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Radioshack Declares Bankruptcy

Posted by samzenpus on from the end-of-the-line dept.

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."

18 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. So who's going to buy them? by Sowelu · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So you have a bunch of stores for sale in tech-sector-friendly locations, just when Amazon is starting to establish a physical presence... Hmm.

    1. Re:So who's going to buy them? by towermac · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:So who's going to buy them? by towermac · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That's some weak sauce man, although the Forbes rebuttal is even weaker.

      They're counting the fact that dividends are taxed lower than wages. They're counting accelerated depreciation too. That's tax law, and it's no different for Wally World than it is for anybody else.

      The big number is the shit wages that make employees rely on food stamps, school lunch; all those Federal subsidies. That argument actually has some legs. But is that Wal-Mart's fault? All those Federal subsidies were already there, thus creating the environment that Wal-Mart could survive in. Then they move in, take advantage of it, and get rich. If not an Arkansas hillbilly, then somebody would have.

      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, ...
      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.

      Maybe you didn't go in. Everybody else did. You sure it's just 'The Government' that's at fault here?

    3. Re:So who's going to buy them? by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.'"
  2. consumerism wins! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:consumerism wins! by Megane · · Score: 5, Funny

      So where will I go now to get blank stares?

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  3. they probably still want your name, address, and p by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    they probably still want your name, address, and phone number in the clearance store

  4. The Canadian arm of the business is stil operation by Meshach · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Several years ago they were bought by Bell and re-branded as The Source. They still operate in Canada.

    I wonder why they were able to survive in Canada and not in the US?

    --
    "Maybe this world is another planet's hell"
    Aldous Huxley
  5. One less cellphone shop I guess by colin_faber · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I stopped shopping there long ago because they stopped stocking anything useful. I don't need a cellphone from them, I needed parts, which they no longer carry.

  6. Re:The Canadian arm of the business is stil operat by Pope+Hagbard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Different management team.

  7. Re:The Canadian arm of the business is stil operat by sjames · · Score: 4, Funny

    A management team capable of eating a salad without stabbing themselves in the eye?

  8. I predicted this 30 years ago by eclectro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I saw this day coming after I worked there for a period. Treating their employees poorly was part of their business plan. I am surprised that it took so long though. Kornfield isn't around to see this, but he must have seen it on the horizon as well.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  9. Re:Goodbye by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The Radio Shack of my youth did die years ago.

    I remember in the early 1980s the owner of the Radio Shack in my town would let me monkey around with the Color Computers, the Model 4s and the Model 100s. My grandfather bought me my first computer; a lowly Radio Shack MC-10, when I was 10 years old and I remember reading the manual from front to back about three or four times. My earliest programming experience was on that little computer, with 4k of RAM onboard and a 16k expansion module.

    Good memories, but that store went away a long time ago, replaced by an unremarkable stereo and cell phone dealer staffed by people who could barely read the sales brochures.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  10. You younglings don't get it! by the_skywise · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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!!!!

  11. Better idea: Frys by BenJeremy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  12. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Informative

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  13. Re: 4k by Deadstick · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That wouldn't be Softside, would it? When they first started to publish Basic games for the TRS-80, R/S threatened to sue for IP violations; only R/S, they said, had the right to say "Radio Shack" or "TRS-80" in print unless they paid royalties. So Softside began referring to them as "S-80 bus" games.

    R/S got their wish: nobody ever discusses Radio Shack computers in print any more.

  14. Re:Goodbye by RSanna · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Radio Shack was a revelation to this 12 year old in 1972. We live in a small rural town in Montana, USA. Once a month we would load up the car and go to the big city, POP +/-35,000, for groceries and other stuff. I noticed the new store, but only got to walk by the front window that first month. The parts I had to work with came from cast of TVs, radios and mail order catalogs. I saved every penny every day and dreamed ever night for the next month. Walking into that store was a pivotal moment in my life. There were so many components I knew, understood and well wanted to play with that I had never actually seen save in catalog drawing and white paper schematics. I aches my soul to know that something so visceral has been torn from the experience of today's youth. There is a vast difference between reading about something (web or catalog) and seeing touching and yes smelling it in person. R.I.P.