Radio Shack aint what it used to be...

[Gunthr]

We were always able to rely on that place for the DIY electrical componants, even though they refused to modernize thier ridiculously lengthy checkout procedure.  Now they are struggling to survive.  Do you think they would change thier idiotic time consuming checkout procedure?  

Noooo,  instead,they change the buisness model to something like a miniature circuit city,  with only a handful of parts, with employees who couldn't find thier own backside with a flashlight.  They didn't even have dielectic grease when I went there.  What a shame.  I think ignorant, unresponsive management has a lot to do with their problems.

[JB88]

i concur.  

strongly and with much verve.

[Meatwad]

I talk to the guy that does the local radioshack here. This is what he said

Radio Shack is moving away from the electronic parts/components business and going to focus on more high tier items (stereos, PC's, cell phones etc). Said that there isnt much demand anymore since everyone can buy the stuff online so they really dont want to mess with selling them anymore. The same applies to bulk cable, dont want to mess with it anymore. I bought half a spool of RG-8 coax for a quarter a foot on clearance, couldnt pass that up.

He also said that RS is having major financial problems, so I wouldnt be surprised if they went out of business/declared bankruptcy. I know one thing for sure, I'll be there picking up a ton fo cheap parts if they do. Me in RS seeing uber cheap clearance components is about the same as tim allen at a tool sale. I'll buy them all up whether I need them or not. I even found in a drawer some new in the package ISA sockets for a PC board that I got about 8 years ago for 39 cents each on clearance

The guy at this one does some parts building and what-not, so he actually knows the componenets pretty good. Then also I been to others that just stand there drooling all over their shirt

[Mickey1992]

I was desperate for a new battery for my car remote so I got one at Radio Shack not far from where I work.  Two days later I found that at Best Buy I could have gotten TWO batteries for what I paid for one at Radio Shack.

RIP Radio Shack

[Gunthr]

You're lucky Meatwad, when I got to my radio shack most everything was gone and it had already been remodeled.   Too bad.   For me, buying off the internet is great if you really know what you are doing, but I'm the kind of guy, for example, that brings a suspected bad part into the store and says, "Give me one of these, please."   Its hard over the internet.  G'luck on scarfing up those spare parts, those piezo buzzers, oddball fans, led's, pigtails, circuit boards and whatever, if they don't sell off the whole inventory in bulk they will probably be giving it away  

[DREDIOCK]

Originally posted by Gunthr
We were always able to rely on that place for the DIY electrical componants, even though they refused to modernize thier ridiculously lengthy checkout procedure.  Now they are struggling to survive.  Do you think they would change thier idiotic time consuming checkout procedure?  

Noooo,  instead,they change the buisness model to something like a miniature circuit city,  with only a handful of parts, with employees who couldn't find thier own backside with a flashlight.  They didn't even have dielectic grease when I went there.  What a shame.  I think ignorant, unresponsive management has a lot to do with their problems.

Agreed.
That and Bean counters.

this happens every time a really good buisness either puts the bean counters in charge or lets then have too much control.

the same can be said for SEARS.

Sears used to be THE store to go to..for, well........ ANYTHING.
You used to even be able to buy an entire house at Sears. I watermelon you not.
Sears used to sell house kits
Between wars Patton used to buy spare parts for tanks at..you guessed it. Sears.

and which one of us  over the age of 40 hasnt drooled over the Sears
X-mas catalog and its pages after pages after pages of toys?

Tis a shame what both stored have turned into.
Sears aint watermelon no more. Neither is Radio Shack.
You would think with the computer explosion. Radio Shack if anyone would have swollen to ungodly propoertions with computer parts and the like.
But they didnt even really take advantage of that.


Edit

Note to bean counters (accountants)
Stay OUT of the buisness end. If someone offers you control of a company. Turn it down. Tell the person offering you  the part to hire someone who knows the buisness. to run the buisness.

Stick to the one thing you do well, counting beans. You will only destroy the buisness trying to improve profit margin

[SunKing]

Radio Shack  is cool , they have tiny remote controlled Tiger Tanks that fit in the palm of your hand.

[Squire]

I agree on RS, it used to be the go-to-place and now its just another electronic retailer with teenaged employees who cant help you with jack.

"I dont think we carry those"

"Im not sure where those would be"

They might as well just have a coin machine with a drive thru that dispenses batteries.

[Mustaine]

Originally posted by Gunthr
with only a handful of parts, with employees who couldn't find thier own backside with a flashlight.

biggest problem IMHO.

you used to be able to go in there, describe something you knew but not well enough to know fully, and they could help you...

the other day I had to go in there to get a splitter / adapter for some RCA cables, and explained in clear english what i intended to do... 5 minutes of looking later, the clerk said "this is what you need" and like a MORAN i bought it and left... before I got to the car i examined the part and knew instantly it was the exact opposite of what i needed.

[Airscrew]

Originally posted by DREDIOCK
and which one of us over the age of 40 hasnt drooled over the Sears
X-mas catalog and its pages after pages after pages of toys?

I remember that but I also remember another part of the Sears catalog that I drooled over by the time I turned 13 or so.

[TPIguy]

Ah, sears! Where you used to beable to get yourself a thompson SMG, a vibrator for the wife and a motorcycle for granpa all in one catalog. Now all they sell is cheap made in china **** just like walmart.

I worked for sears part time a couple years ago. The consensus among the employees was the company wouldn't be around too much longer. They were trying be like walmart, but walmart has em beat.

The really sad thing though is sears USED to be a good place to work. There were alot of old timers at the store I worked in. They were just sticking around to collect thier retirement and hated the place. But they had stories of the "good old days."  They used to make a decent hourly wage and get nice commisions on top of that. Some of the sales people there used to make pretty good money. But they kept cutting the hourly down and eventually got rid hourly in most sales positions. They were cutting the commission % down alot too over the years.

The management was always *****ing that they couldn't find good employees. Well duh! When the hourly folks make $6.75 and the commision sales people get thier % cut every 6 months what do you expect? I've never seen a place with such high turnover of employees. Even in the offseason they were hiring about 5 people a week just to replace the ones that quit.

Sears has really gone in the crapper and radio shack too. Which is sad cause as a kid in the 80's those were 2 of my favorite stores.

[Skuzzy]

I worked at Tandy for 10 years during thier heyday started by the Model I.  Unfortunately, and in a nutshell, when a corporation does well, politics starts taking over with everyone wanting to have thier name in the, "that was my idea" lights.

The last two years I was there, the core group of people, who had much to do with the success, all left or were run off.  Politics took over in a big way.  People were no longer being promoted for thier abilities or what they had done for the company to help it grow.  

Promotions were being handed out to friends.  Once those 'friends' got into a position above the people who actually had accomplished something for the company, those 'friends' ran off the people they were afraid they could lose thier position to.

My boss got run off like that.  Everyone in the department pretty much assumed I would take over, but then a ringer was brought in from outside.  He had zero experience managing an engineering team and didn't even have an engineering degree.  But he was a friend of the person who hired him.

He called me into his office the day he started.  Closed the door and told me, "Everyone knows you should have had this position, and you should know, I will do whatever it takes to get you out of here, so you best be looking for another job.  Oh, adn I will deny this conversation took place."

Next day I turned in my notice, went up to the VP of the division and told him Tandy would be out of the computer business in 5 years.  It actually took them 6 years before they were out of it.

At one point Tandy could have owned the computer market.  They made a lot of bad decisions which took them completely out of the market.  Those decisions are still dragging the company further into the bottom of the market.  The board of directors was so obsessed with getting the stock price up, but kept hitting a wall as Wall Street refused to acknowledge them as a manufacturer.  Some in upper management held that the stock would not go up as long as they were manufacturing as Wall Street was holding that against them.  In the end, they got rid of all thier manufacturing and engineering and have turned themselves into a retail reseller.

Basically they succumbed to Wall Street.  If Wall Street was only going to recognize them for being a retailer, then that is what they will be.

Sad to see it happen.  They have lost thier direction and leadership.  Once that happens there is no place to go but down.

[lukster]

Fry's Electronics carries a pretty good assortment of electronic supplies. If there's not one near you then I guess it's ordering from the web for you.

I bought a phone from Radio Shack, it was the only thing I've bought there in many years.

[rpm]

You've got mail!

FORT WORTH — Radio- Shack Corp. notified about 400 workers by e-mail that they were being dismissed immediately as part of planned job cuts.

Employees at the Fort Worth headquarters got messages Tuesday morning saying: "The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated."

Company officials had told employees in a series of meetings that layoff notices would be delivered electronically, spokeswoman Kay Jackson said. She said employees were invited to ask questions before Tuesday's notification on a company Intranet site.

Jackson said the electronic notification was quicker and allowed more privacy than breaking the news in person.

"It was important to notify people as quickly as possible," she said. "They had 30 minutes to collect their thoughts, make phone calls and say goodbye to employees before they went to meet with senior leaders."

Employees met with supervisors and human resources personnel before leaving. At coffee bar areas on each floor, the company provided boxes and plastic bags for employees to pack their personal belongings.

"Things went very smoothly. Everyone left very graciously and very professionally," Jackson said.

Derrick D'Souza, a management professor at the University of North Texas, said he had never heard of such a large number of terminated employees being notified electronically. He said it could be seen as dehumanizing to employees.

"If I put myself in their shoes, I'd say, 'Didn't they have a few minutes to tell me?' " D'Souza said.

Laid-off workers received one to three weeks' pay for each year of service, up to 16 weeks for hourly employees and 36 weeks for those with base pay of at least $90,000, the company said.

The company announced Aug. 10 that it would cut 400 to 450 jobs, mostly at headquarters, to cut expenses and "improve its long-term competitive position in the marketplace."

RadioShack has closed nearly 500 stores in an effort to shake a sales slump.

I used to be big on Tandy and Radio Shack. Shopping at the warehouse store in Fort Worth was a treasure hunt. Don't know if I'll ever shop there again.

[CMC Airboss]

Fully half of all the Radio Shack stores in my local area closed their doors at the end of July.   I got some great stuff at huge discounts during the closeout sales.  Still, its sad to see such an American institution go down the drains.