RadioShack To Rebrand As "The Shack"? 629
Harry writes "Rumor has it that RadioShack is planning to re-brand itself as The Shack later this year, after eighty-eight years under the old name (most of them with a space in between 'Radio' and 'Shack'). I hope it's not true, because I don't think the move would do a thing to make the retailer a better, more successful business." Where will we go to buy soldering irons and those RCA to headphone jack adapters now?
Already done in Canada (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Back in the day... (Score:5, Informative)
I used to buy parts 'at the last minute' at the rat shack. now, I don't even bother looking anymore and instead just hit up the only valid mailorder places left: digikey, mouser, newark are the big 3.
their parts are cheap enough, they work, they web ordering works and the selection is world class (literally, many people across the world order parts FROM the US distributors and even pay VAT/customs to receive the pkg).
I go into a rat shack and I see candy, cellphones and an ever dwindling parts selection.
they don't even carry x10 powerline remote stuff anymore (that used to be a stable at the shack).
I might as well turn in my radio shack battery club card:
http://www.antiqueradios.com/gallery/v/temp/battofmonth2.jpg.html [antiqueradios.com]
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Surveillance (Score:3, Informative)
If you have to frequent minimalls that have Wal-Marts and Radio Shacks you need to move to someplace less soul-destroying.
Re:Surveillance (Score:4, Informative)
Could you please elaborate on this?
Back in the handwritten receipt era, they used to "demand" names and addresses for all purchases to add you to the catalog list.
I had relatives employed there, and address collection was a typical MBA tracking metric complete with graphs and goals and standards, you could be fired for not bothering, there was a minimum quota for data gathering, etc. If I recall around a quarter century ago you were expected to get the address at least 60% of the time. During christmas rush it was assumed you'd not bother, on the other hand, during the slowest football sunday it was assumed you'd gather all info since you have nothing better to do.
Crazy people usually had the intersection of two beliefs :
1) That anyone cares that you personally bought a headphone-RCA adapter cable.
2) That no one can tell a lie to a store clerk, or just plain ole make stuff up (Yes sir, I do in fact live at 1600 penn ave in DC). They never, ever, asked for picture ID.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Informative)
It's been called Nesquik everywhere but the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia since the 1950s, the name was changed to "Nesquik" in 1999 in those countries.
Unlike Opal Fruits, which were introduced as Starburst in the US in the 1970's and then had the brand changed everywhere else
For those with an historical bent (Score:5, Informative)
The term "radio shack" was coined in the early 20th Century, when shipping companies began to add radio to their vessels. Since the ships were already built, the extra room for the radio equipment had to be added -- there was typically no existing space with both access to the antenna (i.e., above deck) and the necessary electrical power from the ship's plant. (The audible noise from the spark equipment of the day also meant that the equipment, which was used largely at night, couldn't be placed near the officers' sleeping quarters.) Paid for out of operating expenses by the frugal shipowners, these added rooms were typically small and poorly constructed, often from wood, and the term "radio shack" quickly followed.
New ship construction, of course, included a purpose-built room for the radio equipment, still called the "radio shack." Even the Queen Elizabeth 2 has a radio shack. The term quickly moved ashore -- amateur radio stations are in shacks, for example -- and "radio shack" came to mean the place where all the equipment was. From there, commercial use soon followed.
Re:Surveillance (Score:5, Informative)
A year from now, I predict 'The Shack' will be liquidating assets under Chapter 11. Anyone wanna take that bet? It would be smarter than buying Radio Shack stock.
Bad prediction. Against all odds and logic, the company is reasonably profitable [marketwatch.com].
Radioshack is profitable (Score:5, Informative)
Re:How do they stay in business? (Score:5, Informative)
1) The workers make minimum wage plus commission.
2) They specialize in items with a high profit margin. And then they mark them up.
3) They attach themselves to "hot items" that suddenly everyone needs. Most recent example: digital converter boxes have been huge business.
4) They cut costs like crazy. The CEO famously sold off all their plants to employees to save them money on maintaining them. Et cetera.
5) They're everywhere, they're convenient. If you need something specific and relatively common, chances are the RadioShack is closer to where you live and small enough that, unlike, say, Fry's, you don't have to wander around a big box for 30 minutes.
Of Any Other Name. (Score:2, Informative)
Radio Shack... 10-15 years ago? More like 25-30.. (Score:3, Informative)
I couldn't help but think if this was 10, 15 years ago not only would I not have gotten a blank stare, if it was that slow they might have offered to even make it while i was there.
Nah, that's not quite far enough back... At least, not in the Radio Shacks I'm familiar with. In the mid-Nineties the stores were roughly as they are now. Maybe fewer cell phones and more VCRs and DVD players, but the reduction of the parts section and the blank stare effect were in full force at that point.
Mid to late 1980s you might have had better luck. I still can't imagine the folks at Radio Shack building anything for me, but they'd be happy to show me their selection of soldering irons...
Honestly, though, while the hobbyist aspect of Radio Shack has declined a lot since I was a kid, I have been impressed from time to time with what they do have. For instance, they carry a kit + activity book to help people learn to use microcontrollers. That's damn cool IMO. I never would have thought I'd see such a thing in Radio Shack these days: from about 1995 onward I've been pretty cynical about them due to the vast reduction in the parts section.
Re:Surveillance (Score:5, Informative)
A very unusual project at work required me to make a mono audio jack to RJ11 cable.
My first thought was 'Radio Shack.' I'm digging through the drawers of connectors and the salesman came over and asked if I needed any help. (I was the only one in the store, he was probably bored.) I explained the project and got a blank stare.
I wanted to hook up my laptop's S-Video to my TV's RCA video.
I know such cables and adapters exist, I've used them before and seen them online for just a few dollars. But I didn't have any handy, and didn't want to wait for something to ship. I figured Radio Shack would have what I needed.
My wife and I were the only customers there, so the sales people kept hovering around. I shoo'ed them away a couple times, but I was having a genuinely difficult time locating the part. Eventually I got tired of them asking to help me and I told them what I was looking for.
One of them gave me a blank look, the other one looked amused. He then carefully explained that there was no such simple adapter and that I'd have to purchase some kind of RF converter box. He showed me a device with inputs for everything under the sun... S-Video, RCA, component... And outputs in RCA and coax. The box cost around $100.
I noticed right next to this RF converter box an S-Video to RCA cable. Exactly what I'd been looking for. Except that it was about 10 feet long and gold plated. The cable itself was $30 or so.
I didn't buy either item at Radio Shack. I went to WalMart instead. Found a little adapter for $2 and a 5 foot cable for $7 or so. Spent about $10 total and it works great.
That was the last time I went to Radio Shack.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:4, Informative)
The problem is that most people equate Radio shack with "used to be useful, but is now an utter joke."
They lowered pay and employee standard so all you get now is idiots, and they eliminated almost all of their good stuff and replaced it with crap you can get at Best Buy for less hassle. Their small parts section is a joke, but that is really only there to sucker the techie guy in the door.
Their cellphone selection and accessories are a joke, their Stereo equipment are a joke, in fact everything there is a joke now. Radio Shack's heyday was the late 80's. They made some really stupid direction changes and they have been sliding towards irrelevant ever since.
Radio Shack, you got Questions? We got blank stares.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:2, Informative)
Bell aka the Telecom from hell that charges a non-optional $2.80 a month fee for touch tone service:
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/595445
Re:Surveillance (Score:3, Informative)
another one that use to be Anderson Consultants. I can still remember Anderson Consultants, but for the life of me I can't remember what they call themselves now.
Anderson Consultants changed its name to Accenture, and was extremely lucky to do so, given the Enron scandal that destroyed its sister company, Arthur Anderson.
Even though the two companies hadn't been directly related since the 1980s, the name would have been a huge taint on their brand.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Informative)
When they started selling phones? Really? Not when they started hawking generic electronics and speakers at premium prices under the Optimus brand? Or when they tried to sell you a Tandy every time you stepped through the door?
To be fair, electronic component sales really aren't a viable market anymore. With the price of production shrinking just as fast as the size of transistors, we've long since entered the world of disposable electronics, where it's cheaper to design and manufacture products to be replaced in their entirety than to be repairable. Surface mount technology was pretty much the death knell for that. Sure, there are exceptions, and I probably do more electronic repairs than most people, but it's still a rare event. I recognize that our hobby/habit is becoming more and more of a rarity, and on modern electronics, the only *technician* serviceable parts are basically connectors and buttons/switches. It's not like you can even get schematics for most electronics these days, so unless you know for a fact that you just broke off a SMC, and what its value was, you're probably never going to find the fault. I've even seen boards straight from the manufacturer with components broken off or leads clipped to correct design flaws, so you can't rely on sight alone.
When it comes down to it, people would rather just get a new device than pay someone half the replacement price, and in most cases more than the market value of the old one. Desktop computers are about the only exception, but even then you're usually swapping out boards rather than performing component-level repairs. When I bent the pins on my LGA 775 socket, for example, the entire motherboard was a wash. It would have cost $25 just for the part from my wholesaler after discount, and hours of tedium to manually resolder 775 pins, IF I could even pull it off without creating a short or melting a trace. And I certainly didn't want to risk a $100 used CPU in a home-soldered socket, let alone the brand new $500 CPU I was replacing it with. Better to just run out and get a new motherboard for $100, and the peace of mind that comes with it.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:3, Informative)
And if you click on the More information about this page [snopes.com] link at the bottom of that page, Snopes debunks that one, too.
- RG>
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:2, Informative)
"I'm going to grab a Mountain Dew because I need a coke to wash down my burger and fries"?
I see you have never been to the south before.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:2, Informative)
> of course the search string it used was broken and didn't show any results
It wasn't broken...there's just no help available from Microsoft.