Slashdot Mirror
Radioshack Declares Bankruptcy
gemtech writes RadioShack has declared bankruptcy today. As reported Monday, the company has struck a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its approximately 4,000 stores to Sprint. From the article: "RadioShack said the remaining stores are expected to close. The company's franchise locations, as well as stores in Mexico and Asia, are not included in the deal. The bankruptcy announcement is no surprise. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of its shares on Monday. And RadioShack workers have told CNNMoney that some locations have already been converted to clearance stores."
That's what happens when nobody builds or repairs anything anymore ever. Throw it away, buy a new one. Luckily the corporate consumerists haven't adopted the same strategy yet, or we'd be seeing massive layoffs and turnover.
Amazon could just rent out a few of the soon-to-be-abandoned locations and not deal with RS.
Different management team.
Before cell phones, before the internet, before computers... heck before REMOTE CONTROLS FOR YOUR TEEVEE!
Radio Shack was THE place for geeks to hang out. Kinda like a micro-Fry's in every mall. My dad swore by the Realistic stereos (I never did but when the only other alternatives at the time were Sears or JCPenney's for stereo receivers... They held up pretty well.) I cut my teeth on a TRS-80 Model 1 (Of course I promptly pooh-poohed it for the TRS-80 Model II because it's still true that geeks don't handle obsolescence well! Christmas was asking for the 150 electronics project kits or other gadgets.
Sure, it sucks now and we don't seem to live in a time where people play with electronics or chemistry sets anymore but a time where people are content to watch what the kardashians are up to and re-tweeting it on their phones because, gosh darn it, math is hard.
And now I watch as Radio Shack sells off to the Undying Lands. It's better this way anyway, it was a lousy cell phone store and the last time I went in there to buy a pair of speaker stands, to match the set I had purchased in that store 5 years earlier, I was told by the new kid manager that they don't have *and never sold* speaker stands.
yah... Fare thee well...
NOW GET OFFA MY LAWN!!!!
In all fairness, when you get an Arduino from Radio Shack, you are getting a REAL Arduino, and some money goes to support the project. When you buy from China, you are getting a clone and, while it works, the Arduino project (that makes the software) gets not a penny. I am not against clones, but I like to buy an original every now and then to help support the project.
Or, you could buy a clone and donate $5 to the project to help support development.
"-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
A shame. I was just starting to think it was making a modest return to its roots.
When I visited one a few months ago, they had quite a decent little display of Makershed Arduino kits and books about the Arduino, and they had a kind of dense metal cabinet with shallow drawers filled with individual parts, a much larger selection than they used to have hanging on pegs in blister packs.
I needed a new soldering iron and I bought one there.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Frys or Microcenter, or even NewEgg.
Prime thing, though, they need to offer a small selection of electronics.
RadioShack dabbled in Enthusiast PC hardware, but gave up on it. I found them to be fairly priced for getting stuff I needed "now"
The business model needs to change, but RS was unwilling to be more than just another wireless retailer with a few toys and electronics added in the mix. If you have a B&M footprint, you have to give consumers a reason to come in. Providing goods that people usually can't wait for 3 days to get, or offering some sort of technical training for all the new tech, as well as easier returns (or pickup) for mail order goods is a start.
Maybe a "tech of the month" display to show people what they won't see at Best Buy or Walmart, but can order through a kiosk on site after checking it out. Many consumers still like the personal treatment when buying big ticket items, but they don't like paying a premium, or dealing with clueless stockers when they have a question.
You think you're enlightened, but you're a foot soldier for 'the people in charge'.
Down with the rich eh? That's what the French did. The Russians did it too. They finally got fed up. I mean, that's what you actually have to do in the end, if you really want to take the rich people's money. You have to kill them all, and their families. Then, the next day, you and I report to new rich people, albeit with less taste.
Did you really just envision a society without charity? Can you hear yourself?
The answer is not to oppress everybody equally.
because suburbanites and flyover folks won't shop in them. Mom and pop and competing national chain open on the same block, the entire crowd flocks to national chains, particularly in smaller communities. Hell, they're even proud to have them. Getting a Wal-Mart means they've arrived, it puts them on the map.
The only place where Mom-and-pop shops still survive are in heavily blue urban areas, where they continue to do well. That's no accident.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
Sure, in lots of ways the Democrats are terrible, but the Republicans are far worse.
So you have terrible government, which seems to be a reflection of the apathy towards politics enjoyed by the majority of Americans. You get the government you deserve. That doesn't mean all government is necessarily bad.
Socialism as practiced in Western Europe doesn't seem so bad. At least they have decent health care. But of course the American system which spends way more and has worse outcomes is superior because Murikah, yeah!
Let me ask you this: On the day Wal-Mart opened in your town, there was still a hardware store, and an independent grocery store, clothing and shoe stores, ...
There is a Walmart 4 miles south of the downtown where I live. It sees plenty of business as does the Lowes right next to it. We don't have an independent grocery store in our downtown but we do have a Kroger there and two independent grocery stores within 3-4 miles of downtown. What do we have downtown? We have a hardware store, several boutique clothing stores, a shoe store, several good restaurants, a bakery, a coffee shop, and a bunch of other generally thriving small businesses. Walmart has hardly made a dent in their businesses because they aren't really competing with Walmart.
What we don't have is a bunch of businesses trying to compete with Walmart head on. If you want cheap stuff from China that's fine and Walmart is the place to go and nobody does it better. If you want an actual high touch shopping experience, you'll go somewhere else. Walmart is only a death knell to small business that try to provide the same services for higher prices. We have a local grocery store that provides a MUCH different experience than Walmart. They have a high quality butcher, they sell far better quality produce, they have baked goods you wouldn't dream of finding in Walmart, they have a greenhouse, and cooking classes, etc. If you want cheap kraft mac-n-cheese, they might have it but you'll get a better price at Walmart. They don't compete on price because ultimately there can only be one winner if you compete on price. They sell stuff you won't and never will get at Walmart and they're doing fine.
Did you still go to those places, and never go to Wal-Mart? Myself, I resisted, but soon those stores were gone. And one by one those employees went to work at Wal-Mart for half the money.
Sounds like those stores were only thriving because they were capitalizing on the fact that there was no price competition pre-Walmart. I have no love for Walmart but they serve a purpose which is to be a place to buy basic merchandise cheaply. Why would I spend more on the exact same shampoo or dog food elsewhere? Honestly I buy plenty of stuff from Amazon which is even better for me because I don't have to go anywhere. It just comes to me. But I still go to my local stores because they provide me things I can't get through Walmart or Amazon.
RadioShack dabbled in Enthusiast PC hardware, but gave up on it. I found them to be fairly priced for getting stuff I needed "now"
Really? I have bought some stuff I needed "now" though RadioShack in the last few years. I pretty much always felt like they were gouging me on price and their selection generally sucked. The ONLY reason I ever had to go to a RadioShack was when I needed something right this minute and there were no other convenient options. I have a Microcenter across town but it's a 45 minute drive to get there. I can order from Amazon if I can wait until tomorrow. But the number of times when RadioShack actually was the best available option has been very few.
Ah yes. The idea that the rich create jobs and businesses out of the goodness of their hearts.....
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Down with the rich eh? That's what the French did. The Russians did it too. They finally got fed up. I mean, that's what you actually have to do in the end, if you really want to take the rich people's money. You have to kill them all, and their families. Then, the next day, you and I report to new rich people, albeit with less taste.
As it turns out, people are not very smart, and rich people are not actually any smarter than the rest of us. What actually happens is that people who have advantages over others exploit them, often heedless of consequence to others, and they then get to remain in control of the system, with eventual ill effect for all. So what happens is, some people rise to the top regardless of merit, then they rest on their laurels and spawn inbred idiots, and then torches and pitchforks. Lather, rinse, repeat, up until we learn to become personally involved in politics by building systems of government which are powered by citizen involvement.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"