RadioShack was a staple of my childhood. I remember my older brother taking me to RadioShack to shop for electronics parts for his car, stereo, and even his guitars. When I got older and started putzing with my own electronics, RadioShack was the place to find all the things you would need to tinker and repair your gear. The company was founded back in 1921 in Boston, Massachusetts, and was one of the last old smaller electronics stores in existence. When personal computers started rolling on the scene, the company jumped on board selling computers, software, and accessories as well.
Now the end is here for this old electronics friend as the company has filed for bankruptcy and will be facing liquidation soon. This follows an unsuccessful plan and push to rebrand and rebirth the brand into something profitable.
CEO Dene Rogers told The Wall Street Journal the bankruptcy was as a result of “surprisingly poor” mobile electronics sales as consumers flocked to Apple and online retailers like Amazon to purchase cellphones and high-profit accessories like cords, batteries and cases.
RadioShack filed for bankruptcy in February of 2015, after which it closed more than 2,300 stores nationwide. The restructuring plan was meant to capitalize on the brand recognition RadioShack enjoys with consumers, while repositioning it from its longtime reputation for hardware to consumer electronics.
Last year Adam Savage and the crew of Tested shared their own thoughts about the old electronics store fossil.
With the rise of online stores like Amazon, eBay, and others, the age of the brick and mortar electronics store is really starting to show its weak legs. Best Buy, founded as Sound of Music in 1966, hasn’t been performing as well either and who knows how that will affect them. Users are finding online shopping much more convenient than ever before and websites like ours provide the reviews they need to make informed choices on buying electronics online. That combination has been part of the final blow to stores like RadioShack and it is sort of sad. I will miss you my friend, godspeed!
What do you think of RadioShack finally calling it quits? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
[button link=”http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/03/08/RadioShack-files-for-bankruptcy-faces-liquidation/6761489029199/” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: UPI[/button]
