RadioShack Files for Bankruptcy Protection - Bloomberg Business


RadioShack Corp., the 94-year-old consumer-electronics chain, filed for bankruptcy with a plan to turn about half of its 4,000 stores into Sprint Corp. locations and close the rest.

The slowest corporate death in history. RS has been on the ropes for over a decade. Now folks will have to buy their solder and rosin online, along with the stylii for their Garrard turntables . . .

I can't speak to Scottsdale, but NYC has plenty of brick-and-mortar sources for components, solder, tools, etc that don't require waiting 2-3 days for shipping like a damn chump.

Local Resources / Parts - NYC Resistor Wiki

It's a shame that some of the locations can't be bought up by either Google, Fry's Electronics, or Maker Labs, though. Sprint (the prospective buyer) is an abomination in all senses of the term.

And I hope that the series of execs that ran the company into the ground over the past 20 years get an incurable case of flesh-eating staph in the nether regions. A pox on their loins.

I have not been in one of their stores in 20 years.

Are they like NewEgg just brick and motor?

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

More like Fry's on the West Coast, except smaller and with a truly crappy selection.

mmmm frys.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

I think Fry's might have been what did them in. The Fry's in south Arlington, Texas is like a RS gone wild and, more to the point, they have stuff in stock.

I think the death of do it yourself electronics had a lot to do with it as well. Just like autos moved into the realm of 'you can no longer work on them yourself' so did electronics.

Is Heathkit still around? When they dropped out of sight it was a sure bet RS was not far behind.

But that being said... I had better get over there and pick up some alligator clips while I still can.

My last visit, several years ago, was for an LED. $1.95 ea.
Same unit online was bout $.03, I got 100

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1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

Except that neither notion is really true -- lots of electronics can be worked on, or at least aren't any worse to work on than stuff made in the 90s.

Though I have to say that millennial twitter-twits are awfully allergic to getting their hands dirty. SOLDERING! zOMG! Might inhale HEAVY METALS! The HORROR!

Just as bad as the old farts who can't see and end up burning their hands.


Sent from an abacus

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

No, last I checked, RadioShack does not resemble a Volvo.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Per wiki I believe that in our electronics class, many called them "roach clips" and used them for something else.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

My RadioShack experience has been very great. Customer service, go with RS. Parts, go with Fry's.

Fry's customer service… oh wait, they don't even know what customer service is. At least, the store in Anaheim doesn't.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

Could the problem be simply because of a lack of "upsell"? For instance, I went into Batteries Plus today for an ATV battery. I have been there before and they were ok. Today, this girl (not cute) was about as good as the rest, gets me what I want, recommends the product based on whether I need it all year round or just summer months, tips, etc, etc. HOWEVER, she also asked if I needed batteries because they are having a sale. Also mentioned several other things I might need. Didn't really need them. So I was being checked out while looking at their LED light bulbs. Happened to mention them and she went on to explain the product, etc, etc. Got me thinking and I bought a couple of them to test out against the Home Depot ones.

Was her customer service really any better? I can't say so. What she did was to try upsell and not just give me what I wanted but to get me to buy as much as she could. Ended up with me trying a couple of bulbs.

Lets face it. We talk customer service all day long but Wal*Mart proves otherwise. When it comes down to it, most of us shop price. With the internet, we don't have to drive here and back and all over the world. I can go to my favorite store, print off a price and they will match it. So maybe the ticket is in the "upsell" where you change the oil and get the customer to buy a bulb change for $5, trans flush for $100, rear axle service for $100, etc, etc.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

A hemostat can be repurposed as well.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles