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

Yeah because it worked SO well for Pizza Hut

[rehtonAesoohC]

Wait, did I say Pizza Hut? No no, I meant PASTA Hut... Riiiight, because everyone calls it Pasta Hut now.

*Rolleyes*

Radio Shack: I'm not dead yet.

[DieByWire]

No Radio Shack article is complete without The Onion's business analysis.

Re:Surveillance

[Octorian]

And not even the CEO can figure out how!

Re:How do they stay in business?

[kannibal_klown]

here's an onion article on this, but whenever I go by radio shack, I wonder how on earth they stay in business. ...
Internet mail order shops via ebay and other mechanisms is a lot more cost effective method for delivering high value specialty goods. I mean, I've seen CPU coolers and power supplies at radio shack : hello, newegg?
I'm not a fan of RadioShack by any means, but as another posted pointed out there is a are multiple types of efficiency and there is difference between efficiency and convenience.

Yes, online stores can be more efficient than either RadioShack or even small boutique shops. They can have a better selection, have more in stock, re-order thing easier, only concern themselves with storage and not valuable shelf-space, etc. A well-designed website might be easier to navigate than shelves of small widgets, and this can all result in lower cost and prices.

However there is also a convenience factor which also plays into the efficiency of time. And sometimes my time is worth a few bucks more. Maybe I need to fix my PC immediately due to work. Maybe I need a small fuse right away. Maybe to fix something now, else have no lights in my restroom with no windows.

If I order online it is going to take a few days to get to me, and forget about Sundays. Then god forbid if I find out it isn't the right part of isn't working correctly then that's another few days to deal with the problem. I've received DoA parts before NewEgg before.

I'm not saying that online stores are worthless, heck I buy most of my non-clothes and non-food items online. But sometimes I need something now.

I can try going to the local small shop I can get what I need right away without worrying about delivery time. In my case I have a RadioShack 5 minutes away, a boutique PC Warehouse about 15-20 minutes away, and a large chain stores (BestBuy/WalMart/HomeDepot) 30 minutes away. Between the 2 small stores (and the large chain stores) I've never been unable to find what I needed and have the round trip take less than 1-1.5 hours (drive out + check 1st store + check 2nd store + return).

The Radio Shack has most of the A/V stuff I might need (and at 5 minutes away it's more convenient than online or even large stores). At night when I don't feel like making a big trek for 1 thing it's sometimes just easier to hit there first.

The PC Warehouse has a decent collection of PC parts (motherboards, CPUs, cases, components, cooling systems, etc). It's obviously not a NewEgg or Amazon, but if I need to resurrect a system ASAP it's a good place to visit. Heck, sometimes the price is close enough to online shops that I wouldn't even be saving much/anything going online.

Big Chain stores are about 30 minutes away, but at least in the same direction as the PC Warehouse so a multi-stop trip isn't a total loss.

Online stores are good, but sometimes I need/want something in a few hours and not a few days.

Re:Surveillance

[djfake]

The Onion had a great take on there profitability: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/even_ceo_cant_figure_out_how