It's Official: RadioShack declares bankrupty

[COKid]

Nearly a century after it opened its first store and sent out its first catalog, RadioShack (RSHC) declared bankruptcy on Thursday.

It has struck a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its approximately 4,000 stores and wireless company Sprint (S) will create a "store within a store" in up to 1,750 of those.

 

RadioShack said that its 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.

 

But RadioShack is not completely going away. Customers will still be able to purchase RadioShack products, services and accessories at the approximately 1,750 stores where Sprint will open shop. In fact, Sprint will occupy just one third of those locations, where it will sell devices and plans. The stores will be "co-branded," according to a Sprint spokeswoman.

 

The bankruptcy announcement is no surprise. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of its shares on Monday. And RadioShack (RSHC)workers have told CNNMoney that some locations have already been converted to clearance stores.

 

It's been a long, slow decline for RadioShack. Losses have been mounting, and in its latest quarter sales plunged 16% from a year ago.

 

Cash-strapped, RadioShack found itself saddled with more than 5,000 stores at the beginning of last year, many of which it couldn't afford to keep open.

 

More: http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/05/news/companies/radioshack-bankruptcy/index.html?iid=HP_LN

[jnelsoninjax]

Does anyone even shop at radio shack anymore? I go by one on my way to and from work and never see anyone in the store, and it's any excellent location, lots of traffic driving by, so this does not come as a surprise.

[Michael Scrip]

Does anyone even shop at radio shack anymore? 

Judging by the headline... no.

 

[T3X4S]

I thought what was kinda dumb, was they had 1 thing they were known for a long time ago - the little electronic components for all the DIY people (transistors, caps, wiring, etc)  the hobbyists could always count on Radio Shack in a pinch.
I realize that online shopping hurt them, but they had their niche.  I guess it wasnt profitable anymore, but when they abondoned that in an attempt to become the Go To place for phones - they cut off their own reputation.
Nobody thought of them when looking @ a smartphone, or any electronics.

A shame, some companies cant change with the times.

I had a contract with them for some tech support a long time ago @ their HQ in Fort Worth.  I thought it was one of the dumbest companies in the world.  The department director only cared about 1 thing: if you were there on time.
If you were the most incompentent moron that couldn't go to the bathroom without hurting yourself - it was OK as long as you were there on time.

I found this out on day 2 when I was 1 minute late from lunch.  This was the 1st job I ever had where I had to "clock in" - he (the director) gave me the big lecture about how that is so important... blah blah blah

They had so much bloat, extremely defunct systems/methods - none of that mattered as long as you were there one time - even 15 seconds would earn yourself a big lecture.  I told them on day 3 I wasnt coming back.

Another example of stupidity was when I was "training" (my direct supervisor was there for 20 years and he was doing the same thing I was doing !!)  was in their software, most of it was doing nothing more than hitting Enter to get to the next screen.
One had to do it 10 times for every ticket, the same screens, every time - so when I asked if there was ever a time where I didnt hit Enter 10 times, they told me No.  So my next question was, "well why is it there then ?"  - My reply, "well I dont know - nobody has ever asked that before ..."

[br0adband]

It's the end of a long era and a herald of sorts towards the future I suppose. Growing up in the 1970s I would regularly tag along with my Dad to Radio Shack for parts of most any kind (including a huge selection of vacuum tubes, seriously) and the guys working there were old(er) gents that knew electricity and electronics like... well, like they were born to it. I've watched them fall apart over the decades, trying to cater to whatever the consumer electronics public wanted and denying their origins but I suppose things always change as time passes.

 

It's a sad day for me in many respects, I have tons of fond memories of my visits to their stores in my youth, working for them for a brief period in the mid-1990s, and then watching them basically do themselves in till their eventual destruction which happened today with the declaration of bankruptcy.

 

"Radio Shack is dead... long live Radio Shack."

[ATLien_0]

The DIY electronics community has now become a niche market, and those that do still partake probably buy at places online like mouser. I still frequent Radio Shack when I'm working on a project and need the components quick. Whats even worse though is that 99% of the time now when I go into radio shack, I feel like I know about the components prts thy sell than the sales associates do. Radio Shack hasn't hired competent sales associates for the DIY stuff in years. I just wish Radio Shack had stuck with what they were good at instead of trying to become a mini best buy, What they need is for a company like Google or Microsoft to buy them. Both companies are heavily invested in the DIY/Makerspace community.  

[spaceelf]

You can still get cheap toolkits that are pretty good quality there.  I still like em for that, but that's pretty much the only reason I'd go there.

[Krome]

I plan on going on the DIY electronic frontier but it seems that I will have a hard time getting parts now.  RadioShack is way too expensive for all the stuff it sells though.  If Google buy RadioShack, it would have been a good thing but I think Google is waiting for it to go out of business so that they will pick it up.

 

I disagree.  Their tools are expensive compare to other brand name that does the exact same thing.

[LUTZIFER]

I guess it's hard to compete when you can buy the same quality stuff at any dollar store, lol.

RadioShack was actually my favorite store back when I was a kid.

Been a very long time since I've been in one now though.

[benthebear]

I thought what was kinda dumb, was they had 1 thing they were known for a long time ago - the little electronic components for all the DIY people (transistors, caps, wiring, etc)  the hobbyists could always count on Radio Shack in a pinch.

I realize that online shopping hurt them, but they had their niche.  I guess it wasnt profitable anymore, but when they abondoned that in an attempt to become the Go To place for phones - they cut off their own reputation.

Nobody thought of them when looking @ a smartphone, or any electronics.

 

 

In, I guess their last desperate bid to get people back, they brought the components back, but they just couldn't compete with the prices you can get online. Like, I bought 100 blue LEDs for $2 from some US based Chinese storefront. Radioshack wanted $3 for one.