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?
Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Insightful)
It's very dangerous to rebrand because of how much you lose vs how much you gain. IBM makes bugger all money from "International Business Machines" these days but they wouldn't want to lose a brand everyone knows. Same for "Carphone Warehouse" in the UK, they don't want to lose the recognition despite the fact no-one has called a cell/mobile phone a car phone in 2 decades.
And Microsoft's stuff certainly isn't small. (*sidesteps hook*)
So despite the lack of "Radio" as their main business, they should REALLY look and see if the number of people who say "I don't need a radio I won't go there" might be outnumbered by the people who will end up saying "What the f is "The Shack"?". It sounds like somewhere you'd buy a very dodgy Hawaiian style shirt.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Insightful)
they should REALLY look and see if the number of people who say "I don't need a radio I won't go there" might be outnumbered by the people who will end up saying "What the f is "The Shack"?"
They should really look and see if the marketing company, to whom they undoubtedly gave millions of dollars for this rebranding idea, is worth their salt. On the other hand - name changes aren't always bad - Verizon seems to be managing just fine.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Funny)
The rebranding of "The Shack" is because it's the only thing the marketing company could come up with that beat the more-apt "Crap Shack" moniker.
Remember: Even the Radio Shack CEO can't figure out how his company stays in business [theonion.com].
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Insightful)
I miss the college days... there was an electronics shop down the street from the school that was what you'd imagine if mouser opened a retail outlet.... it's a shame how few places like that still exist. It's an even bigger shame how not only is most of society not interested in learning about and working with electronics but actually FEAR peole who do... I miss the cold-war era sci-fi culture where it was actually cool to and respected if you got into the technical side of things.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:4, Insightful)
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: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Interesting)
With Verizon it probably helped. Anyone happy with the Bell Atlantic/NYNEX/GTE was already a customer, and wasn't going to switch just because of a name change. Changing their name gave them a chance to trick some of their unhappy former customers into trying them out again.
The Verizon rebrand happened when they still had a monopoly on northeast area local call service, and that was their only real business. There wasn't any choice of switching or not. You can rebrand as many times as you want when customers have no other company to go to. (A lot of utilities rebrand pretty frequently for that reason - my gas company just rebranded themselves as "National Grid" a little while ago, even though they only serve the Northeast. But I have no other choice of where to get my gas, so who cares?) I suspect my gas company rebranded themselves the way they did for the same reason as Verizon - they did not want to continue to be pigeonholed by their name into one region of the country. (Ditto for Cingular, now AT&T, which is an apt case of "back to the future".) In those cases, the rebranding allowed a local company to go national.
I would love to see Verizon try to rebrand themselves again now, in the middle of a major battle with Cablevision for TV and phone service, and an ongoing battle with the three other major cell phone carriers for cell phone service. It would be a disaster.
Any company that has major competition and is not region-bound by their name had better think long and hard about rebranding itself. You have to make the determination that your current brand is actually hurting you more than the confusion caused by rebranding would. I can't see how that's the case with Radio Shack. In fact, most companies interested in re-branding would be better served by going back to their roots and seeing what made them successful in the first place, not throwing it all away and trying to start from zero. (See aforementioned AT&T - how many telegraphs will you use today?)
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Funny)
So you're saying the new name is a better fit?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know. A lot of times I'll want SOMETHING (often those adapters you mentioned) that I need right friggen now and nowhere else but Radio Shack will carry the stuff. I had an XLR microphone connector get severed off of one of my mics about 8 hours before a huge meeting I was getting ready to host. If needed I still had some backup mics, but they weren't nearly as good. So I head down to Radio Shack, buy a $5 connector, and a few minutes later I'm back in business.
Or when I was in college doing an e
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Funny)
I went in to a local Shack to buy a soldering iron a couple months ago. They don't have them. They do have cell phones, and boy do they love to pitch them. I have no idea who sells soldering irons any more, though I'm sure I could use Bing to google around.
Is it proper English to use "google" intransitively?
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:4, Funny)
Worse, choosing a name that goes from "The Shack" to "The Suck" so smoothly(and appropriately) just seems like a terrible plan...
I think going to "The Shaft" is an easier move.
There is a Radio in your Carphone. (Score:4, Funny)
Same for "Carphone Warehouse" in the UK, they don't want to lose the recognition despite the fact no-one has called a cell/mobile phone a car phone in 2 decades. [...] [RadioShack] should REALLY look and see if the number of people who say "I don't need a radio I won't go there" might be outnumbered
FACT: There is a Radio in your TV. There is a Radio in your Wi-Fi laptop. In fact, there is a Radio in your Carphone.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
IBM makes bugger all money from "International Business Machines" these days but they wouldn't want to lose a brand everyone knows.
Yeah unless you consider a z/90 or other massive server computer to be a "business machine" -- hmm, a computer is a machine, and these are used by international businesses for essentially the same things as their classic tabulators, collators, and accounting machines and then some, I think it fits -- in which case it's more accurate to say "IBM makes all their money from 'Intern
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Well you gotta admit that the "x86 crap" brand wasn't exactly a brilliant stroke of marketing.
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.
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Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Funny)
Oh that's what it is, I thought it was a service that delivered you a popular 80s console by 9am...
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:4, Insightful)
Bing and millions after millions of dollars in advertising.
However, they may be padding those numbers. I recently had to track down an error in a windows 2003 server box. Sending the error by clicking the support link in the eventvwr and expecting the help and support function to list probable causes and KB articles relating to it ended up automatically redirecting me to a bing search. of course the search string it used was broken and didn't show any results.
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
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Not unless you have $10.99 plus shipping. [tigerdirect.com] Looks real, although I'd have to look at it in person to better judge if it is fake.
Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (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>
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Re:Beware of namechanges (Score:5, Insightful)
Radio Shack in Canada has pretty much always sucked. It's nothing like the American chain.
Your gripes are exactly my gripes about the American chain, so it's probably not much different. I have a RS within walking distance of my house, so I went to buy a four-pack of rechargeable AA batteries there a while ago - something that costs $9.99 at Target and pretty much anywhere else - and they wanted to charge me $21.99 for it. When I pointed out how ridiculous this price was, they looked shocked and asked me where I saw it for less. I said "everywhere" literally as I was walking out the door.
Radio Shack's problem for the last 15 years or so has been that they don't understand their place in the world. They have delusions of being the next Best Buy, but a) their prices suck, b) their stores are too small, c) their salespeople are even bigger idiots than BB's, and d) as Circuit City proved, we don't want another Best Buy.
I don't understand what the shame is in having a relatively small chain of stores that sells tools, supplies, wiring, antennas, etc. that we all need but don't really know where else to get. There are a lot of online stores these days that thrive selling nothing but things like LCD/plasma TV mounts and HDMI cables for reasonable prices. That could have been Radio Shack. But nobody thinks of them for that stuff anymore because they have decided their core business is instead things like poorly-made RC cars, game consoles and cell phones - all things that specialty retailers and discount chains do better and/or sell for lower prices. Meanwhile, the cables and whatnot that they *do* still have are all overpriced too, because they have decided to "gold plate" everything in an effort to make their stuff seem more "premium" than it is.
I suspect rebranding as "The Shack" is an attempt to put them further down that road that they shouldn't be on, and going the wrong way.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
That reminds me of years ago when a really hot chick working the register at my local Radio Shack asked, "Can I have your phone number?"
Taken aback, I replied, "Sure, can I have yours?" That didn't go over well. I bet she hated her job.
Surveillance (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Surveillance (Score:5, Insightful)
My local 'Shack' hasn't sold real electronics for years now. I've gone there 4 times over the past two years. Once they had something that kinda worked. The other two times I eneded up finding it at Wal-Mart. I'm really not sure why I bother, except that they are in the same minimall as Wal-Mart.
This line made me chuckle:
"Where will we go to buy soldering irons and those RCA to headphone jack adapters now?"
Mine doesn't carry soldering irons, and they might have a place on the shelf for the adapters, but I'd be shocked if they have any stock. It's really quite sad. They wonder why they are going out of business...it's because they've changed their competition from Ace Hardware to Best Buy. And competing with Best Buy is always a good idea, isn't that right Circuit City and CompUSA?
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.
Re: (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: (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah because visiting the minimall that has JCPenney and Woolworth's is just sooooo much better.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I live in a town of 10k people. That's the only place to go. It has a Gamestop, UPS Store, and some crappy clothing store. It might technically be called a strip mall, whatever. Anything bigger is an hour drive away, and I usually just order from the internet at that point.
And no, I don't live in Montana or Wyoming or something. This is actually Ohio.
Other than having no local stores with anything decent, it's pretty nice for geeks like me who'd rather spend their weekends indoors playing PC games. Quiet
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].
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyone wanna take that bet?
Yes. They're called traders. Ticker symbol RSH. You could short the stock, but that doesn't seem like such a bright idea since they have a PE of less than 10 and are even paying a modest dividend. They seem to have done a smart job over the years of changing with the times-- selling the infamous "trash 80" back in my youth, always selling consumer and hobby electronics, and now selling cel phones.
FWIW, I think the name change is a dumb idea though. It sounds like it was pitch
Re: (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:Surveillance (Score:5, Insightful)
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 eventually found bits that worked for my purposes (1/4" mono jack, screw down...no soldering iron at work, not that I'd want to risk it in the first place, I'm not that coordinated... and a 1/4" to 1/8" mono jack converter. Incidentally the converter was 3x as much...go fig.) Paid and left.
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.
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
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: competitors (Score:5, Interesting)
The competitors of the traditional Radio Shack were not the likes of Ace Hardware, and only marginally were they stores like BestBuy or CompUSA. Radio Shack didn't sell hardware for mechanical engineering, like an Ace Hardware store; it sold hardware for electr(ical|onic) engineering. Its competitors were other electronics hobbyist and surplus stores, like Dow Electronics, Marvac Electronics, HSE Electronics, and so on.
Truth be told, though, Radio Shack's biggest competition came from the atrophy of that market. Over the last three decades, steadily more people have become consumers of electronics and stopped being creators or engineers of it. That is why Radio Shack transitioned from selling components to selling "pre-fab" products; they couldn't compete with those other stores in a dwindling market, and some of those other hobbyist stores have disappeared altogether. Could they have created an advertising campaign that would single-handedly have reinvigorated the hobbyist component market? I doubt it.
That said, this alleged re-branding is even more idiotic than Pacific Bell spending $750,000 to re-brand itself as Pacific Telesis Group (that was just the bill from the ad agency that came up with the name, not the total cost of the name change). "The Shack" isn't edgy or funny, it's just weird and dumb, especially because it will say NOTHING descriptive about the current business model or product offerings.
Re: (Score:2)
Could you please elaborate on this?
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.
Problem (Score:5, Insightful)
The main problem is that a "shack" usually connotes a cheap, run down house. Not really the image they should try to project.
(I know "clam shack", "radio shack", etc. don't really have such a connotation. I'm just talking about the word "shack" when it's used all by itself.)
Not Taking it Far Enough! (Score:5, Funny)
Indeed, I believe they are being too conservative in this renaming. For regular customers of Radio Shack, we know the new name is too high class. The only possible remedy for this situation is to name the chain "Electronics Shanty," because we all know that's what they are.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Personally, I like GadgetHovel. It conjures ideas of Sharper Image and other overpriced random junk dealers, as well as uses "hovel," which captures the cheap and trashy feeling I get every time I go into a RadioShack.
Re: (Score:2)
Used to call it "Shit Shack" (Score:2)
Guess that works better these days.
I prefered "Radio Shaft" (Score:2)
Because if I had to buy any parts there I had to pay their ludicrous high prices.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
As bad as Radio Shack's prices are, they're still cheaper than Best buy...
legalize now (Score:5, Funny)
Re:legalize now (Score:4, Interesting)
Back in the early 80's, the Radio Shack store at the local mall had a fishbowl full of alligator clips marked "party favors" (roach clips).
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
You could always buy potentiometers there.
How are they even still in business at this point? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
This guy can't figure it out either
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/even_ceo_cant_figure_out_how [theonion.com]
Cheap electronic parts (Score:5, Insightful)
"Where will we go to buy soldering irons and those RCA to headphone jack adapters now?"
Digikey?
Not to be an old grumpy man, but RS has missed out on the electronics maker revolution of the past decade. They could have been on the ball, like NewEgg, for the PC modding market but failed to adapt to the market. The RS of today is but a poor imitation of the RS of the '70s and '80s. Full of crap, obsoleted models and cheap junk. /Now get off my lawn.
Re:Cheap electronic parts (Score:5, Insightful)
Most of the time when I got to radio shack for a component, I need it now. Not in two days.
For instance, movie night with my buds a few weeks ago. DVD player popped a cap (blah, that sounded ghetto. magic smoke instead). A trip the Radio Crack and 20 mins later, we were back in business.
Re: (Score:2)
For my real projects Digikey is the place for me.
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Not to be an old grumpy man, but RS has missed out on the electronics maker revolution of the past decade. They could have been on the ball, like NewEgg, for the PC modding market but failed to adapt to the market. The RS of today is but a poor imitation of the RS of the '70s and '80s. Full of crap, obsoleted models and cheap junk. /Now get off my lawn.
If you're close enough to a MicroCenter, they're more like what a Radio Shack should have become. And they actually have a better selection of electronics tools than RS. They only lack a wall full of discretes and ICs, but so does Radio Shack now.
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So? (Score:5, Insightful)
they want to get rid of people like the poster (Score:2)
the whole goal is to be more best buy like. They want to get rid of people who buy soldering irons, and other low margin items that require a lot of exspensive customer support.
Already done in Canada (Score:2, Informative)
Agreed ... bad move .... (Score:5, Insightful)
In the last decade or so, Radio Shack seems to have been really pushing to become more of a "boutique electronics retailer", ditching their image as a "parts store" for hobbyists. I guess on one hand, I understand the desire - because there's not a lot of profit in individual sales when your customers want a package of resistors, a spool of wire, or some $10 pliers or cutter tool.
But I don't think their obvious alternative has worked out very well for them either. They're stuck trying to compete with much larger stores like Best Buy, and getting killed merely because Radio Shack doesn't have enough floor space in a store to carry the variety people expect when shopping for a new flat panel TV set or stereo, or computer.
Reminding people that their stores are small "EG. "The Shack" is emphasizing what may be their biggest negative in the market-space they're working in!
How do they stay in business? (Score:2)
Re:How do they stay in business? (Score:4, Insightful)
And when your paper, project, etc. is due Monday morning, and your CPU fan or PSU dies Friday night, you really have time for a online purchase...
There are some things that you just have to have *now* and even if it costs you $5-10 more than the online item, having it after a 30 min drive and short walk is worth it.
Location, location, location (Score:3, Insightful)
Basically, what the parent says - RadioShack might have smaller locations, but they have *more* locations than *anybody* else (except, maybe soon, Walmart; I really wonder if Walmart is having any impact on RS's business - I bet they are a bigger problem than the Internet for RS). They're everywhere - even in strip malls in little out-of-the-way semi-rural areas. They might not have everything, but they have lots of adapters and cables to get things hooked up ("Oh, we got this new HDTV and we want to use it
Here's the link (Score:2)
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/even_ceo_cant_figure_out_how [theonion.com]
I'm not normally a huge Onion fan, but this article is so spot-on, it brings a smile to my face every time I think of it.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Future uncertain (Score:3, Insightful)
Are there two more low-tech words (Score:4, Funny)
than 'radio' and 'shack'? Telegraph hut? Gramophone igloo? Victrola shed? . . .
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Wireless Yurt.
Radio Shack = The Source = garbage (Score:2)
Radio Shack stores were all renamed "The Source [by Circuit City]" here in Canada after InterTan was bought by Circuit City a couple of years ago. I think they've recently all been bought by Bell to be set up to compete with the mall stores that every other cell provider has.
You'll get over the name change. The "Radio Shack" brand never had extremely positive connotations (as far as I know), so they're not losing much. Name changes, brand identity...they're all junky stores staffed by uninformed people in l
Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)
Who cares? (Score:2)
(caution: game refernce) (Score:5, Funny)
Well.. not sure if it's better than (Score:2)
The City (Score:3, Funny)
Rebranding Circuit City as "The City" worked well for Circuit City?
Is there some Consultant on the loose recommneding this?
we have a good one here (Score:2)
It actually sells capacitors and whatnot in the little drawers. Most of the RadioShacks I've been in lately are all about ipods, wireless networking, and cell phones. I want a place to buy transistors in blister packs dammit !
The Shack? (Score:2)
Where won't you go? (Score:2)
Where will we go to buy soldering irons and those RCA to headphone jack adapters no
You can go just about anywhere for those. The closest Radio Shack to where I live is across the parking lot from a Home Depot, I can buy those items there. For that matter I think I can find a better selection of those items there.
... OK I give up, what is it now?
The only thing I can get at Radio Shack that I can't get anywhere else is
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.
Radioshack is profitable (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Radioshack is profitable (Score:4, Funny)
Lance Armstrong is gonna be pissed (Score:5, Funny)
He just created a new cycling team called Team RadioShack and will have to change the name to match, he had the t-shirts printed and everything.
Changes needed (Score:4, Insightful)
My favorite reference from an old /. posting: (Score:5, Funny)
The Shack, Baby The Shack (Score:4, Funny)
With apologies to the B-52s
Missing the point of the brand... (Score:5, Insightful)
It used to be that if you walked into a Radio Shack and saw a bunch of TRS-80 computers, a wall full of electronic parts, total geeks working behind the counter, you might get the impression that the TV's and Stereos that they carried were pretty good stuff, because the whole store screams geek.
By getting rid of the geeky electronics image, they've kinda undermined their consumer electronics brand... were I a consumer electronics retailer, I would carry a mix of hobbyist equipment and just let it sit on the shelves, and premium products, and I'd bet one could establish a brand.... I mean, if Home Depot can make 100B a year selling the idea that you build a deck yourself, why not have people put together their own PCs and LCD tvs...
Playing into American technical downfall (Score:4, Insightful)
Rad Hack's flaw was giving up on being THE store for electronic, A/V, and other technical components, cutting back on things like electronics kits in favor of pre-built robots, etc. Instead of maintaining a technical focus, they veered into a confusing mash of angles like prebuilt computers, TVs and video players, and cell phones.
I am one of few people that still go to RadHack for cables and rare items that would be marked up 200% at Best Buy or impossible to find. I don't know why anyone else goes there -- and I think that's their problem.
Other things I like about RS is that the staff usually only ask if you need help once, and aren't impossible to find when you DO need help finding something, and usually there is someone there who has a clue as to the arcane thing you are looking for.
Trying to be a miniature Best Buy, and leaving more than 75% of their small floors as open space, is their problem -- not branding. DIY is becoming vogue again, and they should try returning to their DIY roots.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
The selection is the same? Really? When was the last time you bought an op-amp at Wal-mart?
Re: (Score:2)
The selection is the same? Really? When was the last time you bought an op-amp at Wal-mart?
Try buying one at Radio Shack:
"A what?"
"Nevermind, I'll find it myself."
"Do you want to upgrade your phone with that?"
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The selection is about the same, the staff is equally competent, and they don't even ask for your address when you buy some batteries.
Yes, the equally competent Wal-Mart staff were very helpful last week when I needed a 2200 microfarad capacitor [radioshack.com]. I believe the kid's exact response was, "Dude, you shoulda hit the 'Shack."
I'm kidding of course. I hit the 'Shack first. And yes, I'm one of those guys who walks right past the luser filter--er--consumer electronics section.
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:Back in the day... (Score:4, Interesting)
Who knows what this "rebranding" will do for that section of the store....
Re: (Score:2)
That's assuming the manager/employees at your local store eve
Re:Back in the day... (Score:4, Interesting)
Every time I went into the Source (Radio Shack in Canada since someone still owns the name) and went to that section, the guy would always come over assuming I was stealing batteries or some remote control doodad because no one ever goes into that section anymore.