Radio Shack bankruptcy

[rkawakami]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/radioshack- ... 1423175389
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/ ... XC20150205

Have been a customer for years and years. Probably started around 1968 when I first got interested in electronics. "Free battery" card (one per month) brought you into the store and usually resulted in some impulse buy. Bought various kits, parts, CB radios (remember those?), AM/FM radios, calculators, batteries, and other electronics items before the advent of the other mass-market electronic retailer in these parts (Frys). My first cell phone was a Sprint-branded Qualcomm QCP-2700 (look it up) bought at a local (Rat) Shack; I still have it. Now apparently, some of the stores will be converted into Sprint outlets. Not sure how that's going to turn out as Sprint only has about 17% market share in the US.

Never did buy a Radio Shack/Tandy computer though. At the time the TRS-80 (Trash 80) was released I had access to Digital Equipment PDP-11 or Data General Nova computers at work. I had graduated from BASIC to FORTRAN many years before that so I didn't see much use for a "home" computer. Ah, the memories....

[ajkula66]

Well, just about the only thing I ever bought in RS were batteries for cordless phones and Arctic Silver thermal paste...sad to see them go down with such a bang, though, and I doubt that Sprint will be able to keep them in business.

Good luck to everyone affected...

[MisterB]

I've bought numerous parts from them over the years. They never had the best selection but they had the basics. Resistors, capacitors, wire, cable, solder and tools. The great thing was that they were there. Before the internet, mail ordering parts was a slow process and I often bought the part I needed to fix something there. I also have a collection of really oddball products they carried that I've picked up at yard sales and second hand stores. Stuff like mini amplifiers and complicated audio and video switchboxes.

They just didn't fit in anymore in the smartphone era of ultra miniaturized and disposable electronics.

[Norway Pad]

Sad to see this. We don't have any stores like this in Norway. Not close to where I live, anyway. So Radio Shack was one of the stores I went to each time I was back in the US to buy stuff like breadboards and various electronic components. If nothing else, I always bought some packs of Arctic Silver.

They just didn't fit in anymore in the smartphone era of ultra miniaturized and disposable electronics.

I would agree on this. And the stuff that people still need can be bought easier and cheaper on eBay.

[Saucey]

I was going to go get some transistors this weekend!
But yes, they were great at electronics and specific parts that were not available from Home Depot.
I didn't need to go there much other than the occasion car or watch battery.
Sad to see it go but since the shift of electronics, RadioShack was in an odd place. They seemed to start being some sort of cell phone kiosk, but sold electronics you'd find from Target and Best Buy, that you'd buy from Amazon after price checking with their app.

I think they dug their own grave, no point into buying a cellphone there since the providers they've partnered with had their own stores and kiosks at the mall.