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RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

wsj.com

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Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#171

Post by canvia »

ghaff wrote: post #112
tmm wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live near Baynesville Electronics[1] and somehow they've managed to stay in business for a really long time selling stuff that RadioShack couldn't seem to competently sell. (The 50 years part of their sign has been up there at least 10 years). They do a surprising amount of business from local engineering firms, AV/network/cable installers, and little IT shops because where else are you going to get a 25 pair Amphe…

A lot of things can work at small scale that don't work at Radio Shack public company scale. Example. There's a board game store in Harvard Square that has been there forever. I assume it must make enough money for its owners to have stayed in business all these years. That doesn't mean that opening hundreds or thousands of such stores across the country would be a brilliant business plan. The same applies to the ind…

There's a term for that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_business

Lots of (good) restaurants fall into this category.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#172

Post by hsod »

angersock wrote: post #109
hsod wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a rebuttal against the tragedy of the commons argument. Commercial fisherman "just don't want to have to deal with" catching less fish, but overfishing is still a problem.

If I put a bowl of M&Ms out on my front lawn, and then complain that nobody else refills it from time to time, is that the tragedy of the commons, or me just being a fool?

pretty terrible analogy.

there's no point at which you putting M&Ms on your lawn can be self-sustaining. Both professional journalism and fish populations CAN be self-sustaining (from the perspective of individual consumers).

Also, even if your analogy did make sense, the end result would be no more M&Ms (aka no more professional journalism). That's the outcome we're trying to avoid.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#173

Post by gergles »

res0nat0r wrote: post #99
jordigh wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is interesting to interpret not using adblock as capitalist duty. I see it more as a way to respect the terms of the content producer. The author has no lordship over my computer or my mailbox. I can toss out junk mail. I can even more easily program my computer to toss out ads. Programmability is a very natural feature of a computer, so why not use it? My home, my computer, my rules. If you make it more difficu…

I understand this thinking, but everyone who believes they should be able to get their content for free without ads will soon find themselves out of sites to visit due to them not being able to sustain themselves. I'm not sure why people think they should be able to get no-ad sites for free, I get it, but you should understand the repercussions of thinking this way.

Probably because that's the way the Internet worked before the Big Media companies infested it and started the process of turning into Cable TV 2.0.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#174

Post by jakejake »

This kinda sucks because, even though Radio Shack has always sold kinda cheap quality components, there were always there when you needed an adapter or plug or cable immediately.

It seems like there are a lot of good ideas here about what market radio shack can go after, from the 3D maker crowd, to boutique electronics, etc. I think it would take quite a visionary high up in the RS corporation to make that happen, but it would be cool.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#175

Post by sizzzzlerz »

Let's stop with all the nostalgia for the Radio Shack of old. They haven't been that way for 20 years. Their management has completely misread the market, they abuse their employees, they offer nothing you can't get elsewhere, usually at better prices, and, frankly, they have become like your crazy uncle: prone to doing something odd, smells bad, and is constantly embarrassing the family.

Stick a fork in them, they're done. They won't be missed because there is nothing there to miss.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#176

Post by billyhoffman »

DanBlake wrote: post #147

Nobody seems to have a good answer for what RS should become to avoid shutting down. The most common answer is to go back to its roots and embrace the maker market and stock up on things like 3d printers, breadboards and arduinos. I think this is the wrong idea, since the market is nowhere near large enough to support the vast amounts of stores RS has. I think if I was the CEO, I would focus on being a boutique shop…

"But you would also see high end stuff you normally cant buy in best buy because its too expensive to have the inventory floated to all their stores."

While I admire what you came up with there are 2 big problems working against this:

First, I can buy nearly all the high end stuff you list at my local Best Buy. Beats by Dre, Bose, Nest, iPads & iPhone 6+'s, Flagship Samsung phones/smart watches, Thinkpad laptops, high end receivers, etc. Some of the pro audio stuff (amps, mics, etc) isn't top-top, but for that honestly you are better off at a music equipment stores. So they would have to go uber high end, and that's just not going to happen with their current brand image. That market is also insanely small and needs a correspondingly small footprint. Even closing 90% of their stores may not be enough.

Second is store size and location. Best Buys are enormous. They can have the high end glam to get people in the door, and still have room for the mid grade consumer stuff most people buy. These stores are larger yes, but rent/square foot are way cheaper than a little 1000 - 1500 sq ft Radio Shack. Street frontage and site location are terrible for radio shack. The closest one to me in Atlanta is sandwiched between a UPS store and a nail salon, at the very end of a strip mall with a grocery store as an anchor. Foot traffic must be terrible.

Boutique might could work, but a huge number of tiny retail shops are a giant albatross around Radio Shack's neck.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#177

Post by joshstrange »

I know a lot of people here will defend RS for selling phones/plans because "They had to" but it marked the LAST time I set foot in a RS when I went to buy some parts I needed and they tried to sell me a Voyager because "It was better than an iPhone" (Verizon's "iPhone" they released soon after the iPhone released). From that moment on I have just ordered what I wanted online.

That coupled with the fact that they stopped staffing with people who knew anything at all and instead staffed them with people who could sell more phones.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#178

Post by wambotron »

wycklendt14 wrote: post #17

I worked at RadioShack for 2 years in college in 2003 and I can say with out a doubt that the upper management lead the downfall of that company. They abandoned their core customers of electronics hobbyists and turned there employees into salesmen. I got paid $5.50 an hour but was told that was OK because I made commissions from cell phone sales which maybe upped my pay to $6.00 on a good day. No wonder there constan…

Funny, I applied to work there around the same time. I was working at a deli at the time, making $7/hr, thinking "man there has to be something better." I thought of how I liked going to Radio Shack when I was younger, and how it might be a good experience to work there.

The day I went to apply, they asked if I'd be OK making commissions. I asked what the base was, and they replied something similar to $5/hr. I asked what commissions came from, the manager said "everything!"

On my way out, one of the employees stopped me and told me they collectively barely made any commissions and to stay where I was. I went in there quite a few times after that and never saw the same people working. I guess they had a lot of turnover.

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#179

Post by tod222 »

ghaff wrote: post #112
tmm wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live near Baynesville Electronics[1] and somehow they've managed to stay in business for a really long time selling stuff that RadioShack couldn't seem to competently sell. (The 50 years part of their sign has been up there at least 10 years). They do a surprising amount of business from local engineering firms, AV/network/cable installers, and little IT shops because where else are you going to get a 25 pair Amphe…

A lot of things can work at small scale that don't work at Radio Shack public company scale. Example. There's a board game store in Harvard Square that has been there forever. I assume it must make enough money for its owners to have stayed in business all these years. That doesn't mean that opening hundreds or thousands of such stores across the country would be a brilliant business plan. The same applies to the ind…

You must be talking about The Games People Play[1].

Long ago I bought things there such as the D&D boxed set and the Chivalry & Sorcery[2] rules. Another purchase I made there was a Magic Cube, imported from Hungary before the worldwide release as Rubik's Cube. These first cubes were heavier than the widely-released ones[3].

Great store, glad that it's still around.

[1] http://www.thegamespeopleplaycambridge.com/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chivalry_%26_Sorcery [3] http://www.rubiks.com/history

Re: RadioShack Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

#180

Post by whoopdedo »

Everyone is thinking about the consumer retail service of Radio Shack. But there's a lot of small contractors who basically use them as an outsourced inventory. Phone techs, alarm and AV installers, three out of five times I'm going to see Radio Shack connectors and resistors in their tool kit. I imagine the reason most stores keep those parts is not for amateurs but professionals who don't want to have to wait for UPS and deal with an impatient client.

That must be a business opportunity. If a Radio Shack store near you closes, stock up on F connectors, solder, and the most common resistor sizes then call around to contractors letting them know you can supply parts on demand.

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