Let's Have Hope for Radio Shack
Once Radio Shack was the place for electronics. There were multiple stores in a single town and they had every kind of wire, switch, plug and battery you could use around the house. Stereos were never the main product, nor were televisions, but they always had a few on hand. Every Christmas, they had walls of radio controlled cars and planes for sale.
Today, Radio Shack is in bankruptcy. Websites have been calling for their demise for years. It’s too bad because at one time, they were the place to find everything electronic.
What happened?
Radio Shack started in 1921 in Boston. The name Tandy came about when Charles Tandy and the Tandy Leather bought the company. The combined company was called the Tandy Corp.
Radio Shack was the first electronic store to have a giant showroom of gadgets. The stores thrived and went from a northeast company to have locations around the country. They got into the computer field early. Their first computer model sold to the public was the TRS-80 in 1977. The operating system was designed by Bill Gates.
Radio Shack was a place to get parts and drives for home computers even before then. I wouldn’t be surprised if the practice models of computers Steve Wozniak made were from parts bought at Radio Shack. (I don’t know this, I’m just guessing here.) Radio Shack also seemed like a place small radio operators would go. Radio Shack sold CBs in the 1950s. That wouldn’t become a fad to have in every car until the 1970s.
Radio Shack eventually got into the personal computer selling industry with their Tandy line of electronics. Their videogame console was one of the first for home use, but it never really rivaled Atari. I don’t think you can find a Tandy product anywhere today except Ebay. I just looked it up and there are TRS-80 computers and Radio Shack laptops for less than $100 on sale now!!! (Don’t expect them to look like the computer you’re reading this on.)(website: http://www.ebay.com)
Radio Shack introduced the first laptop in 1984. Laptops won’t become a big seller for another decade... so Radio Shack led the way on that. They were the first to sell satellite equipment and have battery recycling.
Funny thing about computer sales. Radio Shack is an innovator. They have all kinds of parts and accessories. They had their own computer line. By the 1980s the brand design looked stale. The stores were in strip malls and they lacked pizzazz. Radio Shack was never an anchor store of a big mall or a big-box store. Those type places edged out Radio Shack. Radio Shack didn’t carry video games. They didn’t carry compact discs even though they would sell compact disc players (up to today) and burners. Giant stores that had these things pushed Radio Shack away.
So today, there is news that Radio Shack is in trouble. There are investors and restructuring plans in place. There’s talk about making Radio Shack locations into Sprint Wireless locations. It doesn't sound exciting. Several websites and newspapers reported the Radio Shack restructuring with a sense of glee. The small bland store with an almost 100 year history is gone. Make way for the new glitzy place.
Where can I get a 6 foot cable wire at 7pm? Where can I get an adaptor anytime I need it? Headphones that don’t cost $30? A backup computer part without having to buy a double pack? That small metal tip at the end of a computer wire? Radio Shack had them on the back wall.
Let’s hope that Radio Shack can find a niche to fill and continue. There is a place for the big store that has the most popular items, but there is also a need for a smaller store that has the accessories. They may have over saturated the market and will have to close stores. Let’s hope they find a new design and a new business model that will make them innovators again.
I made a lot of this up as I wrote, but I did do some research at the company website listed below.
radioshackcorporation.comCached
Don’t forget to read about Mix Tape and Orville in Mix Tapes and Stuff available on amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Mix-Tapes-Stuff-JJ-Lair-ebook/dp/B00KFTKCKE/