It Must Nearly Be Over For Radio Shack

Terrywerm

Terrywerm

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A little over a year ago there was a thread posted in this forum about Radio Shack, the end of an era.

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/end-of-an-era.33747/

I have still ordered things from their online store from time to time, and service has been excellent, but I have also started getting used to Digikey and a couple others.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered some components from Radio Shack and they arrived in no time flat. I placed another order this past Sunday, and one item on the list of eight showed up on Tuesday. Today I received an email from them that they were issuing a refund for the remaining seven items. No explanation, just that they were issuing a refund.

I stopped at a Radio Shack franchise within an Ace Hardware store some distance from home today as I was driving right through the town where it is located. I've done business there from time to time, but only on rare occasions when it just happened to be convenient. They had only one of the seven items that were still on my list. According to the store's owner, the Radio Shack warehouse has not been filling their orders either.

Sounds like the shelves are bare at the Radio Shack warehouse. If so, the official end must be very near for them.
 
I did not use Radio Shack much (prefer DigiKey, Newark, Arrow, etc), but it is sad to see them go.
 
Over the years, I bought more than a few parts from Radio Shack. While the quality of their parts wasn't top notch, it was nice to have a local supplier.

It is interesting to look at the rise and fall of these businesses. I remember when Allied Radio was the industry leader and when DigiKey's catalog was a newsprint flyer.

I have used Jameco Electronics for many items in the past. They are not in the same league as DigiKey or Newark but oftentimes have some great offerings. They are geared more toward the hobbyist.
 
I used to use Radio Shack for quick access to connectors. There were several stores in the area and if I needed more than a store had, they would check stock in the others. I miss them. That said, I have always wondered who designed their online search engine. It had to be the worst one ever. Type in BNC and you would get wire, cell phones, .... but no connectors. That I will not miss.

Ken
 
Back in the days when you had to go places to buy things there was a Radio Shack in almost every town of any size around here i.e over 10,000. I was quite into music in my teens and couldn't afford top end gear. Radio Shack had microphones, reel-to-reel tapes and recorders, wire connectors, jacks, mixing boards, etc.

I guess they really started to slip when home computers came along. Remember the Tandy computer?

They weren't too good at selling cell phones either.
 
yet I'm still getting sale ad's by email. . . . got one yesterday. . go figure.
 
My "Radio Shack" memories.....

The good: the battery club, gave me something to do as a kid when the family went to the mall.

The bad: asked a salesman what the term "oversampling" meant for their CD players; his response: "That's how many times you can play the same song over." :dejected:

The ugly: an overheard conversation when someone brought back a small handheld microscope with light. The buyer complained that the image was inverted. The Radio Shack salesman actually turned around the batteries for the light and tried it again........:eek 2::faint:

I haven't even seen a store in years. I gave up on them long ago.

-brino
 
One of my life's disappointments was - after years and years of Allied Radio being my #1 go to source for mail order electronic parts - hearing that Tandy / Radio Shack bought them out.

Building Knight Kits got me started in electronics - been at it ever since.

Radio Shack was always IMO a low-quality source and the buyout was a heartbreaker.

It was not uncommon to have to buy 4 or 5 parts from RS to get one that worked. And yeah, some of the store help made broccoli look smart by comparison.
 
Needed some amps. Purchased 6 of these from RS.

Modified them for my needs.

Work very well.

P1010659.JPG




Charl
 
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