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A Eulogy for RadioShack

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Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#131

Post by rootbear »

plg wrote: post #4

I remember flipping through the Radio Shack catalogue as a kid in the late 70s, early 80s, and making my virtual xmas shopping list (I almost never got the things I actually wanted). radio-controlled cars, walkie-talkies, metal detectors, tape recorders, electronics kits. I also remember being able to walk into a Radio Shack in my local mall and stroll over to the electronics section and pick out just the right resis…

When I was very young, the Sears Toy Catalog was my Book of Wonders. Then, in my teens, it was the Radio Shack catalog. Now, I guess, it's the Newegg deals page. Things change. I rarely go into a Radio Shack these days, but as others have noted, when you need a part right now, it's often the only choice. I worked on a project a few years ago that had me in the local Shack several times as I discovered I didn't have a part I needed. I'll be sad when they're gone.

Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#132

Post by rootbear »

larrys wrote: post #24
jmspring wrote: post #11

Radio Shack at this point is a sad caricature of itself. I remember being able to buy all sorts of ICs, analog parts, interesting radios and kits. Now it peddles cell phones and overly prices things -- I recall needing a battery for my cordless phone recently, they wanted $23 for a battery for a $50 phone? Uh, no. Two other bay area places that have changed a lot are Frys and the now closed Quement Electronics. Fry's…

"Two other bay area places that have changed a lot are Frys" One of my fondest memories when I was out in SV in the early 90's was Frys and Weird Stuff Warehouse. I think I first heard of WSW and Fry's in a book written by Guy Kawasaki [1] who was a big deal in the late 80's. Recently I had the opportunity to visit Fry's in 2006 when I was in town for an conference. Then later in Las Vegas last year. Fry's of 2006 wa…

Interesting. The Micro Center is Rockville, Maryland isn't bad. I don't do too much electronics hacking, but I've gotten into the Arduino and Raspberry Pi maker stuff and they have a good selection that is sometimes cheaper than mail order. The Pi B+ is currently on sale for $30, for example. And they have less-than-mail-order prices on some Intel CPUs, like the i7-4790K I just got for $250. I suppose Micro Center stores vary depending on management and customer base. (This sounds a bit promotional, so I'll add that I have no financial interest in Micro Center, I just shop there a fair amount.)

Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#133

Post by georgemcbay »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #121
kjs3 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

RS was out of the "grab a part on the weekend for a project" business a decade or so before "order online" was an option.

I still use them all the time for just that. You no longer get a choice of 10 different bipolars and 3 different VMOS FETs, but the parts drawer is still pretty useful when all you need is a relay or an Arduino board.

Same here, though it depends on the Radio Shack.

There are a few of them near me and one is still a pretty decent "need it right now" electronic components place (with very limited selection) but the other two just sell cellphones and HDMI cables and basically nothing else.

Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#134

Post by ryandrake »

This isn't really a story about Radio Shack. It's about how awful it is to be a retail employee. You could have written this about the working conditions inside any retail store in any dying shopping mall: Forced to work off the clock, no overtime pay, pay structure resulting in pay below minimum wage, capricious, last-minute schedule changes, do-it-or-leave ultimatums, callous, abusive management, exhausted and overworked management, management-by-screaming-at-people, nonsensical rules and policies from corporate, revolving door for employees and management, and widespread apathy. Nothing here specific to Radio Shack, folks, this is the standard retail work environment in the USA.

Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#135

Post by frost_knight »

morganvachon wrote: post #129
chaostheory wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he'll likely have to drop the RadioShack name one day soon Why is this sad when his store will outlive Radioshack? I'm sure he or one of his customers can come up with a better name anyways.

Well like I said, he'll just revert back to the original name, " Electronics" (where is the name of my hometown). He answers the phone as " Electronics RadioShack" as it is, so he could just drop the RS branding. I say it's sad because it's a strategic location for a RadioShack; the one in the nearest town over dropped the franchise long ago and the owner merged his business with a local hardware store. So for about…

Maybe the day he drops the franchise and reverts to his own brand a bunch of us HN folks could come out and throw a huge party for him.

Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#136

Post by goostavos »

personZ wrote: post #124
kjs3 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

RS was out of the "grab a part on the weekend for a project" business a decade or so before "order online" was an option.

They transitioned through many variations of the "lots of inventory of small things" markets: Batteries, media, cables, connectors, converters, etc. Ebay and Amazon, both launched in 1995, spelled doom for a store that relied on selling you the overpriced battery, CD-R, or $90 HDMI cable.

>$90 HDMI cable

Ah, I don't miss being required to hock those at customers. We used to have to watch training videos (in Macromedia Flash!) about how Monster's special braiding technology transferred the bits with more fidelity.

But they really weren't the worst offender. "Overpriced" doesn't begin to describe the markup on their batteries. When I worked there -- and i'm sure it's even more now -- it was several hundred percent. It was absurd to the point that I went to my boss for clarification thinking that maybe the POS drops decimal places or something.

Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#137

Post by goostavos »

ryandrake wrote: post #134

This isn't really a story about Radio Shack. It's about how awful it is to be a retail employee. You could have written this about the working conditions inside any retail store in any dying shopping mall: Forced to work off the clock, no overtime pay, pay structure resulting in pay below minimum wage, capricious, last-minute schedule changes, do-it-or-leave ultimatums, callous, abusive management, exhausted and over…

I don't know if that's entirely accurate. I did a good stint of retail early in my college career and Radio Shack, at least in my experience, was on a whole different level.

I think the author nailed it on the head with this statement:

>Working at RadioShack was sort of the worst of two worlds: there was the poverty-level income of a blue-collar retail job, coupled with the expectations, political nonsense, and corporate soullessness of the white-collar environment.

There was a non-stop, life or death pressure from management to sell -- especially phones and "add ons." I was once written up for selling a phone without attaching 3 accessories.

One day the manager stuck a clipboard behind the counter with stack of paper on it. After every customer interaction, we were supposed to log What phone they had, what service they had, when they're due for an upgrade, and like 2-3 other things that I can't remember. Failure to do this would result in a write up, and eventual termination.

With a Target or Publix gig, you can more or less mind your own business and stock shelves -- helping customers is actually an awesome break from the monotony in that case. At Radio Shack, every customer interaction was painful because it was turned into an awkward interrogation.

Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#138

Post by Finster »

steven2012 wrote: post #69

The Radio Shack where I grew up gave out free batteries once a month. I did a science fair project that compared how good Radio Shack batteries were to Duracell, etc, and they were superior by far. It's sad that they are basically dead, but it's the Circle of Life, I suppose, and a good reminder to never rest on your laurels or take it for granted.

I worked at the Shack in 2000, and the batteries really were superior. Not sure if they still are, but even the NiMH batteries were superior to a lot of the other brands out at the time. I don't know how they'd compare to Eneloops, now, though.

Re: A Eulogy for RadioShack

#140

Post by taivare »

It saddens me to read this I bought my first computer from Radio Shack a Tandy 1000EX, it's now gutted and hanging on the wall above my desk,my nephew said,look mom a computer with a typewriter built into it !. Upon discovering ,how I memorialized my first computer , my nephew went on a search for his first phone..rest in peace RS.
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