Posted on 01/15/2015 6:29:03 AM PST by Red Badger
DING! DING! DING!
We have a winner!
RS started going down hill when they cut loose their Tandy Leather market! I learned how to make belts and hat bands with an old Tandy kit, I probably still have the letter stamps - somewhere! Hell, I built my own radio from one of their kits. The problem is that parents and kids no longer build stuff together, and that cut them to the bone!
However, their vision and management is what SCREWED them! It was a DIY shop, back when DIY was popular, and instead of keeping that niche, they decided to move to a miniature Computer City, I mean Circuit City, I mean CompUSA, I mean BestBuy! And they are going the way of those first three!!
Now, DIY is popular again, and as someone else stated, RS is one of the only places you can (well, you USED to could) find the electronics needed to make your own repairs. While in combat in Panama, we went into downtown Panama City, into a RadioShack, and purchased the diodes and resistors needed to repair 24, million dollar combat vehicles (we couldn’t get the parts through supply fast enough)!!!
I have a power inverter that blew a transistor on the cooling fan, but three of the RadioShacks that I visited, didn’t even carry these products anymore! When I finally found the part, I asked the clerk if they had a solder sucker, and he looked at me like I was STUPID!!
THEY FAILED THEIR CUSTOMERS!
They worked on commission. My daughter worked at Radio Shack about 10 years ago........................
Battery of the Month Cards! Remember those?............
Four.........BestBuy isn't doing well....................
Be Realistic!.....................
Back in the day...........late 60’s early 70’s, my teen years, their catalog was my ‘Wish Book’...................Now I’m 60 and an Electronic Engineer................
Stocks fluctuate after four-day slide; Best Buy lowers outlook; RadioShack bankruptcy?
And those at the bottom of the food chain got screwed...
Fat corp greed...Then they attempted to become trendy...Another cell phone store?....Just what ya need....
If I need something quick, I just bite the bullet on overnight or two day air.
10 years ago we had 4 electronic supply stores in a 30 mile area, now we just have RS, meaning we have nothing.
I just know that the first three all either filed bankruptcy and/or folded completely!
I have no doubt that BestBuy will too, in time.
Most of these brick and mortar stores are too high priced! I will admit, I usually go into a store to compare and SEE the product, and then I go home, and order it online!
The only exception to that rule, is when I see a product with 100+ reviews, where 85%+ were EXTREMELY happy with it! In that case, I feel that there is a very good probability that the product is a good item/buy.
People are moving back to the old Sear and Roebuck Catalog days - only now it is easier, simpler, and much QUICKER!
We have a great store here in Easter MA called You-Do-It electronics right of of Rt. 128/I-95.
A bit pricey but they have EVERYTHING, 10 times the store RS ever was.
Good time to buy low........................;^)
Sears/K-Mart are nearing the edge of the cliff as well....................
I believe that had RS stayed with the hobbyist, the hobbyists would have stayed with them..............................
Their stores have become little boutiques with little more than cel phones and electronic toys. I live as close to Fry's as I do Radio Shack, so I skip Radio Shack.
What happened to their branded products, like Realistic? I am still using my Realistic direct drive turntable that I bought back in the mid-80's.
Yea, but all the memory I needed was on the DEC 10/20’s. And my local college computer lab. Those were DEC’s too IIRC. I never went to the campus lab, well, once, but that was for a punch card assignment.
I just went home and dialed in. No restrictions on food, drink or smoking.
I had an account on prodigy for a while. Didn’t like it much. And CIS had MEGAWARS!
PDP-11’s no doubt........................
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