Yesterday's Wall St Journal had a piece about Radio Shack's survival. They declared bankruptcy a second time in 2015. They have closed all the Radio Shack owned stores, except for a mere 100. The brand is being carried by independent retailers.
The lawyers are talking about (and billing for) exiting the second bankruptcy this year. No details were given. The Journal wishes them well, and quotes an independent retailer at length. The retailer was enthusiastic but he didn't have any info either.
I wish them well. I remember shopping Radio Shack back when it was a single store on downtown Washington St in Boston. That was before Tandy bought them and built them up to a nationwide chain. Shopping Radio Shack in the old days, when they sold Realistic hi-fi (later stereo), ham radio gear, electronic parts, and strange surplus items, was fun. The current stores, selling kids toys, cell phones, batteries and cables are not so fun. They still have small collections of electronic parts, which I go to buy, but these are small low cost items that won't keep a store afloat. They seem to have given up on personal computers, a market they pioneered in the '70s. Radio Shack needs some product, some big ticket items, with some decent margin, to pay the rent. And they cannot compete with the big box stores on price. Walmart can always demand lower prices from its suppliers than anyone else can.
You would think there would be some openings. Up here in the sticks, the only place that carries computer stuff (paper, ink cartridges, laptops, monitors, routers, etc) is Staples. Hardly a computer oriented kinda store.
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