The rumors have coime true
R S became useless to me about 15 years ago. Prior to that I could count on them to have connectors, ICs, wire, project boxes, components, etc. in stock for my projects. Some genius MBA must have looked at the low volume low profit of such items and decided to stop stocking them. This mistake is now seen with many retailers in that they don't seem to account for the fact that those seeking such items will also buy high price high profit items they see while in the store. I bought a $700 satellite TV system from them because I saw they carried this while shopping for an IC.
My last few visits to RS resulted in dealing with clerks who didn't know what an IC was which didn't matter because they were out of stock anyway. It seems businesses blame their losses on people shopping on the internet when, for me, the reality is that I shop on the internet because local stores fail to stock things I seek.
That aside, it is a shame that RS will be gone since young people now have one fewer store where they can get parts and guidance if they want to build electronics projects. Fortunately, parts and guidance are available on the internet if one is patient enough.
Neil
Sad to see them go. They were here in Canada for a long time, from the early 60s.
Had great portable radios including some good long range AMs like the 12-654 FET tuned RF made in the 70s and early eighties.
Was one of my favorite places to go into....always stuff of interest.
Grew up with them.
Mark
From what we've seen, bankruptcy doesn't necessarilly mean the end of a company.
Case in point, my cable internet provider, Charter, went bankrupt a few years ago. But they re-organized and returned and unless something is being concealed, they are in business for the long term.
The model number I was referring to was 12-655....not 12-654, a great long range AM radio with FET tuned RF stage and can be seen on line and sometimes on Ebay.
Sold at Radioshack in the 70's and early eighties.
Mark
Unfortunately, Radio Shack sold all its stores in Canada to The Source quite a while ago, and I lost all interest in them.
But when I lived in Barrie, Ontario, prior to that, I was literally right next door to their Canadian warehouse, and they used to have some great clearout sales on components and other interesting electronic goodies.
I hope that they can find some way to come back in the U.S. But you'd think that they would realize that there already are a lot of electronics stores that sell cell phones and the like. Perhaps they could make a go of it by going back to their roots.
I almost forgot about the fact that, a few years ago, there was some effort to bring back the Heathkit line of stores and products... I participated in a survey sent to me by way of Radio World or some such publication, they asked what kind of products I might buy if they opened for business.
But that was the last mention of it, so I guess the idea was abandoned.
I gave up on them about 10 years ago. Even back then, their stock of electronic parts was sporadic. I would say that they persited in the face of a loosing battle with the rapidldly changing consumer electrolnic indstry. I'm surprised they didn't go down years ago. You have to credit them for surviving this long.
I gave up on them about 10 years ago. Even back then, their stock of electronic parts was sporadic. I would say that they persited in the face of a loosing battle with the rapidldly changing consumer electrolnic indstry. I'm surprised they didn't go down years ago. You have to credit them for surviving this long.
The article I read end of last week indicated that Sprint was buying a bunch of the stores, maybe half? And turning them into Sprint retail outlets and still keeping the RS name and some RS merchandise. It was described as a Sprint store within a Radio Shack. There was some other firm looking into buying the rest of the stores as well. So we'll have to wait and see where it goes from here.
The RS near me (well, it's 30 miles) has always had parts. Granted the quality of many has turned to Chinese doo-dads the past few years but even when I'm calling our dealer for parts at the station I have to specify a brand to get something that's not generic Chinese, and then we pay about 4-5 times the price, after waiting a week to ten days for the special order to arrive.
I can't see them turning ours into a Sprint store, Sprint has practically NO coverage up here. No one is going to go into a Sprint store around here. My daughter who lives down in Minneapolis had Sprint, and would come up to visit and either have no coverage, or have her phone tell her she was ROAMING and she was being charged extra! This was up until 6 months ago. Who the heck still has ROAMING?
I don't know if I posted this here -- but my RS store had 50% off on all parts if you bought at least ten items from the parts drawers. Over the past month I made two trips and bought everything of any possible use. EVen better, on the first trip they gave me a $10 off coupon for use on my next visit, which also worked along with the 50% off on parts! Between the radio stations, the studio in my house, and all my ham tinkering, I use up a lot of parts. So that was a nice perk anyway. I could probably hang it all on pegboard and start my own Mini RS store.
Tim in Bovey
Not all stores have closed ...There is one open in Lakewood Nj ...And a few others around nj are staying put
Still have one open in town here and another only about 10 miles away.
Availability of parts in the stores is another matter. As we know, they have gradually rid themselves of most of the parts items they once carried.
What used to occupy a whole wall now fits into two multi-tray cabinets.
And, if you need three of this or two of that they usually have 2 of this and 1 of that.
And oh, lots of pictures of items for sale rather than having an item on hand to actually handle.
No more commercial charges anymore. I found this out today.
At that rate the stores still here won't be for long.