Radio Shack sales tumble 20 pct; to close up to 1,100 stores

Reuters ^ | March 4, 2014 | Dhanya Skariachan

[John W]

(Reuters) - Retailer RadioShack Corp reported a wider quarterly loss on Tuesday and said it will close up to 1,100 U.S. stores after a huge drop in sales over the holidays, sending its stock down nearly 24 percent.

The planned closures would leave the Fort Worth, Texas-based chain with over 4,000 stores, including over 900 dealer franchise locations, its chief executive officer said.

Sales totaled $935.4 million in the quarter covering the all-important holiday season, down 20.1 percent from $1.17 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts, on average, looked for sales of $1.12 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales at stores open at least a year fell 19 percent in the fourth quarter on weak customer traffic.

[Timber Rattler]

I get my stuff here:

Jameco Electronics

and here:

Mouser Electronics

[Vaduz]

RadioShack is going the way Heath Kit did because most people are to stupid to build anything electronic they rather play with a cell phone.

[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the list, (as a FYI).

[FreedomPoster]

If you’re interested in Arduino, you might look into Raspberry Pi as well. A buddy uses them together, Arduino for controls, the Pi for UI.

[George from New England]

I learned two decades ago about their parts. If I wanted a reliable part I went to Allied or Newark. If I wanted a factory second with a defect (the factory didn’t want to put their name on), go to Radio Shack.

[George from New England]

Watch out on the Raspberry pi. Got a few and they all have nothing but usb port issues.

[dmz]

I haven’t been in a Radio Shack in at least 8 years. The employees at that time were useless and it was easier to get what I needed (not a cell phone contract) online.

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Way back in the day (I worked at the shack in the early 80s) you might have found someone who knew their way around electronics, but not much. They wanted salespeople skilled at addon sales. Where the money is.

We had stock answers to the 2 most asked questions:

Does the xyz component work with this abc doohickey?

YES.

How does this xyz component work?

It’s FM.

The second letter stands for magic. Use your imagination for what the first letter is a placeholder for.

And this was back in the most early 80s.

[minnesota_bound]

They do have parts but yes it is more cellphone and tv and other gadgets now then when I use to go back in the 70’s....
http://www.radioshack.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=2032230

[Jeff Chandler]

If you’re interested in Arduino, you might look into Raspberry Pi as well. A buddy uses them together, Arduino for controls, the Pi for UI.

It sounds like fun, but I am awash in devices. I have:

W8 laptop
W7 laptop
Mint laptop
W7 desktop
Android phone
Android tablet
2 XP desktops just removed from service

[ecomcon]

If Radio Shack had any vision at all, there would never have been a need for a Frys'

Exactly. They thought selling consumer electronics was going to be easy. Remember their computers? Not so much.

[Chickensoup]

We have a wonderful local Radio Shack that also sells old reconditioned stereo equipment and records. Love them

[Right Wing Assault]

Fry’s? Take away CA and TX and they have only 7 stores in the whole country. The nearest to me is probably 200 miles away.

[TwelveOfTwenty]

hrc.org doesn't seem to like them either.

[SunkenCiv]

The stock price tumble is to be expected — closing 1,100 stores will cut costs, presumably by shedding stores that aren’t making money. If that stops the bleeding, RS might make a rebound.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I’ll give you Radio Slack’s problem in a one-liner: $17.00 for a USB charger cable when I can get one at the gas station for $8.00 or $3.00 on Amazon.

[Gene Eric]

>> RS screwed themselves when they switched from being an electronics store to another average cellphone centered store.

Exactly. But its days were still numbered.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yup. They thought they could fill the gap that Circuit City and a few other electronics retailers left when they crashed. There wasn’t any gap to fill there.

Radio Shack has always been the place to go when you need something low-end to get you through your last year of college or you’re on a business trip, left your good widget at home, and need something to get you through the week. They had a market niche nobody else wanted. When they abandoned that business model, the result is obvious.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

That’s right! They had that market niche nailed for the last 50 years and should’ve stuck with it. Nobody else wanted it. They tried to run with the big boys and wound up under their wheels on the freeway.