SparkChaser Premium Member join:2000-06-06 Downingtown, PA |
RadioShack Bankruptcy Filing Could Be NearAs much as we make fun of them, they are handy. (sometimes) RadioShack said it was in talks with third parties and its financial stakeholders about a number of possible options, including a sale, a significant new investment or a restructuring. The company said that some form of recapitalization may be our most likely course of action, but that it could not guarantee such a deal. Should the company fail to find a solution, RadioShack may be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, it said. In a still more drastic step, RadioShack added, it could be forced to liquidate. » dealbook.nytimes.com/201 ··· kruptcy/ |
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shdesignsPowered By Infinite Improbabilty Drive Premium Member join:2000-12-01 Stone Mountain, GA (Software) pfSense ARRIS SB6121
2 recommendations |
Well, Fry's is kicking their butt. RS is a lost cause, expensive locations, they carry very little of anything. Cell phone sales have too many OEM stores right next door. The baggage of years of idiots working there hurts their reputation (they have gotten better at that.)
Maybe they will find direction but I doubt it.
If Fry's expands to more states, RS is dead and Best Buy is threatened. |
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SparkChaser Premium Member join:2000-06-06 Downingtown, PA |
I wish we had Fry's. The closest one is in the mid-west, a hell of a ride. We have a micro center which is good for computer parts about 20 miles away. A Tiger Direct opened up but it's in DE and a traffic nightmare. No electronics parts stores at all. |
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to SparkChaser
I can't say as though I would miss the new Radio Shack. They are little more than "Cell Phone Shack", with a little off brand crap thrown in. None of the stores around me carry any parts anymore. They have become to Best Buy what Dollar General is to WalMart.
I do really miss having a Fry's nearby. |
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·Consolidated Com.. ·Republic Wireless ·Hollis Hosting
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to SparkChaser
It has been years since I've been in our local Radio Shack even though it is next door to the grocery store we frequent. They used to be good source for the occasional emergency component. I think the last thing I bought was a SATA cable for my daughter.
We have a local Electronic Surplus dealer 20 miles away, and I find I've been getting most of my parts from eBay these days.
Been getting computer parts from our local Staples of all places.
/Tom |
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JasonStowage Class Traveler
join:2001-01-24 38.2967 Lat |
to SparkChaser
Sorry, I can't help myself..
"RadioShack!... You've got questions, We have Cellphones!!"
"RadioShack!... You've got questions, We have blank stares!"
Its the end of an era. As a kid, I could rely on RS to typically have whatever discreet doodad I needed to finish a project. Even bought kits from them.
To their credit, I have purchased some Arduino stuff from RS less than a year ago, but so marked up, it was barely worth the convenience of a B&M store. Not to mention that I walked in, and asked the "Associate" where their microcontroller stuff was, and seriously saw a cardiac flatline in his blank stare back at me.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....
Oh well.. I only wish we had a Frys closer than a 45 minute drive away. Theres 2 Rat shacks within 5 minutes drive from where I live. |
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UHFAll static, all day, Forever MVM join:2002-05-24 |
to SparkChaser
We had a great local parts store in Cedar Rapids for years, but I went there Wednesday only to find an empty store and a for sale sign out front. Next Radio Shack will be gone. Too bad, when I was a kid I loved going to the mall so I could hang out at the Shack. |
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TheMG Premium Member join:2007-09-04 Canada MikroTik RB450G Cisco DPC3008 Cisco SPA112
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to SparkChaser
said by SparkChaser:As much as we make fun of them, they are handy. (sometimes) Does Radio Shack still carry miscellaneous electronic components, connectors, tools, etc? Here in Canada they've been bought out by Circuit City and are now called The Source. Last few times I went there in a pinch I couldn't find what I was looking for. 2 amp AGC fuse? Nope. Optical audio cable? Nope. PL-259 connector? Nope. All stuff they used to carry in the good old days... but not anymore. I don't know if the modern-day Radio Shack in the states is just as bad? Or better than The Source? |
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mackey Premium Member join:2007-08-20 |
mackey
Premium Member
2014-Sep-12 11:39 pm
said by TheMG:Does Radio Shack still carry miscellaneous electronic components, connectors, tools, etc? Yes, but not a lot; it's all crammed into a rack of drawers at the end of an isle. /M |
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to UHF
said by UHF:We had a great local parts store in Cedar Rapids for years, but I went there Wednesday only to find an empty store and a for sale sign out front. It lasted for quite a while then. I used to go to 4 electronics stores -- only 1 left. Also tried Radio Shack, but lately they never had what I wanted, or in a couple of cases they were obscenely overpriced. |
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said by aurgathor:they were obscenely overpriced. Radio Shack never understood that the internet is a competitor. They carried stuff no other local did, and priced according to being the only place to get it. But the prices were so extremely inflated that you had to either be desperate or a complete moron to buy from them. So as people stopped buying parts from them, they raised the prices even higher in an attempt to turn a profit. |
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ncbill Premium Member join:2007-01-23 Winston Salem, NC |
to SparkChaser
I hope their co-branded stores survive,
Those are the ones inside the local hardware store where there's a limited selection of Radio Shack stock.
Typically those stores are a hour or more away from the nearest Wal-Mart. |
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to SparkChaser
I miss them up here*, loved the catalogs they put out.
*(RadioShack Canada was disconnected from the US and re-branded as "the Source", a place that sells electronic junk. Their most recent ad uses the slogan "I want that!", given their higher pricing and limited selection there isn't much to want).
I put them into the same box as Sears, Sears had a booming catalog business and many store locations if they had intelligent management they had all the infrastructure in place (warehousing, logistics, procurement) to be like Amazon, they just needed some techsavvy people to build a decent e-commerce system. But they forged on using the same old system and wow look how they have imploded. RadioShack could have been more successful if they stopped selling low quality shit and focused more on the needs and demands of their customers. |
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HankSearching for a new Frontier Premium Member join:2002-05-21 Burlington, WV ARRIS NVG443B Ubiquiti NanoStation loco M2
1 recommendation |
Hank
Premium Member
2014-Sep-13 12:23 pm
said by Thane_Bitter:if they stopped selling low quality shit and focused more on the needs and demands of their customers. And if the stopped charging 10-25% more than other places for the exact same product. |
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10-25% wouldn't be an issue -- I could spend more on gasoline. But 100% or more -- that could be a little too much to stomach. |
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John Galt6Forward, March Premium Member join:2004-09-30 Happy Camp |
to SparkChaser
This is the way RS should do it, but they won't: » www.sparkfun.com/» www.adafruit.com/» www.seeedstudio.com/depot/And there are these companies for discrete parts: » www.digikey.com/» www.mouser.com/» www.alliedelec.com/Throw in the Chinese electronics merchants available online and RS is done...stick a fork in them. they need to reorganize, but they are cash poor and can't afford to do anything: quote: RadioShack is quickly running out of cash and warned Thursday that it doesn't have enough left to fund its operations beyond the "very near term." The company reported $30.5 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand as of Aug. 2. That's down from $179.8 million at the end of last year.
» www.huffingtonpost.com/2 ··· 988.htmlIn the current investment climate, I don't see why anyone would be willing to throw a huge pile of cash at them in an attempt to recover their former glory, such as it was. |
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lutful... of ideas Premium Member join:2005-06-16 Ottawa, ON |
to Thane_Bitter
said by Thane_Bitter:I miss them up here*, loved the catalogs they put out. Here at Ottawa, we are lucky to have a decent physical store which also mails out good sales flyers. They carry even Arduino and Raspberry Pi at competitive prices if you consider shipping cost. » www.active123.com/ |
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to SparkChaser
I just wish there was someplace local that I could find some high-quality cable TV connectors that will fit properly over RG6 cable... gotta lose those crappy gold screw-on connectors I got from Walmart that seem like they're made for RG59 instead of RG6. I need to replace these this weekend since that cable is the one supplying my internet and house phone.
Radio Shack might have this stuff?
I just wish there was a handy place in town to get high quality cabling, splitters (Antronix or Regal), connectors, etc. on a weekend.
EDIT: To get more back on topic.... I just wish that there were more decent computer/electronics stores here in the Cleveland, OH area in addition to Micro Center which is about a 30-35 minute drive from me. |
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woodie join:2000-09-23 Gulf Breeze, FL |
woodie
Member
2014-Sep-13 2:24 pm
Years ago, late 80's, there was a great surplus electronics store in down town Cleveland. I loved just going thru and checking our all the neat stuff they had for sale! |
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EliteDataEliteData Premium Member join:2003-07-06 Philippines |
to SparkChaser
i remember radio shack from the 70's and 80's. if they go out of business, the old radios, gadgets and electronics from the 70's and 80's will will be fetching lots of money through internet trade. |
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TheMG Premium Member join:2007-09-04 Canada MikroTik RB450G Cisco DPC3008 Cisco SPA112
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to lutful
said by lutful:said by Thane_Bitter:I miss them up here*, loved the catalogs they put out. Here at Ottawa, we are lucky to have a decent physical store which also mails out good sales flyers. They carry even Arduino and Raspberry Pi at competitive prices if you consider shipping cost. » www.active123.com/ There's also one in Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Calgary. The downside is stores like that don't exist outside of major cities. Radio Shack, back when they were still called that, partially filled in the gap, providing a local source for some basic parts in smaller cities. Yeah, they were very overpriced, but, when you needed something in a pinch and couldn't wait for shipping, that didn't matter too much. Nowadays, if you need something in a pinch, you're SOL and pretty much have no choice but to order online and wait. Even basic stuff like switches, connectors, fuses, lamps, soldering and de-soldering supplies, etc. |
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shdesignsPowered By Infinite Improbabilty Drive Premium Member join:2000-12-01 Stone Mountain, GA |
I have found ebay for things I need quick.
Many do free shipping. I do a search and sort by distance. Often I find something that is not far and I'll have it in 2 days. Sometimes even find things in driving distance. |
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1 recommendation |
to EliteData
said by EliteData:i remember radio shack from the 70's and 80's. if they go out of business, the old radios, gadgets and electronics from the 70's and 80's will will be fetching lots of money through internet trade. I still have my Radio Shack (Realistic brand?) three-crystal CB walkie-talkie in my attic somewhere. My dad got that for me when I was a kid (early 80's). You had to pick which three CB channels you wanted to use and buy a crystal for that channel. I think mine has the crystals for 9, 19 and some other channel that I can't remember. |
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JasonStowage Class Traveler
join:2001-01-24 38.2967 Lat
1 recommendation |
to John Galt6
I love adafruit, and Sparkfun.. I know when I go to see lady Ada, I can totally get my 'brainer' on Seriously tho, the nature of the home hobbyest (?) has changed.. No longer discrete resistors, diodes, transistors, capacitors to complete a project, but Microcontrollers. Pics, AvRs, and the packaged systems (Arduino, Beagle, etc..) Its a brave new world.. Not one I forsee Radio Shack long for. At least in their current iteration. |
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to slyphoxj
If you see a tech from your cable company working in the neighborhood, perhaps he/she might give you some good-quality connectors (maybe even a splitter or two) if you ask nicely. |
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Subaru1-3-2-4 Premium Member join:2001-05-31 Greenwich, CT |
to SparkChaser
said by SparkChaser:I wish we had Fry's. The closest one is in the mid-west, a hell of a ride.
We have a micro center which is good for computer parts about 20 miles away.
A Tiger Direct opened up but it's in DE and a traffic nightmare.
No electronics parts stores at all. I finally went to a Microcenter about a month ago.. it's like a candy store to me... I thought it was just going to be another computer store but I was in awe! I mean they carry Sparkfun stuff!! lol I ended up buying a HTPC build from them and set it up not long ago, had I not been in a car crash (I got rear ended hard) I would of started building more stuff. |
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MashikiBalking The Enemy's Plans join:2002-02-04 Woodstock, ON |
to Hank
said by Hank:And if the stopped charging 10-25% more than other places for the exact same product. The average retail markup from RS is around 1100%, so this shouldn't be a surprise. What killed radio shack was radio shack, and their stupidity. High prices helped, especially when I was down in central FL and could drive 20 miles and buy a USB cable cheaper--including fuel then it cost to buy at the local RS. People also like to think that there isn't a booming hobbyist market either, there is. There was when they started moving away from selling that stuff too. They simply tried to ride the wave of a "everything store" and failed miserably. These days if I need parts for some project I'm working on, I can find a pile of stores even nearby to me where I can get everything I want. |
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1 recommendation |
to SparkChaser
Tandy, as they used to be called in the UK was the first store I ever remember going into Now I avoid them even more than Sears. I bought 2 xxx in one electronics kits for my son and we have built several projects with them, but it seems he is more interested in minecraft on the computer. I did not know about sparkfun and adafruit, thanks John. |
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Subaru1-3-2-4 Premium Member join:2001-05-31 Greenwich, CT |
to SparkChaser
lol I had this poll come up while viewing a webpage.. seems like others have the same feeling |
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AMDUSER Premium Member join:2003-05-28 Earth, ARRIS CM8200 ARRIS SB6183
1 edit |
AMDUSER
Premium Member
2014-Sep-14 8:07 pm
I'm not surprised Radio Shack is on that list.. they cost too much. Almost every cable they sell there is cheaper at Monoprice or other sites. They didn't seem busy the last time I passed there at the local mall, just the employees and maybe 1 customer looking around. ... What can I say, even Sears had more customers then Radio Shack locally! Sears days are numbered as well, I believe that Sears Auto Centers will be getting spun off soon. |
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