Today, on several news outlets online, is a story that Radio Shack is planning to close 1100 stores nationally. The last redoubt of local parts access is soon to be reached. Notwithstanding that I order bulk LEDs and resistors online, but those projects that require "just one of...a capacitor or diode of a certain spec" will be harder to accomplish. I just can't seem to figure out why I would bulk order (online) 100 bridge rectifier diodes or capacitors, without the requisite number of car lighting projects to do. After all, those tank cars, flat cars and box cars are rarely lit when running !
Anyway- it is sad news, but then- I was perhaps only one of every 1000 customers in their stores actually looking in the parts trays buried in the rear of each store, so I guess I won't be missed! Most of their mall stores will probably close (high lease costs) and those metro areas of medium or larger size will probably have no more than one store remaining.
Cedarwoodron
Radio Shack discontinued electronics components in their stores several years ago except for a few minor items such as resistors and capacitors, and became nothing more than a cell phone and video game store aimed at a teen audience, so they won't be missed by me.
We used to have 3 Radio Shack stores here -- only one remains in a mall, and it might be one of the ones that is going to be closed due to the high cost of rent and so many competing cell phone dealers within the mall.
On the few rare occasions I have been there, I was usually the only customer in the store, so they sure weren't paying the rent on my purchases.
I only ever bought the pointed finer 35 watt soldering pencil tips from them, a twin-pack about every six years. Can't say I did them much good.
Not a big deal at all. DigiKey, Mouser Electronics, many on line supplers of parts around. I have not bought parts at RS for some years.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
73
Bruce in the Peg
Radio Shack has been getting smaller each year. They basically abandoned the kit builder and parts supply just like model railroad suppliers - Everyone want's 'RTR' - Right.
Unfortunately for Radio Shack, they have based their business model on low end R/C stuff and cell phones - All basic consumer stuff that can be sold anywhere(and at better prices). They lost their unique sales/service status and had to compete with the likes of Walmart - And they will lose every time as Walmart & the Internet are the low price providers on this stuff.
We used to have two Radio Shacks here in Rochester, MN(100.000 population), and are down the base store in the local mall - It just keeps 'shrinking' in size and while they still have 'parts', it is mainly small pkg's of an assortment of LED, or resistors and some wire - But the they have plenty of batteries, R/C stuff, and cell phones. It is really sad to hear their 'experts' walk folks through the operation of a cell phone....
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
We have one in town. Their parts, soldering supplies, etc. are very minimal. The front half (maybe 2/3rds) of the store is cell phones.
While I miss the old Radio Shacks, I won't miss this one if it closes.
Paul
Even more comical when you ask a "sales associate" (remember, they are no longer clerks!) where the parts drawers are- even though you know darn well exactly where they are located. Even funnier- ask them about wire in a specific gauge!
We still have one in town. They could have been a player but chose a different direction and soon they will be nothing more than a memory.
It is disheartning to go into the local "shack" and ask for something and have the Cells person..I mean sales person look at you like you are speaking a foreign language. But i guess to them you are.
I had that happen once when I asked about a 12 volt regulated power supply & they took me to where they had car chargers for cell phones
We have a place called You-Do-It Electronics nearby, but not as close as several Radio Shacks. I'll go to RS for a resistor or a capacitor, but half the time I don't find what I want. More than likely I'll get that stuff online.
If I owned an LHS, on the other hand, I'd buy bulk orders of common resistors and sell them for a dime each.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
My LHS does sell..commonly used electrical switches, LEDs etc in the train dept
I can't say a whole lot positive about the Shack's direction in recent years. Every time I go in, it seems they have discontinued something else I used to get there, which is rather discouraging.
On the other hand, I'm rather struck by the lack of appreciation of the impact on the hobby. If it was a LHS, there usually is a chorus of lament to go with the chorus of "they had it coming." Sure, it was a pretty sparse buffet in recent years, but it was something close by in a lot of cases. Now that's going away. And that's not good. I wonder if mine (two blocks away) will survive?
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Just My . The area you live in has a direct roll in whether the RS is going to make it or not. It is not much different than a LHS closing in a area. There may be four people where you live, that has used the RS, in one day, compared, to fourty in another state. That is what they go by. It's not really all that hard to figure out. I live in the Chgo area and one four miles from me still has all the Electronic, that were carried before. It really helps to know exactly what you want though. That is also easy, look it up in their free on-line catalog and it will also tell who has it in your area and what it costs. There are more Electronic Suppliers out there, than there ever was,LHS's. Some people just have to be lead by the hand, to help them to find anything on their own, now-a-days, and they are usually sitting right in front of it and it's free.
That's All Folks
Frank
mlehmanI can't say a whole lot positive about the Shack's direction in recent years
When I got my amateur radio license in 1963, Radio schlock was considered scraping the bottom of the barrel. I don't have one here in town, the closest is a good twenty mile drive to find they have nothing anyhow. Maybe if they gave me a reason to have concern, and convice me I shouldn't use Jameco or DigiKey, or Allied. If I need something in a hurry, then it's a thirty mile drive to get there. Not radio shack, obviously. Not into gaming or cell phones.
Thing is...you walk into the mall and there are 3-4 kiosks located in the centerway throughout the mall- T Mobile, Metro PCS, etc. selling all kinds of cell phones, accessories and- their accompanying usage plans. Then you come to Radio Shack- as a mall lessee, they invested in their corporate retail interior, maintain an inventory of all sorts of ancillary retail stuff that no one buys, and then they hire know-nothings as sales associates, who try to sell you that Sponge-Bob desk phone for your kid and a 5G cell phone and plan for yourself at a price higher than those several kiosk "store-ettes". How long do you think they will stay in business? My once-a-month small electronics parts purchases will certainly not help their overhead! They are trying to sell into a headwind of discounters!
On the other hand, the late, lamented LHS serves(d) a discrete clientele, and the employees- from merely breathing the air in that store- have some substantive knowledge of what they are selling/were selling- and to knowledgeable customers, at that!
Big difference, but in the end, the tyranny of the marketplace wins out over all. So, back to the online world for yet another facet of our hobby's needs and wants.....
cedarwoodron Thing is...you walk into the mall and there are 3-4 kiosks located in the centerway throughout the mall- T Mobile, Metro PCS, etc. selling all kinds of cell phones, accessories and- their accompanying usage plans. Then you come to Radio Shack- as a mall lessee, they invested in their corporate retail interior, maintain an inventory of all sorts of ancillary retail stuff that no one buys, and then they hire know-nothings as sales associates, who try to sell you that Sponge-Bob desk phone for your kid and a 5G cell phone and plan for yourself at a price higher than those several kiosk "store-ettes". How long do you think they will stay in business? My once-a-month small electronics parts purchases will certainly not help their overhead! They are trying to sell into a headwind of discounters! On the other hand, the late, lamented LHS serves(d) a discrete clientele, and the employees- from merely breathing the air in that store- have some substantive knowledge of what they are selling/were selling- and to knowledgeable customers, at that! Big difference, but in the end, the tyranny of the marketplace wins out over all. So, back to the online world for yet another facet of our hobby's needs and wants..... Cedarwoodron
Also factor in that while many MRR's still purchase electronic parts most of the general public does not. I suspect that those of us who do need parts do a lot of our shopping online though All Electronics or Ebay.
Joe Staten Island West
joe323 cedarwoodron Thing is...you walk into the mall and there are 3-4 kiosks located in the centerway throughout the mall- T Mobile, Metro PCS, etc. selling all kinds of cell phones, accessories and- their accompanying usage plans. Then you come to Radio Shack- as a mall lessee, they invested in their corporate retail interior, maintain an inventory of all sorts of ancillary retail stuff that no one buys, and then they hire know-nothings as sales associates, who try to sell you that Sponge-Bob desk phone for your kid and a 5G cell phone and plan for yourself at a price higher than those several kiosk "store-ettes". How long do you think they will stay in business? My once-a-month small electronics parts purchases will certainly not help their overhead! They are trying to sell into a headwind of discounters! On the other hand, the late, lamented LHS serves(d) a discrete clientele, and the employees- from merely breathing the air in that store- have some substantive knowledge of what they are selling/were selling- and to knowledgeable customers, at that! Big difference, but in the end, the tyranny of the marketplace wins out over all. So, back to the online world for yet another facet of our hobby's needs and wants..... Cedarwoodron Also factor in that while many MRR's still purchase electronic parts most of the general public does not. I suspect that those of us who do need parts do a lot of our shopping online though All Electronics or Ebay.
I have been doing that for at least ten years.
Many get stuck in a Tme Warp and have no idea the world, model railroading, the economy is evolving.
Today, change is a constant and rapidly moving.
No surprise, R.S. has been slipping for a long time. The local hobby shop is long gone and the local lumber yard and hardware store were big box steam rolled. Sad.
regards, Peter
It's not sad. It's exciting to see how things are changing and what will happen next. The world is evolving. Many old timers cannot handle it. Go with the flow.
I won't miss Radio Shack. I usually have to visit the four Shacks in my area to get what I need. I visited a radio shack a while back and helped a customer who was being helped by a sales rep find what he needed. Then I helped two more customers before I left. When I was paying for what I needed the rep asked me if I wanted an employment application.
Lol. Been there quite a few years ago.
I was in 2 RS stores today for miniature switches. Needed 4 & each had 2. The one clerk has been there for a while & knows the store & is very helpful...guess it depends on the store.
I gave up on radioshack a long time ago. I do my buying at a regular electronics supply store. The store is the same size as radioshack, but is filled with every component, plug, and tool you could want. I picked up a nice temp controlled soldering base and pencil there a few years ago and have never been disappointed with it. I can get various different tips or the whole pencil if I want. You won't find those at RS. Yeah, they have cell phones there too, but there's only 2 of them and they're on the sales guys.
cedarwoodron I just can't seem to figure out why I would bulk order (online) 100 bridge rectifier diodes or capacitors, without the requisite number of car lighting projects to do. After all, those tank cars, flat cars and box cars are rarely lit when running !
it is sad news,
Radio Snit has been circling the drain now for many years. When I was a kid, they had electronic project books, the necessary components (sometimes the "pimply-faced-kids" even knew something about them), some OK DIY stuff for hi-fi, and some excellent hi-fi component which were re-branded pieces of well-respected manufacturers.
Nothing but less and less expertise, product selection, and usefullness from these clowns for years; Glad to see them go. Maybe a good restaurant will open in their former location.
mlehman I can't say a whole lot positive about the Shack's direction in recent years. Every time I go in, it seems they have discontinued something else I used to get there, which is rather discouraging. On the other hand, I'm rather struck by the lack of appreciation of the impact on the hobby. If it was a LHS, there usually is a chorus of lament to go with the chorus of "they had it coming." Sure, it was a pretty sparse buffet in recent years, but it was something close by in a lot of cases. Now that's going away. And that's not good. I wonder if mine (two blocks away) will survive?
Yeah, the "good riddance" is a bit curious when a national chain is dropping a thousand locations but somehow it's big enough news every time a hobby shop closes to start a thread about it. Radio Shack shuttering that many stores is...real news.
That said, Radio Shack always seemed a bit like an artifact of a different age. And they seemed to have entirely too many stores. It's like...Gamestop has roughly one store for every 10,000 people in a given town. That's a multi-billion dollar industry. Radio Shack seems like it's got a store for every 5,000 people and an industry that, how to put it, isn't really around any more. That just seems unwise.
There have only been two Radio shack stores in my county. One in the south part where I live and one in the north part. Both places are not even close to being "the big city".
The one here still carries lots of the electronic parts as before.They have added flat screen TV's, washers, dryers and fridge's. As well as cordless phones and cell phones. With of course a good supply of RC vehicles. Which sell real well. The people working there know what electronic parts are and where in the store they have them. The one thing they do not carry is liquid flex. Go figure? Some times they were out of items, but would get them back in stock with in a few days. So, I wonder, if maybe some of the stores are independently owned?
Ken Price
Ken G Price My N-Scale Layout
Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR
N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.
I've been buying my electronic supplies from AllElectronics.com for years, now. Even with shipping, it's still cheaper than driving the mile to the RS in my town.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR