RadioShack To Rebrand As "The Shack"?

Harry writes "Rumor has it that RadioShack is planning to re-brand itself as The Shack later this year, after eighty-eight years under the old name (most of them with a space in between 'Radio' and 'Shack'). I hope it's not true, because I don't think the move would do a thing to make the retailer a better, more successful business." Where will we go to buy soldering irons and those RCA to headphone jack adapters now?

Comments

Beware of namechanges

[Duds]

It's very dangerous to rebrand because of how much you lose vs how much you gain. IBM makes bugger all money from "International Business Machines" these days but they wouldn't want to lose a brand everyone knows. Same for "Carphone Warehouse" in the UK, they don't want to lose the recognition despite the fact no-one has called a cell/mobile phone a car phone in 2 decades.

And Microsoft's stuff certainly isn't small. (*sidesteps hook*)

So despite the lack of "Radio" as their main business, they should REALLY look and see if the number of people who say "I don't need a radio I won't go there" might be outnumbered by the people who will end up saying "What the f is "The Shack"?". It sounds like somewhere you'd buy a very dodgy Hawaiian style shirt.

Re:Beware of namechanges

[e4g4]

they should REALLY look and see if the number of people who say "I don't need a radio I won't go there" might be outnumbered by the people who will end up saying "What the f is "The Shack"?"

They should really look and see if the marketing company, to whom they undoubtedly gave millions of dollars for this rebranding idea, is worth their salt. On the other hand - name changes aren't always bad - Verizon seems to be managing just fine.

Re:Beware of namechanges

[twistedsymphony]

I've referred to it as "The Shitty Shack" or "RatShack" for nearly a decade already... I lost complete faith in them when they started putting more emphasis in selling mobile phones than any other product in the store.... where the F else are you going to pickup that last little electrical component you need for your project instead of paying Digikey $12 to ship a 5 cent part?... though it pisses me off when there is only one clerk in the store helping some old lady decide on a cell phone while I stand at the register for 10 minutes waiting to buy a fresh roll of solder.

I miss the college days... there was an electronics shop down the street from the school that was what you'd imagine if mouser opened a retail outlet.... it's a shame how few places like that still exist. It's an even bigger shame how not only is most of society not interested in learning about and working with electronics but actually FEAR peole who do... I miss the cold-war era sci-fi culture where it was actually cool to and respected if you got into the technical side of things. /rant

Cheap electronic parts

[crumbz]

"Where will we go to buy soldering irons and those RCA to headphone jack adapters now?"

Digikey?

Not to be an old grumpy man, but RS has missed out on the electronics maker revolution of the past decade. They could have been on the ball, like NewEgg, for the PC modding market but failed to adapt to the market. The RS of today is but a poor imitation of the RS of the '70s and '80s. Full of crap, obsoleted models and cheap junk. /Now get off my lawn.

Re:Cheap electronic parts

[schnikies79]

Most of the time when I got to radio shack for a component, I need it now. Not in two days.

For instance, movie night with my buds a few weeks ago. DVD player popped a cap (blah, that sounded ghetto. magic smoke instead). A trip the Radio Crack and 20 mins later, we were back in business.

Agreed ... bad move ....

[King_TJ]

In the last decade or so, Radio Shack seems to have been really pushing to become more of a "boutique electronics retailer", ditching their image as a "parts store" for hobbyists. I guess on one hand, I understand the desire - because there's not a lot of profit in individual sales when your customers want a package of resistors, a spool of wire, or some $10 pliers or cutter tool.

But I don't think their obvious alternative has worked out very well for them either. They're stuck trying to compete with much larger stores like Best Buy, and getting killed merely because Radio Shack doesn't have enough floor space in a store to carry the variety people expect when shopping for a new flat panel TV set or stereo, or computer.

Reminding people that their stores are small "EG. "The Shack" is emphasizing what may be their biggest negative in the market-space they're working in!