RadioShack gone for good?

Sky_Render wrote: Digikey is good for bulk purchases. But Radio Shack is where you went at 8:00 on a Thursday night whem you needed one more resistor to finish your project.

This. Almost always a 1k or 4k7 and/or a 2n2222 transistor.

Sky_Render wrote: Jeez, you guys still have Radio Shacks?! All of them in my area closed years ago!

According to the RS website, the FSK Mall website and my wife there is still one at the mall

In reply to tomtomgt356:

I hit one of those store closing sales last year in MN. Had a strange collection of electronic components, wires and connectors in my checked bag. Was surprised I did not get any extra screening from TSA.

petegossett wrote:

John Welsh wrote: I have nothing to add other than as a former Sprint employee, the place is just a culture of mismanagement.

As a former Radio Shack employee this description doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

Ditto. There was a time it was a store with knowledgeable employees and good product. Now it is neither.

All my radio/electronic equipment is available online and if I really need it today, there is one hardware store left that is sure to have the PL259 I need.

We had a RS and a Heathkit store next to each other. As a 7th grader we would get catalogs and look at the stereos and get a battery.

The Heathkit store was over my junior high head. Buy a kit and make a TV at home? BOOM - my head just exploded.

And its official!

The last time I shopped RS, I was looking for parts to replace a headphone cord. They had nothing but directed me towards a local indy electronics store that had everything I needed.

I'll also add that the last time I was in one to buy some connecters, which was several years ago, they were priced stupid-expensive. Like 3x or 4x times what I could have ordered a more quality part for online, but I didn't want to wait so I paid it.

I do remember hearing stories after I started working there, which was in the late-90's and well after the start of their decline, about the high number of office workers in Tandy's TX headquarters who were millionaires based on the value of their retirement packages. I wonder how many actually were able to retire before it was lost?

One of the big problems (I read an article about this earlier but can't find it) which relates to RS and brick-n-mortar stores together is the sheer amount of space per person we have of retail in this country.

The next two closest countries (Canada and Australia) respectively have something like 45% and 65% less retail space per person.

petegossett wrote: I'll also add that the last time I was in one to buy some connecters, which was *several* years ago, they were priced stupid-expensive. Like 3x or 4x times what I could have ordered a more quality part for online, but I didn't want to wait so I paid it.

That's almost always going to be the case in a retail store, especially with small, low value parts. Those little parts are a real pain in the butt.

Keith Tanner wrote: Who here was a member of the battery club, or learned basic electronics using one of their learning labs? ... And this makes me sad, because I do actually buy resistors.

Check, check, check.

And I remember Dad using the tube tester at Radio Shack.

I was just in the only remaining RadioShack in northern KY the other day and scored a few good deals, so there's that. All the stuff in their component drawers has been marked down to half-off, so I grabbed all the butt connectors and clips and stuff like that that I thought I might have a need for some day.

Really it was only a matter of time that they went belly-up, but it's still disappointing. They weren't going to pay the rent with me coming in once every 2 years to buy a $2 pack of resistors or something that I didn't want to wait on the Internet for. Back in the day, though, they sure were something -- it's a shame they weren't able to harness the new (grimace) "maker" culture to get a step closer to those glory days. Recently, though, I would joke that their slogan should have been "You've got questions, we've got dumbfounded expressions".

wae wrote: Recently, though, I would joke that their slogan should have been "You've got questions, we've got dumbfounded expressions".

That's genius, that is! Our store is closed now, but the last few times I was in there to buy say, a DPDT toggle switch, the salesperson would shoot me a look like a puzzled Pomeranian and point me "over there" to the parts bins.

mattmacklind wrote: I asked him if he remembered the "Optimus" line. Before his time I guess.

I think I own that exact receiver. It used to be our studio monitor amp. I'm pretty sure I still have it, but haven't used it in years.

z31maniac wrote: One of the big problems (I read an article about this earlier but can't find it) which relates to RS and brick-n-mortar stores together is the sheer amount of space per person we have of retail in this country. The next two closest countries (Canada and Australia) respectively have something like 45% and 65% less retail space per person.

And believe it or not, around where I work in NJ, they keep building more. In an area that is already bursting with retail space.

Im with everyone else, I used to visit RS from time to time, but i usually was only there to pick up a 6 pack of connectors or maybe a random switch. It probably cost them more to pay the kid to ring up the transaction, and to provide me a plastic bag to put it in, than they made on the switch.

I do remember the last project I worked on - it was modding the OEM radio in my Infiniti to have an Aux-in 3.5mm jack - you had to cut a copper line on a printed board on the bottom of the unit, and solder the self witching jack onto the ends. I think I paid $1.35 for the thing. I hadnt been in a RS for years prior, and didnt go back for years after. No one is going to stay open with a business model like that.

Luckily (for me) there is a RS near my office, and I am in the market for a decent Drone ($200-$300) - something FPV that isnt over WIFI, with a flight ceiling over 500ft. Hopefully their loss is my gain!

ultraclyde wrote: They totally missed a golden opportunity to be the face of the maker movement on a local scale.

That is what Micro Center is doing. I went to my "local" one (40min away) and was blown away that they got rid of half of their books section in favor of a DIY section. Not just kits and discrete parts and stuff, but tools!

Optimus and Realistic audio stuff was actually really good. Their speakers sounded great.

My 7th grade computer class had TRS-80 Model III computers. They upgraded to IBM compatible PCs by 8th grade. I got one of the retired TRS-80s, along with a Color Computer. The Radio Shack catalog was one of my favorite reading materials when I was a kid. Yeah, I was weird, so what...