String Tree
Telefied
That is a very 'Realistic' Picture you posted.
Radio Shack open for business
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That is a very 'Realistic' Picture you posted.
Bassman8
Tele-Afflicted
I like the traffic lights by the doors.
Gardo
Friend of Leo's
Check out the funny car on the other side of the sign
posttoastie
Poster Extraordinaire
Gardo
Friend of Leo's
But I like the old one
....and the free battery every month?
Sax-son
Friend of Leo's
Radio Shack use to be fantastic. I bought stuff from that store all the time. However, over the year they evolved into a groovy phone store. Unfortunately, the lost focus on the main appeal. The DIY people.
loco gringo
Tele-Afflicted
We have an operating Radio Shack in our town. It has been here since 1971. It is locally owned, not a company store. I don't think company stores exist anymore.
They told me there are about 300 Radio Shacks still operating. I didn't ask them specifically if there were any company stores left, but I think I heard that somewhere.
They told me there are about 300 Radio Shacks still operating. I didn't ask them specifically if there were any company stores left, but I think I heard that somewhere.
urbandefault
Tele-Holic
I'm a former Battery of the Month Club member.
AndyPanda
Tele-Holic
Our radio shack had mainly phones and 3d printers for the past several years (though I could still find a few switches and resistors hidden back in one corner) and then they closed for good a couple years ago. Fortunately there is this place about 30 minutes away from me. Al Lasher's in Berkeley:
I used to love Radio Shacks in the 1980s. I didn't get to go to them often, and I never had any money to buy anything from them, but they were such a world of cool stuff and opportunity. I starved myself and hoarded lunch money so I could buy a catalogue (yes, you had to buy them) just to take home. Middle School me had a huge and vibrant imagination, and I always dreamed of someday when I had the cash to buy stuff like this, and it would let me build robots, computers, and other electronic devices.
These days, I don't have a single Rat Shack within miles and miles of me anymore. When they started shutting down I'd go in with a big bag and load up like a vulture gnawing on a carcass. Even at 90% off it's still not as good or cheap as what you can get from online catalogue stores (Jameco, Mouser, Digikey, etc), but it still feels good somehow. I've done this on at least 5 stores since 2005. Sometimes I'm the early bird and get the worm, sometimes I'm late and just get a meager haul. This is the last one I did from the store in a local shopping mall (the mall itself is probably doomed now too):
These days, I don't have a single Rat Shack within miles and miles of me anymore. When they started shutting down I'd go in with a big bag and load up like a vulture gnawing on a carcass. Even at 90% off it's still not as good or cheap as what you can get from online catalogue stores (Jameco, Mouser, Digikey, etc), but it still feels good somehow. I've done this on at least 5 stores since 2005. Sometimes I'm the early bird and get the worm, sometimes I'm late and just get a meager haul. This is the last one I did from the store in a local shopping mall (the mall itself is probably doomed now too):
edvard
Friend of Leo's
Yep. Most of them are, as mentioned by others, adjuncts to hobby or other stores. You can find them here:
(link removed)
Their parts department is still going strong, with the same ol' parts at inflated prices just like the old days:
(link removed)
To be fair, they probably stock a few things that are hard to find elsewhere, just like the old days.
The last Radio Shack in our town had a big clearance sale before they shut down, and I went in looking for whatever I could find. Someone had already cleaned out all the electronics parts, semiconductors, resistors, capacitors, etc. I did get my fill of mini-toggle switches to last a lifetime, however.
Ours closed about 4-5 years ago. They still some basic electronic things. But mostly, in the department in the far back, they had some experimental/educational kits and lots of hookup wire
loco gringo
Tele-Afflicted
In the last few months I've bought 1/4 amp fuses from them on one occasion as well as a female USB to male Mini USB adapter cable on another occasion. I don't think anyone else around here would have had either in stock. Both times I was the only customer in the store. Makes me wonder how they are surviving. They are an electronics store, no auto parts, hobby store, or bbq shack attached. I hope the stay in business for another 50 years.
Yes.
There's one combined with a True Value hardware store, on Highway 50 in Gunnison, Colorado.
I have visited that place a couple times. When some charger, battery or adapter or whatever stops working, they can fix me up.
There was also one in the Main Business Avenue in Durango as well. I can't say for sure if that one is still there (no shared space on that one).
jrblue
Friend of Leo's
Not a fan. Except for wire, solder, and the occasional resistor, RS never stocked much that was good, or the right spec, for guitars or amps. I found every one I went to to be frustrating -- they never, ever, had everything you needed other than a few basics. Crappy pots, etc. They were neither competitive enough as a tech retailer or sufficiently stocked to be a reliable source for building and repairs. Really stuck in the middle. And their Archer branded components were not good. I think they probably flourished when people were actually using and working on conventional radios... you know, WW2.
posttoastie
Poster Extraordinaire
I never saw that brand at Radio Shack.
RodeoTex
Doctor of Teleocity
So did the whole corporation crap out or just the franchises?
Bassman8
Tele-Afflicted
I wonder whose car it is. I used to go to Maple Grove a lot and watch the Pros...I miss it.
Bassman8
Tele-Afflicted
Radio Shack had a decent assortment of control knobs. I used these ones a good bit then they sat in a junk box for years...got them back out for a Mustang Bass.
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