Radio Shack closing down

[AsRock]

Well happened many years ago in the UK, but now by the end of this year they will all be gone. So if you want to grab a deal better find out more at your local store to see if it started\starting. As they will most likley sell every thing cheap along with shelf's and all.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...oshack-files-bankruptcy-second-time/98943636/

 

[Aquinus]

That article is almost 4 months old, just FYI.

 

[64K]

It's just the reality of the times we live in. People don't spend very much time in brick and mortar stores anymore. Far better prices online where the overhead of keeping a store open in a mall or strip mall isn't added to the price of goods. When I was a kid Radio Shack was one of a very few stores that I was interested in visiting when at the mall. So many cool toys to dream of having. When a young man, computers became a new toy to me and that's what I went and looked at. But, I haven't even been in a Radio Shack in more than 20 years. Too many better brick and mortar stores for PCs and electronics such as Best Buy and the now defunct Service Merchandise and Circuit City. It's been quite a few years since I've even visited one of those stores. First Newegg and then later Amazon became my go to places to buy PC hardware and electronics.

Well, thanks for the memories Radio Shack.

 

[Ferrum Master]

We still have one black market here, you can have almost anything there what was made in USSR, albeit the best military stuff is gone. Actually just were there for some unique logic IC's.

TBH there is need for a store when you need something monkey fast and you don't care for the price, shame that an alternative option is lost actually, less choices... I've got duds from Farnell here too it is very tough to complain about bad out of specs part when doing online shopping.

 

[Toothless]

They're already purged here when Sprint bought out the stores.

 

[Disparia]

I checked my local Radio Shack a couple weeks ago, already cleared out unfortunately.

 

[Mindweaver]

My local one closed down around 2 years ago... At the end of it's life it wasn't a "real" radio shack.. Just an electronics store. I use to go to them all the time, before amazon.

 

[qubit]

RS weren't much in the UK and from the looks of it not too great in the US either, so this is no great loss. It's all the staff who lost their jobs that I feel sorry for.

 

[jboydgolfer]

from the looks of it not too great in the US either

long enough ago it was. it was a place where only certain things could be acquired when you wanted them. Example. RS & best buy were the only places you could run out and get a tube of TIM right when you needed it(& ive done it too ). it was great, but it couldnt compete with the invent of WWW imo

 

[AsRock]

That article is almost 4 months old, just FYI.

But as i understand it the rest are closing down now, don't matter how old the article is if there are store's still open, which our store is.

RS weren't much in the UK and from the looks of it not too great in the US either, so this is no great loss. It's all the staff who lost their jobs that I feel sorry for.

Actually i used to go a lot for a hell lot of bit and bobs, but when it went tandy it went to the shitter, going back some 16 years ? when they finally died off ?. I used to get the stuff people return of them for next to nothing as there policy was to trash it. and not return it.

Yeah now you have that crappy Maplin place now.

 

[P4-630]

tandy

We even had a Tandy in my country in the town where I used to go to school when I was young. (don't know if it's still there or not, never been there anymore)
I bought some stuff over there when I was a kid, including a portable game computer like a gameboy but with larger screen and better price.

 

[silentbogo]

Pretty sure not that many people will be affected or even notice.
I visited Radioshack once in US (almost 10 years ago, while visiting relatives), and besides not being impressed by selection and quality, it left some bitter taste in my mouth.
All I needed is a cheap 35W soldering iron and some flux. Cost me $60! The iron broke 1 month later, and Radioshack-branded flux was so shitty and stinky that I only used it once. It looked and smelled like a mixture of goblin poop and crude oil.

I still order parts from Digikey, Arrow and Newark on occasion, and these guys ain't going nowhere any time soon.

If I remember correctly, bestbuy was in the similar deep sh#t some 7-8 years ago, but at least they were able to adjust their business model (khm... ridiculous pricing) and downsize a bit on Rocketfish and Dynex crap.

 

[Frick]

But, I haven't even been in a Radio Shack in more than 20 years. Too many better brick and mortar stores for PCs and electronics such as Best Buy and the now defunct Service Merchandise and Circuit City.

My experience with Best Buy and Circuit City, during a Michigan visit in 2005: Best Buy: I wanted to purchase an mp3 player during my visit, and I asked them what brands they had. They seriously did not understand what I meant until I mentioned the iPod. "Oh, you want an iPod." No, not necesserily, do you have any other brands? Like Creative, Archos, whatever... "What? We have iPods." It turned out they did not only have iPods, but the others were crappy so I got an iPod Mini, and the people there called everything iPods.

In Circuit City (I think it was Circuit City) they had no idea what a DVD region was or why I would be interested in buying a model that was not region locked. I think I asked them about something else but they were truly absolutely clueless about their own stuff.

But then I bought a pair of shorts and a sweater at a store with this very friendly man helping me, and my faith in Americans were restored. But when I paid for the items the cashier pressed me pretty hard for a rating on the guy helping me, and I saw the pleading look in the attendants eyes, and then I noticed the discreet earpieces everyone was wearing and I realized that holy shit these employees are monitored pretty hard so I was totally creeped out. And thus ends my experience with shopping in Lansing, MI.

We still have one black market here, you can have almost anything there what was made in USSR, albeit the best military stuff is gone. Actually just were there for some unique logic IC's.

I'd love to visit a USSR black market. Here we had a chain that used to sell army surplus stuff, and it was very nice (helicopter tanking equipment anyone?). Then the army started selling their surplus abroad or something, so now they're just another shop filled with cheap whatever.

 

[dorsetknob]

Yeah now you have that crappy Maplin place now.

Yes we have and its Another Chain Retailer where the Writing is on the financial Wall of doom

 

[natr0n]

"Oh hey there do you carry this type of battery? Oh yes here you go, that will be $15.99"

 

[jboydgolfer]

i remember back in high school ( not saying how long ago ) me & my friends used to buy disposable cameras, & get 9v batteries from Radio shack, and we would make simple macGyver "tazers" the evil bastards we were....they didnt hurt too much, but it was fun when the halls were REALLY crowded between classes to give someone a quick jolt, & see if they could figure out what the hell has just happened ..

 

[stinger608]

me & my friends used to buy disposable cameras

That is kind of a time line. Ya old bastard.

 

[jboydgolfer]

That is kind of a time line. Ya old bastard.

It's probably a good thing that RadioShack is closing and I'll explain why. I watch a lot of forensic files (the TV show about murders that sometimes go unexplained, but then get solved like 20 years later). And whenever there is an episode that involves a bomb or some type of device that causes people physical harm ( almost always an explosive device ) when the case is solved , its because The components are Traced back to the local radio shack from the maker of the devices home town, i.e. batteries, wires (mainly wires Yes they can trace them) etc...

Although I'm not certain about this, I am inclined to believe that's why they ask your name and address when you purchase anything in their store ( likely a mandate from some government organization be it DEA, ATF, FBI ). Just a thing I noticed after watching 1000+ hours a forensic files

 

[AsRock]

i remember back in high school ( not saying how long ago ) me & my friends used to buy disposable cameras, & get 9v batteries from Radio shack, and we would make simple macGyver "tazers" the evil bastards we were....they didnt hurt too much, but it was fun when the halls were REALLY crowded between classes to give someone a quick jolt, & see if they could figure out what the hell has just happened ..

Ooh we did not need RS, we just used a stick elastic bands\ rubber bands and the metal part from a peg and they hurt like a mofo. Kids in the UK are pure evil.

Apparently this guy seems like he only just found out about them and is doing it wrong, your not supposed to have a nail at the end of the stick , all so should use the stick side ways which is why you would not need the nail. But gives you the idea at least

 

[Ferrum Master]

I'd love to visit a USSR black market.

It has lost it's glory... everything is stolen sold( I was too small to get the opportunity for the best items). Best things were fluoropolymer silver wires(I adore them), PIO caps, switches, herkon relays, epic military grade RESITORS, HF diodes, etc.... well there were also other things, like crappy night vision goggles for tank operators, some optics, some parts from rockets like gyroscopes, emergency detonatable fuses that cut wires etc(don't ask were the the warheads went including nuclear when military bases were left). It depends from what kind of factory the parts came from, well in my hometown there was a covert factory making shopping trolleys, but actually they made isolation foam materials for Soyuz rockets... so quality bolts and screws, wires, basic electronics. Well but that's all history.

Now it is a last resort of gaining Russian tubes, transformers TA, TAH series, also K176, 174 series logics and other sort of random stuff that street bum gather and sell. Also they sell some of the china crap nowdays, the have some stock of that... I guess everyone needs to earn their money somehow, the seller faces there the same as were 10 years ago... it is also the last years I guess... maybe I am wrong.

I always actually wanted to visit Shenzhen market, anyone been there?

 

[EarthDog]

It's probably a good thing that RadioShack is closing and I'll explain why. I watch a lot of forensic files (the TV show about murders that sometimes go unexplained, but then get solved like 20 years later). And whenever there is an episode that involves a bomb or some type of device that causes people physical harm ( almost always an explosive device ) when the case is solved , its because The components are Traced back to the local radio shack from the maker of the devices home town, i.e. batteries, wires (mainly wires Yes they can trace them) etc...

Although I'm not certain about this, I am inclined to believe that's why they ask your name and address when you purchase anything in their store ( likely a mandate from some government organization be it DEA, ATF, FBI ). Just a thing I noticed after watching 1000+ hours a forensic files

they asked for your info to send you advertisements in the mail.

 

[dorsetknob]

Elastic Band over the fingers ( fingers in the Reverse Churchill or hello Frenchman gesture ) folded paper Ammo and you got a finger cattapult
Or there is the Bic Biro Blowpipe

 

[qubit]

Actually i used to go a lot for a hell lot of bit and bobs, but when it went tandy it went to the shitter, going back some 16 years ? when they finally died off ?. I used to get the stuff people return of them for next to nothing as there policy was to trash it. and not return it.

Yeah now you have that crappy Maplin place now.

Yes, that rebrand really didn't help, did it?

And yeah, Maplin isn't great, but still better than the old RS/Tandy in my opinion.

This is post 14000.

 

[P4-630]

Ooh we did not need RS, we just used a stick elastic bands\ rubber bands and the metal part from a peg and they hurt like a mofo. Kids in the UK are pure evil.

We were making berry shooters when I was young from a balloon and a toiletpaper rol.
If you had some hard berries or even little stones and you pulled that balloon far enough it also hurt a lot if you were shooting at someone lol!!

 

[jboydgolfer]

This is post 14000.

Dont look at thanks jk

This thread has made apparent that several members here are devious bastards including myself