"RadioShack's days are numbered"

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:33 am

Story.

Man, I bought so much stuff from the Rat Shack over the years, switches and caps and resistors and wires and cables and tools and batteries and microphones and solder and tape and labels and Optimus speakers and headphone pads and etc.

And who could forget the infamous Black EQ?

End of a era.

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:34 am

it's too bad, but they are pretty much useless these days. They mainly sell phones and there are so many better ways to get a phone...

Sure, I might pop in for a toggle switch or resistor now and then but I can get better quality parts from a number of places online or sometimes even locally (since I am lucky to have a Fry's nearby).

But I think Amazon and eBay's "direct from China" parts are the nail in the coffin. Anyone remember book stores?

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:22 am

Probably because the size of their receipts printed costs more than their margin on the products...

Seriously though, I have bought a ton of stuff there, but honestly the fact that they only carry poor quality components (if any at all) means I only shop there in an emergency. Hell just a couple weeks ago I needed something just after 8 and they were closed...instead found what I needed at advance auto of all places..

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 9:05 am

Me: Hey, do you have a small toggle switch.
Them: No, we don't carry those.
Me: Really? Seriously? Are you kidding?
Them: No, sir. Do you want to buy a phone or a battery?
Me: Nevermind. I just found the toggle switch.
Them: Oh wow. I've never seen one of those before. Cool. That'll be $2.97.
Me: Awesome. You have a great day.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 9:19 am

floid · Post by **floid** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:09 pm

i stopped going about 10 yrs ago when the one knowledgeable dude in there directed me to a local electronics manufacturer that will sell quality bits and bobs for mouser type prices - why buy a grab bag of chiclets for $5 when i can go a half mile down the road and get exactly the wima i need for a quarter?

but still, it just seems kind of sad. loved that '200 electronics projects for kids' springloaded breadboard thingy i got for xmas back in the day, hacking ham circuits to get more interesting distortion. what happened to the rat shack that had all that kind of stuff?

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:21 pm

The internet?

The Real MC · Post by **The Real MC** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:35 pm

I stopped going to RS decades ago because I got tired of them demanding my zip code and most of their electronic parts were junk. No tears shed here.

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 9:23 pm

Now where are we gonna buy cheap tuner cleaner?

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 10:42 pm

Or a handful of adaptors in the middle of tech week?

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:52 am

lol I used to work for Radio Shack back in the mid-70's as an after-school part time job (yes I'm that old ha ha). I agree - it used to be a pretty cool place for us nerds/gearheads to buy decent quality parts and accessories. Even their stereo gear wasn't bad. I have a Realistic receiver I bought in 1984 that still works like a charm. I remember the Tandy computers they sold in the late 80's. It is kinda sad to see the erosion of products they offer. Even so, I can still get odd-ball supplies from them today (and there is a store a block away from me) but it's a very mixed bag now. Nowhere near the scale of products they used to sell. I get all that stuff from places like Markertek now.

There used to be a place here in the Chicago area called Tri-State Electronics that was a candy store for all things electronic (way bigger and better than Radio Shack ever was). But I've recently heard they downsized themselves into a broom closet so their future looks equally dim. I really appreciate the convenience of on-line shopping but there are still plenty of cases where you need to see the product before you buy and with retail sort of dying off that makes it more difficult.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 6:46 am

I have to say that while shopping at places like GC and RS has its problems (see Carl's post re: typical sales exchange), the "on-line only" alternative is not good news for me, not at all.

When I shop, I want to see the merchandise up close, not look at a tiny, unfocused thumbnail picture of something that might be like the product I want to buy. If it's an instrument or electronics, I want to try it out, test it, hold it; look at the build quality... I often take weeks or months to comparison shop, look at reviews, "visit" the product, and then when I'm sure, I buy. My method of decision-making is painstaking, but I have little-to-zero returns this way; once I buy it, I already know that it's what I want.

Not having a physical brick-and-mortar location to look at gear, or even accessories, parts and adaptors (seeing this stuff yourself is even more critical than ever in the scenario CK described above), really messes-up my process. I don't like shopping on-line!!

GJ

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:30 am

Gregg Juke wrote: I don't like shopping on-line!!
GJ

So apparently you are the 1% mentioned when all these retailers made their decisions to put everything online.

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:56 am

Gregg Juke wrote:I have to say that while shopping at places like GC and RS has its problems (see Carl's post re: typical sales exchange), the "on-line only" alternative is not good news for me, not at all.

When I shop, I want to see the merchandise up close, not look at a tiny, unfocused thumbnail picture of something that might be like the product I want to buy. If it's an instrument or electronics, I want to try it out, test it, hold it; look at the build quality... I often take weeks or months to comparison shop, look at reviews, "visit" the product, and then when I'm sure, I buy. My method of decision-making is painstaking, but I have little-to-zero returns this way; once I buy it, I already know that it's what I want.

Not having a physical brick-and-mortar location to look at gear, or even accessories, parts and adaptors (seeing this stuff yourself is even more critical than ever in the scenario CK described above), really messes-up my process. I don't like shopping on-line!!

GJ

My biggest problem (aside from the overall race to the bottom) with online is the lag time. I've been trying to fix a chinese scooter I bought on craigslist for over a month now. I can't find a place that most of the parts locally. So, I buy a part online, wait a few days, install it and/or find out it's the wrong thing and/or it doesn't solve my problem, tinker for a day or two, order another part, wait......... It's getting kindof ridiculous. I think it's really going to put some studios in a bind if they have to wait 2 days or pay $23 shipping to get a resistor that they need to keep a recording project going.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:44 pm

+1 and "Here, here!" (To what CK said above)...

Also, I should qualify my comments, in that, I actually do buy a fair amount of pre-owned gear on-line (from places like the TOMB that are generally trustworthy and problem-free). It's new/retail that I'm talking about. And I think when the futuristic retail utopia reveals itself inevitably to be the retail dystopia that it surely must (remember all of the earnest promises about the Internet-based music business?), that "1%" of discontented/disconnected consumers will grow exponentially. Oh, wait, I forgot how cool it is that they're going to deliver all of our products with drones...

GJ

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