. They aren't missed.

Tandy under the ownership of RadioShack did disappear, but if you look back in this thread you will see that Tandy is back in the UK all be it under new ownership http://www.tandyonline.co.uk

And with time maybe it can come back to the US once RS is gone

[Stonent]

My wife told me on the way home from work they announced on the radio they were closing all the stores.  Since Radio Shack is headquartered in Fort Worth (about 45 minutes from where we live), it's probably a fairly accurate story.

[Stonent]

It's been a few years since Tandy vanished from the UK. They aren't missed.

Tandy under the ownership of RadioShack did disappear, but if you look back in this thread you will see that Tandy is back in the UK all be it under new ownership http://www.tandyonline.co.uk

Yeah, still some remnants here as well:

https://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/home/home.aspx

[iampoor]

Many people think Radioshack is expensive, no longer cool for the time, has poor parts selections, doesn't carry 'sophisticated' toys, doesn't have well trained employees (though its customers don't seem to willing to pay for such well trained employees), ....

All valid point.

However, these people will appreciate Radioshack after it is gone. Mark my word on that.

I will miss getting saved in a pinch by their product enclosures.

[Slothie]

It's been a few years since Tandy vanished from the UK. They aren't missed.

Tandy under the ownership of RadioShack did disappear, but if you look back in this thread you will see that Tandy is back in the UK all be it under new ownership http://www.tandyonline.co.uk

I agree that Maplin are making the same mistakes as Tandy did - moveing to more and more games/RC/audio and less components, but they do at least have a significant online prescence. Nice to see Tandy still alive in the UK online, I newver knew they where there. I do miss Tandy, the Tandy of the 80's that was the only place to get unusual or obscure parts from, with its "American Flavour" - back when there was a significant difference between what was available in the UK and USA.

I still have my SPO256 speech synth somewhere I built on a Tandy prototyping card I bought at the same time. I also bought the text-to-speech chip but never used it - not sure what happened to that, which is a shame!

Of course these days its all arduino and microcontrollers....grumble grumble....damn kids !!

[xrunner]

RadioShack employees: Tales from the walking dead

 Employees from across the country tell CNNMoney similar stories of stores stripped of the more attractive merchandise from Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Samsung (SSNLF) or Beats by Dre. Instead mostly empty shelves showcase heavily discounted cables and other low-demand, low-value items.

Deliveries of new merchandise have essentially stopped. Most stores have been converted to "clearance stores," according to employees.

This past Sunday, RadioShack (RSHC) quietly closed 200 more stores, according to multiple employees. Staff at several of those stores say they were given only hours notice last week before rental trucks arrived to haul away remaining inventory.

Related: RadioShack - 94 years of hits and misses

At one of those stores in Pennsylvania, the last item left was the cash register. That remained so that the store could perform a single transaction on Sunday morning, allowing the store to technically make it into the new fiscal year that started February 1.

...

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/05/news/companies/radioshack-stores/index.html

[dannyf]

Most stores have been converted to "clearance stores,"

Sounds like a good time to grab some el cheapo items.

[Richard Crowley]

Most stores have been converted to "clearance stores,"

Sounds like a good time to grab some el cheapo items.

Well, even deep discounts on vastly over-priced items is hardly a bargain.

[Zero999]

Most stores have been converted to "clearance stores,"

Sounds like a good time to grab some el cheapo items.

Well, even deep discounts on vastly over-priced items is hardly a bargain.

Yes, I've just looked at their website and even though most items are discounted, they're still very expensive compared to most places and given all the news about bankruptcy I doubt many people will want to take the risk of ordering something they may never get. You're better off trying your luck on ebay.

[mtdoc]

I went to my local RS store yesterday just to check things out.  Relatively few things marked for clearance and none of them the electronic components, supplies, arduino, etc.  Just consumer  electronic stuff.

The manager said he had no news about when they would close or further discounts. Said he gets more info about the bankruptcy  from the newspaper and web than from RS corporate.

[mtdoc]

Hot off the news wire

Press Release:

RadioShack Reaches Asset Purchase Agreement with Affiliate of Standard General To Acquire up to 2,400 Stores

Standard General and Sprint to Establish "Store within a Store" Retail Model at up to 1,750 Acquired Stores

Will Pursue Asset Sale and Additional Restructuring Steps Through Court-Supervised Chapter 11 Process

Secures Debtor-in-Possession Loan Commitment To Support Sale Process

Plans to Close Remaining Underperforming Stores

Much more info in link.

[tom66]

From reading the press release it sounds like they want to stick a small RadioShack in a larger Sprint store which was once a RadioShack for at least some of the stores. I think?

[Rick Law]

I will miss them.  Things changed, faster than RS could adept, and perhaps faster than many average person can adept.

An LM2596s buck board is cheaper than a box of Ritz crackers (typical grocery shelf size).  For the price of a box of cereal, I can get 20 TP4096 Lithium Batt charger boards.  How do you make money with prices like that.

Electronics and technology changed too much.  A business model like RS for electronics is simply not viable today.

[dannyf]

From reading the press release it sounds like they want to stick a small RadioShack in a larger Sprint store which was once a RadioShack for at least some of the stores.

With that kind of reading comprehension, no wonder you have trouble conversing with others.

[tom66]

 

2. General Wireless, the entity formed to acquire the stores under the asset purchase agreement, has agreed in principle on terms with Sprint to  establish a new dedicated mobility "store within a store" retail presence in up to 1,750 of the acquired stores. This agreement-in-principle is subject to negotiation of definitive documentation as well as court approval.

Is General Wireless formed by RadioShack? Because that company doesn't exist anywhere else until today, as far as I can see, with the exception of Scandinavia.

Not sure if it's Sprint-in-full-RS, small-RS-in-Sprint or just Sprint taking over RS stores entirely, it's not clear.

[c4757p]

Many people think Radioshack is expensive, no longer cool for the time, has poor parts selections, doesn't carry 'sophisticated' toys, doesn't have well trained employees (though its customers don't seem to willing to pay for such well trained employees), ....

All valid point.

However, these people will appreciate Radioshack after it is gone. Mark my word on that.

Perhaps the actually halfway decent local electronics store near me will appreciate them after they're gone...

[nctnico]

What is interesting to read is this about a franchise:
One dealer said he opened a store four years ago with a $250,000 investment. It lost $100,000 over the first three years it was in business but finally broke even last year. At one point this year, he expected to make money.
To me that reads: when properly managed and (probably) at a good location a Radioshack store can be profitable.

[miguelvp]

Plus what no one is talking about is the Chapter 11 which means it's a reconsolidation not a liquidation. That would be a Chapter 7.

So RS is not gone, just yet.

[cosmicray]

Chapter 11 is typically a restructuring (of debt in many situations). It also, with court approval, may give them the ability to exit lease agreements that are draining cash. If someone wants specific storefront locations, those leases could be kept.

I called the local store (city of ~3k people, franchise I suspect). They told me everything in the store was 25% off. I need some solder, so I'll check it out in the morning and see what's left.

[Monittosan]

want to post some pics? So people outside of the US who have never seen a US RS can see what it looks like before its gone 

[miguelvp]

want to post some pics? So people outside of the US who have never seen a US RS can see what it looks like before its gone 

It would be more interesting to get pictures from the late 80s early 90s. You are not missing much on what they look like inside in their current form.

[Rick Law]

Chapter 11 is typically a restructuring (of debt in many situations). It also, with court approval, may give them the ability to exit lease agreements that are draining cash. If someone wants specific storefront locations, those leases could be kept.

I called the local store (city of ~3k people, franchise I suspect). They told me everything in the store was 25% off. I need some solder, so I'll check it out in the morning and see what's left.

I had an opportunity to try their solder, their solder is not bad.  Much better than the no-core Chinese brand that came with my iron, but not as good as the 5-core one that I normally use.  So, I was thinking about exactly the same - stopping by to get some solder.  For less demanding circumstances like soldering the power plug, they do the job quite well.

Their flux is suppose to be real rosin base flux (read it here if I recall right), but it is way to gluey.

[Stonent]

want to post some pics? So people outside of the US who have never seen a US RS can see what it looks like before its gone 

Some video:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/19/media/radioshack-super-bowl-ad/

and a picture



Though that's far beyond any Radioshack that I've seen.

[miguelvp]

That's the biggest RS with spare floor space I've ever seen.
 

[Richard Crowley]

That's the biggest RS with spare floor space I've ever seen.

Agreed. I have seen maybe 50 different shops up and down the west coast of the USA, and they average about half that size.