[Coco] Radio shack layoffs, store closing, etc... Goodbye, and thanks for the memories?

[Mark McDougall]

On 9/03/2017 11:11 AM, Spencer via Coco wrote:

> Gouging
> is one reason they're going under, and just NOT having a good
> business model to compete with online shopping.  THIS is what's
> happening to other major retailers.

Typical of a lot of retail here in Australia, too. Their answer was to 
lobby the government to impose more taxes on imports so they'd be more 
'competitive', rather than actually, you know, do something about it!

One camera store famously tried charging customers $40 to 'look at 
cameras and ask questions' - refundable if you made a subsequent 
purchase in-store. You don't need to be told how that went down...

Personally, I think a lot of retail stores need to change their main 
focus to a "try before you buy (from us online)" service, rather than 
keeping enough stock in-store for every customer to carry home with 
them. I think that would work particularly well for clothing and shoes, 
for example, especially if they offered same-day or next-day delivery. 
Savings could be made on showroom floor area, freighting & inventory 
control in-store, and number of personnel.

To be honest, I think Radio Shack has been in no-man's land for many 
years and one end of the spectrum - 'phones' - is already saturated by 
more focused and knowledgeable companies whilst the other end, hobbyist 
electronics, simply has a small market better served online. Sad to see 
them go but inevitable.

Regards,

-- 
Mark McDougall
<http://retroports.blogspot.com.au>