Radio Shack

[lifejogger]

Does anyone buy anything at Radio Shack anymore? While going through my newspaper the other day and advertisement for Radio Shack fell out. I was surprised, first because I didn't think they were around anymore and second, I have never seen a store in the town I live. Just wondering.

[Cazzie]

Does anyone buy anything at Radio Shack anymore? While going through my newspaper the other day and advertisement for Radio Shack fell out. I was surprised, first because I didn't think they were around anymore and second, I have never seen a store in the town I live. Just wondering.


It's funny you should mention. They are my life blood for small diameter solder and wiring to use in model construction. I could get it elsewhere, but it would be more costly.

Caz

[Willy]

Haven't been in a Radio Shack in years. Come to think about it, the last time I was in one I was looking at brand new 286 computers.

[Dangerousdave26]

Just purchased all of my hardware to build my free track 3 point hat set up from them.

Lots of them here in South Florida

[Snuffy]

All my stereo stuff is from Radio Shack, and in keeping that in sync, my new DVD 3 Disc surround sound player came from RS about 2 years ago.

[IVANOW]

Radio Shack for Electronics .
Auto Shack for Car Parts .

[OBIO]

The Radio Shacks in my area are super pricey. The last time I was in one was to get a universal power supply to power my soft-tip dart board...got all the fancy electronic score keeping gizmos and loaded with variations of play that I had never heard of before. Their price was almost 3 times what I ended up getting it at Walmart for...same brand of power supply...just triple the price.

No, wait, I did go there and buy new AV cables earlier this year. Spent a small fortune on cables and wiring for my living room sound system and HD TV.

OBIO

[cheezyflier]

i bought a sound system for my computer there about 5 years ago. i'm still using it, and it only cost me 50 bucks

[Gdavis101]

Shoot, we even have a Radio Shack in our little town of Waldport here.

[Dain Arns]

Digital Antenna for the T.V. about a month ago.

[n4gix]

I worked for RS for just over ten years. I began as a "Salesmaker" and quickly wound up going to the RS management school and advanced mgt training in Fort Worth, TX. After six years of succsessfully managing three stores, and finally getting the last store I managed over the $1 million gross sales hump, I was promoted to a District Management position.

After not quite four years, I saw the "handwriting on the wall" and left RS for retirement. During the time I was with RS, they had a phenomenol retirement/investment program which would match 80 cents for every dollar the employee invested. I mean, where else could you earn an automatic 80% return on investment! :)

With that, SPIFFS ($ incentives to sell selected items), and performance bonuses, it was a wonderful place to earn a lot of money. But, I began to see a trend towards reducing expenses by reducing the earnings potential, and the planned elimination of the matching investment program, so decided that it would be a good time to leave... ;)

Also, I was very disappointed by the fact that the "new blood" in upper-management had obviously lost sight of the original vision, which had historically been that small electronic parts were the "bread and butter" of RS's success over the decades. In addition, "customer service yields customer loyalty" were the hallmark of RS. "The lifetime loyalty of the customer is worth far more than the loss of a single sale" was the mantra we demanded our employees follow...

Unfortunately somehow the mission had changed so much thatl RS was fast becoming JABR (Just Another Boring Retailer) instead of a hobbyist's source for parts and doo-dads.

As far as number of stores, RS once boasted that there was a store withing a five minute drive of 90% of America's consumers. In my own district here in NW Indiana, I had no less than six stores within five miles of one another! That's just plain nuts! :costumes:

[Pepere]

Digital Antenna for the T.V. about a month ago.

Does it work good?

David

[Helldiver]

The first Radio Shack was a small store on Tremont Street in Boston in 1947, selling war surpus radios like SCR 522, transformers and every tube that glowed. It was so crowded that two people could hardly pass. It was a Ham radio heaven.

[Dain Arns]

Does it work good?

David

Yeah it's this strange black mushroom looking thing, but it has a remote control that turns the antenna to different directions. I unfortunately am positioned in between 3 different towers so I need to turn it to catch all of the available channels. Everything is Hi-Def and looks great. I was really surprised at the quality of broadcast digital. I use it for the big monitor in the Computer Room when I want to catch the local news, PBS shows, or the two local weather channels.

[Kofschip]

Digital Antenna for the T.V. about a month ago.

Dain, how much was that antenna? K.

[MCDesigns]

I hit the one here in Lewisville every now and again for those odd electronic parts I tend to need. Always find what I need and the sales people are rather nice, but I agree, it is one of those places you don't really think about going to till you need something and can't find it at any other electronic place..

[Dain Arns]

Dain, how much was that antenna? K.

$49.99. It's rated at 4 out of 5 stars. I've had wonderful reception, even with having my computer so close to it. I can tell my computer interferes slightly with the signal when its running.

I see some negative comments on the product site, I think those people don't realize you either need to have a digital antenna connection/connector on the back of your monitor, or a decoder box if you are using an analog TV. I think it works great. I have my channels various directions programmed in on the remote so I just hit the monitor channel I want, then the corresponding channel programmed for the antenna, and turn it to the right direction now. It's not a real 'looker' in my opinion, but I have it on a shelf behind the monitor, so I don't see it anyway.

Its durable, I knocked it off, popped the top off and the antenna was pulled out of it. The case was all right. Quick resolder of the antenna lead, snapped the top back on, and it seems to work better now. :costumes:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2131034

[jbtate]

Used to get nice replacement speakers for my stereo system at Radio Shack.
I miss that.
Caps for my nine volt applications in my active bass.
Wire shredding tools ... At least they still have that, with connectors and housings.
And Radio Shack batteries seem to have a nice fresh tone in active instruments; I prefer them.
Maybe it's my imagination.
Not toward less. Truth. Though of ... Of application.
I remember hanging in the lobby with Eric Johnson after a show ...
I opened for Dexter Gordon at the Armadillo;
Of and of ...
jbtate

[deKoven]

Yep, RS is alive and well (somewhat) in the Puget Sound area. However, I'm one that thinks the move toward sales oriented help and away from knowledgeable techies was vastly detrimental to their popularity.

:censored:

[Craig Taylor]

My father-in-law, who started out as a repair technician with IBM over 50 years ago (he had to repair check-sorting machines in banks wearing a shirt and tie :isadizzy:) misses the days when he could get electronic parts from a local RS. The ones around here all seem to have turned into cellphone outlets and purveyors of other cheap electronic crap. I discovered, after having purchased something at one store and unsuccessfully trying to return it at another, that they're mostly franchises around here. If true elsewhere, perhaps they're partly the reason for the movement away from the chain's original business model.

[wombat666]

I'm with Caz, and we have one (1) only Radio Shack in my entire state.
But it is a decent size store with racks and racks of nifty odds 'n ends!
Model builders like us just love RS.
:applause:

[GT182]

I get some of my Thermaltake parts at RS. I liked it too when RS was associated with Tandy.

[Odie]

Does anyone buy anything at Radio Shack anymore? While going through my newspaper the other day and advertisement for Radio Shack fell out. I was surprised, first because I didn't think they were around anymore and second, I have never seen a store in the town I live. Just wondering.

I go in if I have a paticular audio or video cable that I can't readily find and in our RS, every time I go in they seem to have a good supply of customers in the store.

[jmig]

I use them for small electronic parts and materials.

[Moparmike]

Also, I was very disappointed by the fact that the "new blood" in upper-management had obviously lost sight of the original vision, which had historically been that small electronic parts were the "bread and butter" of RS's success over the decades. In addition, "customer service yields customer loyalty" were the hallmark of RS. "The lifetime loyalty of the customer is worth far more than the loss of a single sale" was the mantra we demanded our employees follow...

Unfortunately somehow the mission had changed so much thatl RS was fast becoming JABR (Just Another Boring Retailer) instead of a hobbyist's source for parts and doo-dads.

As far as number of stores, RS once boasted that there was a store withing a five minute drive of 90% of America's consumers. In my own district here in NW Indiana, I had no less than six stores within five miles of one another! That's just plain nuts! :costumes:

Thank you Bill (and all the other old-school RS staffers out there too)!
If it wasn't for the "old" Radio Shack I wouldn't be the electronic geek that I am today. :kilroy:

When I was a kid I always had a shopping list for whenever I got near the local Radio Shack...about once a month. And I still remember that a lot of the guys behind the counter back then remembered me too.

Nowdays, the local franchises here are just all about the latest cellphones and cheap A/V systems. Earlier this year I needed a simple 2.5mm plug to fix my remote shutter cable for my camera...I had to explain to the kid behind the counter that I wanted just a plug to solder onto the wires and not some fancy adapter plug for a cellphone headset. Yep, I walked away empty handed...haven't been back since. :rolleyes:

[jmig]

Thank you Bill (and all the other old-school RS staffers out there too)!
If it wasn't for the "old" Radio Shack I wouldn't be the electronic geek that I am today. :kilroy:

When I was a kid I always had a shopping list for whenever I got near the local Radio Shack...about once a month. And I still remember that a lot of the guys behind the counter back then remembered me too.

Nowdays, the local franchises here are just all about the latest cellphones and cheap A/V systems. Earlier this year I needed a simple 2.5mm plug to fix my remote shutter cable for my camera...I had to explain to the kid behind the counter that I wanted just a plug to solder onto the wires and not some fancy adapter plug for a cellphone headset. Yep, I walked away empty handed...haven't been back since. :rolleyes:

I don't even talk to the clerks. I just go and look for what I want. They don't know anyway. :costumes:

[Helldiver]

About Viet Nam days my kid brother was an EE aboard the Destroyer Bronson. They still had old WWII Radar Systems aboard her. He couldn't get old filament tubes from the Navy. He had to go into Radio Shack to fill up his supply.
For being so resourceful the Navy gave him a Fleet appointment to Annapolis. I call him my kid brother since he was born when I was in the Navy.

[n4gix]

I don't even talk to the clerks. I just go and look for what I want. They don't know anyway. :costumes:

Back in the days when I worked for RS, everyone hired had an eight-week probationary period in which to complete 26 training workbooks successfully and pass the tests for each. Only afterwards were they allowed to be active on the floor. Until then, they were given grunt work out of sight... :icon_lol:

During my time as a DM, I introduced a program that trained new-hires to pass what was then the Technician Class amateur license exam...
...some 20% or so of each training class were interested enough to also take the General Class exam and pass the code requirement at the same time. :ernae:

[Overshoe]

Hey Bill-
I worked for Tandy Corp. back in the 60's. I remember when Dave Tandy put together the financing to buy the existing Radio Shacks. We made fun of him for buying "Those junk stores." Little did we know.
His often quoted philosophy back then was "You can't expect a man to make money for you if he isn't making money for himself." Store managers got 25% of net profit as a bonus.
It seems to me the big turnaround you mentioned must have been around the time that Dave died.

[n4gix]

It seems to me the big turnaround you mentioned must have been around the time that Dave died.

I believe it began about that time as I recall, but... it really didn't start sliding downhill rapidly until about a decade ago when most of the upper management had retired and the "new blood" came into their own.

It really hit home with me watching my annual income drop 20% over the same four year period that net profits had increased by some 15%... :bs: