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Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

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Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Old 06-18-14, 03:18 PM
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Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Stock at 1.09 now.

There's still several open in my area. Wikipedia says 7000 locations - not sure if that's current.

Radio Shack was a cool place to check stuff out but it seems like its time has passed.
Old 06-18-14, 03:23 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Heck, just the name: radio...shack is totally outdated. Surprised they've lasted as long as they have.
Old 06-18-14, 03:58 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

It's another store that didn't adapt very well once the Internet came around and destroyed their fat margins. They tried replacing electronic sales with cell phones, but the brand grew increasingly irrelevant with younger consumers.
Old 06-18-14, 04:01 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

They had a pretty good super bowl commercial this year. May as well go out on top.
Old 06-18-14, 04:15 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Way overpriced but good in a pinch if they were closer and not worth the gas to get to a cheaper place. The last few times I've been in its been for the hard to find rarely needed stuff they used to be known for carrying. All that space is now taken up by phones and other crap that I'd never buy from them in the first place. Their day has come and gone.
Old 06-18-14, 04:32 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

I've spent the past 15 years in amazement at Radio Shack's continued existence.
Old 06-20-14, 01:01 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Even CEO can't figure out how Radio Shack is still in business

FORT WORTH, TX—Despite having been on the job for nine months, RadioShack CEO Julian Day said Monday that he still has "no idea" how the home electronics store manages to stay open.

"There must be some sort of business model that enables this company to make money, but I'll be damned if I know what it is," Day said. "You wouldn't think that people still buy enough strobe lights and extension cords to support an entire nationwide chain, but I guess they must, or I wouldn't have this desk to sit behind all day."

The retail outlet boasts more than 6,000 locations in the United States, and is known best for its wall-sized displays of obscure-looking analog electronics components and its notoriously desperate, high-pressure sales staff. Nevertheless, it ranks as a Fortune 500 company, with gross revenues of over $4.5 billion and fiscal quarter earnings averaging tens of millions of dollars.

"Have you even been inside of a RadioShack recently?" Day asked. "Just walking into the place makes you feel vaguely depressed and alienated. Maybe our customers are at the mall anyway and don't feel like driving to Best Buy? I suppose that's possible, but still, it's just...weird."

After taking over as CEO, Day ordered a comprehensive, top-down review of RadioShack's administrative operations, inventory and purchasing, suppliers, demographics, and marketing strategies. He has also diligently pored over weekly budget reports, met with investors, taken numerous conference calls with regional managers about "circulars or flyers or something," and even spent hours playing with the company's "baffling" 200-In-One electronics kit. Yet so far none of these things have helped Day understand the moribund company's apparent allure.

"Even the name 'RadioShack'—can you imagine two less appealing words placed next to one another?" Day said. "What is that, some kind of World War II terminology? Are ham radio operators still around, even? Aren't we in the digital age?"

"Well, our customers are out there somewhere, and thank God they are," Day added.

One of Day's theories about RadioShack's continued solvency involves wedding DJs, emergency cord replacement, and off-brand wireless telephones. Another theory entails countless RadioShack gift cards that sit unredeemed in their recipients' wallets. Day has even conjectured that the store is "still coasting on" an enormous fortune made from remote-control toy cars in the mid-1970s.

Day admitted, however, that none of these theories seems particularly plausible.

"I once went into a RadioShack location incognito in order to gauge customer service," Day said. "It was about as inviting as a visit to the DMV. For the life of me, I couldn't see anything I wanted to buy. Finally, I figured I'd pick up some Enercell AA batteries, though truthfully they're not appreciably cheaper than the name brands."

"I know one thing," Day continued. "If Sony and JVC start including gold-tipped cable cords with their products, we're screwed."

In the cover letter to his December 2006 report to investors, "Radio Shack: Still Here In The 21st Century," Day wrote that he had no reason to believe that the coming year would not be every bit as good as years past, provided that people kept on doing things much the same way they always had.

Despite this cheerful boosterism, Day admitted that nothing has changed during his tenure and he doesn't exactly know what he can do to improve the chain.

"I'd like to capitalize on the store's strong points, but I honestly don't know what they are," Day said. "Every location is full of bizarre adapters, random chargers, and old boom boxes, and some sales guy is constantly hovering over you. It's like walking into your grandpa's basement. You always expect to see something cool, but it never delivers."

Added Day: "I may never know the answer. No matter how many times I punch the sales figures into this crappy Tandy desk calculator, it just doesn't add up."
Old 06-20-14, 02:25 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

I love how that joke article is 7 years old. Think about this: Radioshack has outlasted Circuit City and CompUSA
Old 06-20-14, 02:46 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Last thing I bought at Radio Shack was a laptop power cord that I needed so I could work from home on a snow day. Not an easily repeatable purchase pattern.
Old 06-20-14, 04:25 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Last thing I bought was some solder- I went in the store and had planned to do a bit of looking around, but the clerk asked me what I was looking for right away when I went in, grabbed it, rang it up and was like "thanks, bye now!" I usually go to Fry's for that type of stuff now.
Old 06-20-14, 05:30 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

The last time I was in a Radio Shack was in the late 90s. I don't remember what my dad was going to get, but the only clerk there came out from the back to help us and he had remnants of cocaine under his nose. He clearly just did a line of blow. We left and I've never had reason to go back. They're overpriced and don't have anything I can't get anywhere else.
Old 06-20-14, 10:34 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

radio shack is good if you need an emergency cord, but that's about it. my guess is their heavy push to wireless services is partially keeping them relevant.
Old 06-20-14, 11:22 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

A few years back, there was a plan to rebrand themselves as "The Shack".
I wondered why I hadn't seen any signs of the rename, but it apparently gained no traction.

Radioshack To Keep Name Because 'Not Many People Hate Us'
Old 06-21-14, 04:09 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

I had to get a slim pocket calculator that did advance calculus for college. Radio Shack carried the battery it took and would replace it for me. Who else sells those?
Old 06-21-14, 06:58 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Stock is at 92 cents. Ouch.

We got our first PC (AST) from Radio Shack. I think it was in 1994. Ah, how times have changed.

Last thing I bought wa a 3.5mm audio male-male adapter in 2004.
Old 06-21-14, 07:44 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Went there somewhat recently to get some audio or video cables and all the ones they had were overpriced. Once again, Fry's had what I needed at the right price, though I had to resort to ordering optical cables online. Got some for about a buck each when the cheapest ones in the stores were about $10.
Old 06-21-14, 10:14 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Radio Shack is now selling T-shirts.
http://www.radioshack.com/search/ind...w=t-shirt&sr=1
Old 06-22-14, 12:53 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

A few months ago, Radio Shack had a promotion where select computers, tablets and cell phones were bundled with 6 months of Netflix. It was open to new and existing Netflix customers.

I was surprised that Radio Shack mentioned in the promotional offer that there was a limit of 10 promotional codes per customer. More surprising was that there were prepaid cell phones starting at $9.99 that qualified for the promotion.

I purchased 10 prepaid cell phones for a total of $158 with tax and received a total of $480 in Netflix credit ($8 per month for 6 months x 10). Did anyone else participate in this promo?

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-...etflix-debacle

Prior to this year, the last thing I purchased from Radio Shack were some cheap ear buds.
Old 06-22-14, 03:10 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Originally Posted by DvdClon
A few years back, there was a plan to rebrand themselves as "The Shack".
I wondered why I hadn't seen any signs of the rename, but it apparently gained no traction.
Yep, I remember seeing that on the news.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/store-forum...ome-shack.html
Old 06-22-14, 04:29 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Jack in the Box was once going to change its name to "The Box" also. And I remember seeing one Circuit City store called just "The City" shortly before they went under.
Old 06-22-14, 05:27 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Originally Posted by My Other Self
The last time I was in a Radio Shack was in the late 90s. I don't remember what my dad was going to get, but the only clerk there came out from the back to help us and he had remnants of cocaine under his nose. He clearly just did a line of blow. We left and I've never had reason to go back. They're overpriced and don't have anything I can't get anywhere else.
You've got a better coke source? And you're keeping it to yourself?
Old 06-22-14, 09:02 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

I go at least few times a year to buy minutes for my phone. Little to no waiting.
Old 06-22-14, 09:49 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Originally Posted by sportsfan64
Radio Shack is now selling T-shirts.
http://www.radioshack.com/search/ind...w=t-shirt&sr=1
They should change their name to "Movie Shack" and fill the void left when Suncoast went out of business ... T-Shirts, figures, movie paraphanalia ...

Last edited by Abob Teff; 06-23-14 at 11:02 PM.
Old 06-22-14, 10:47 PM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Originally Posted by majorjoe23
You've got a better coke source? And you're keeping it to yourself?
Old 06-23-14, 06:21 AM
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Re: Looks like Radio Shack is in trouble

Originally Posted by Jory
I've spent the past 15 years in amazement at Radio Shack's continued existence.
They sold crap back in the 1980s...I'm amazed they've been able to stay in business as long as they have.

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