[Coco] More poor news for Radio Shack

[Frank Pittel]

On Tue, Dec 16, 2014 at 12:51:18PM -0600, Allen Huffman wrote:
> > On Dec 16, 2014, at 9:46 AM, Frank Pittel <fwp at deepthought.com> wrote:
> > 
> > I have to admit I don't go to RS much anymore so take what I'm going to write for what it's worth.
> 
> Be sure to drop by one before they are (potentially) gone forever. You may be very surprised at all the kits, parts, microcomputers, etc. they have on the shelves these days.
> 
> I kinda stopped going after the end of the CoCo era. I only started again (briefly, in 2005) when I was building stuff and needed parts. After that, I pretty much only went there for batteries. Their super alkaline used to be voted best batteries by consumer reports or whoever, so I still use them.

I stopped buying batteries from RS many years ago. Stopped when I bought a pack of 4 rechargable AAs and they quit taking a charge after
4-5 recharges! I then started buying Enegizer rechargables from the nearby Walmart. These days I go to Costco for the few alkaline
batteries that I use. They sell Duracell 40packs of AA and 20packs of AAA for ~$14. Hard to beat. 
 
> > again. A Microcenter near me has gotten
> > into the "maker" market and has dedicated space almost as large as a RS store to DIY electronics! Complete with kits, components, etc.
> > I spoke with the manager of the store and they have plans to expand the amount of space because the demand is so high. That of course
> > doesn't include the serial cables, adaptors, plugs, etc that we used to go to RS for in different areas of the store.
> 
> Strangely enough, two years ago I was looking for something for Arduino at the local RadioShacks. Online, I found one store in nearby Ankeny, Iowa that had it -- none of the others. I visited and they had all kinds of things the other stores didn't carry (some stuff by request, from the back room, due to no display space for it). I asked them about this -- was there a college nearby with an electronics program or something? No, they just sold a bunch of it so they stocked extra stuff that the other stores did not. And this store was maybe 8 miles from others in Des Moines. Very weird. It was third party stuff, with a stick on label with a Radio Shack catalog number. I got servo cables and stuff there.

That is a very rare RS and I wish that store represented RS everywhere. The stores around here have a "little" bit of arduino stuff but
not much. They do stock a lot radio controller helicopters, cell phones and other crap.

> 
> > The sad fact is that RS doesn't want to be a store that DIY or hobbiest go to. They're now a store that sells cell phones and off brand
> > rechargable batteries for almost twice as much as name brand stuff available at the walgreens, Jewel, etc just short walk down the block
> > from them!!
> 
> Their niche will always be those things no one else carries. A friend of mine griped at paying $12 for some phone adapter they needed, a total ripoff since he could get it for a few bucks online, but they had it and they needed it that day for their store, so... RadioShack. He tends to gripe every time he goes to RadioShack for something like that, because of the prices, but they are the only game in town for them.
> 
> When they are gone (if they are gone), I guess we just wait 2 days without a phone or audio working or and effect in our haunted house or...

Sadly, if their primary market is a bunch of oddball stuff that people only need every once and a while they're
doomed. 

The Other Frank


PS - I like the idea of Radio Shack and will miss them if they close but they will need to completely change their
business model to survive and I think it's to late even if they were to try.