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Radio Shack

L

lifejogger

Lost in Texas
Does anyone buy anything at Radio Shack anymore? While going through my newspaper the other day and advertisement for Radio Shack fell out. I was surprised, first because I didn't think they were around anymore and second, I have never seen a store in the town I live. Just wondering.
 
lifejogger said:
Does anyone buy anything at Radio Shack anymore? While going through my newspaper the other day and advertisement for Radio Shack fell out. I was surprised, first because I didn't think they were around anymore and second, I have never seen a store in the town I live. Just wondering.
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It's funny you should mention. They are my life blood for small diameter solder and wiring to use in model construction. I could get it elsewhere, but it would be more costly.

Caz
 
Haven't been in a Radio Shack in years. Come to think about it, the last time I was in one I was looking at brand new 286 computers.
 
Just purchased all of my hardware to build my free track 3 point hat set up from them.

Lots of them here in South Florida
 
All my stereo stuff is from Radio Shack, and in keeping that in sync, my new DVD 3 Disc surround sound player came from RS about 2 years ago.
 
The Radio Shacks in my area are super pricey. The last time I was in one was to get a universal power supply to power my soft-tip dart board...got all the fancy electronic score keeping gizmos and loaded with variations of play that I had never heard of before. Their price was almost 3 times what I ended up getting it at Walmart for...same brand of power supply...just triple the price.

No, wait, I did go there and buy new AV cables earlier this year. Spent a small fortune on cables and wiring for my living room sound system and HD TV.

OBIO
 
I worked for RS for just over ten years. I began as a "Salesmaker" and quickly wound up going to the RS management school and advanced mgt training in Fort Worth, TX. After six years of succsessfully managing three stores, and finally getting the last store I managed over the $1 million gross sales hump, I was promoted to a District Management position.

After not quite four years, I saw the "handwriting on the wall" and left RS for retirement. During the time I was with RS, they had a phenomenol retirement/investment program which would match 80 cents for every dollar the employee invested. I mean, where else could you earn an automatic 80% return on investment! :)

With that, SPIFFS ($ incentives to sell selected items), and performance bonuses, it was a wonderful place to earn a lot of money. But, I began to see a trend towards reducing expenses by reducing the earnings potential, and the planned elimination of the matching investment program, so decided that it would be a good time to leave... ;)

Also, I was very disappointed by the fact that the "new blood" in upper-management had obviously lost sight of the original vision, which had historically been that small electronic parts were the "bread and butter" of RS's success over the decades. In addition, "customer service yields customer loyalty" were the hallmark of RS. "The lifetime loyalty of the customer is worth far more than the loss of a single sale" was the mantra we demanded our employees follow...

Unfortunately somehow the mission had changed so much thatl RS was fast becoming JABR (Just Another Boring Retailer) instead of a hobbyist's source for parts and doo-dads.

As far as number of stores, RS once boasted that there was a store withing a five minute drive of 90% of America's consumers. In my own district here in NW Indiana, I had no less than six stores within five miles of one another! That's just plain nuts! :costumes:
 
The first Radio Shack was a small store on Tremont Street in Boston in 1947, selling war surpus radios like SCR 522, transformers and every tube that glowed. It was so crowded that two people could hardly pass. It was a Ham radio heaven.
 
Pepere said:
Does it work good?

David
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Yeah it's this strange black mushroom looking thing, but it has a remote control that turns the antenna to different directions. I unfortunately am positioned in between 3 different towers so I need to turn it to catch all of the available channels. Everything is Hi-Def and looks great. I was really surprised at the quality of broadcast digital. I use it for the big monitor in the Computer Room when I want to catch the local news, PBS shows, or the two local weather channels.
 
I hit the one here in Lewisville every now and again for those odd electronic parts I tend to need. Always find what I need and the sales people are rather nice, but I agree, it is one of those places you don't really think about going to till you need something and can't find it at any other electronic place..
 
Kofschip said:
Dain, how much was that antenna? K.
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$49.99. It's rated at 4 out of 5 stars. I've had wonderful reception, even with having my computer so close to it. I can tell my computer interferes slightly with the signal when its running.

I see some negative comments on the product site, I think those people don't realize you either need to have a digital antenna connection/connector on the back of your monitor, or a decoder box if you are using an analog TV. I think it works great. I have my channels various directions programmed in on the remote so I just hit the monitor channel I want, then the corresponding channel programmed for the antenna, and turn it to the right direction now. It's not a real 'looker' in my opinion, but I have it on a shelf behind the monitor, so I don't see it anyway.

Its durable, I knocked it off, popped the top off and the antenna was pulled out of it. The case was all right. Quick resolder of the antenna lead, snapped the top back on, and it seems to work better now. :costumes:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2131034
 
Used to get nice replacement speakers for my stereo system at Radio Shack.
I miss that.
Caps for my nine volt applications in my active bass.
Wire shredding tools ... At least they still have that, with connectors and housings.
And Radio Shack batteries seem to have a nice fresh tone in active instruments; I prefer them.
Maybe it's my imagination.
Not toward less. Truth. Though of ... Of application.
I remember hanging in the lobby with Eric Johnson after a show ...
I opened for Dexter Gordon at the Armadillo;
Of and of ...
jbtate
 
Yep, RS is alive and well (somewhat) in the Puget Sound area. However, I'm one that thinks the move toward sales oriented help and away from knowledgeable techies was vastly detrimental to their popularity.

:censored:
 
My father-in-law, who started out as a repair technician with IBM over 50 years ago (he had to repair check-sorting machines in banks wearing a shirt and tie :isadizzy:) misses the days when he could get electronic parts from a local RS. The ones around here all seem to have turned into cellphone outlets and purveyors of other cheap electronic crap. I discovered, after having purchased something at one store and unsuccessfully trying to return it at another, that they're mostly franchises around here. If true elsewhere, perhaps they're partly the reason for the movement away from the chain's original business model.
 
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