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RIP Radio Shack

Started by scottydawg, February 07, 2015, 07:54:55 PM

VtaGeezer

Quote from: cweb on February 08, 2015, 08:14:12 AM
One of the big things that screwed them was throwing their hat in with the mobile phone craze. Because NOWHERE else could you buy a cell phone and a plan. Not Best Buy, vendor-specific stores, Wal-Mart, Target...nowhere. Right?  ::)

I agree that every time you went there, they royally fucked you on price. If it cost Radio Shack $1, they charged you $5 for it. There's something to be said about how you make better margins on certain goods, but Radioshack threw that out the window and said "fuck you, I'm pricing my shit like this is a yard sale where I don't want to sell anything."

At least Best Buy tries to tell you a fairy tale about how the 3' Monster Cable you just bought for $372 kills the Balrog, summons Luke Wilson, and gets you mad pussy.
Monster expertly exploits what I call techno-vanity.  Amazing, but not as amazing as the audiophile suppliers peddling speaker cables for $500/m.  Or the outfit that who peddles Swissvax car wax for $1500/jar.

Gd5150

Quote from: VtaGeezer on February 09, 2015, 05:13:57 PM
Monster expertly exploits what I call techno-vanity.  Amazing, but not as amazing as the audiophile suppliers peddling speaker cables for $500/m.  Or the outfit that who peddles Swissvax car wax for $1500/jar.

Wow we agree on something. Yes they do. Like Bose and their $500 clock radio, and their version of the $400 headphones made popular by Beats by Dre. My personal favorite is the Keurig coffee maker. Where else can you get a $20 coffee maker for $150, that makes coffee from grounds that cost $125lb.

If you overcharge an exorbitant amount, they will come.

wr250

Quote from: Gd5150 on February 09, 2015, 05:36:16 PM
Wow we agree on something. Yes they do. Like Bose and their $500 clock radio, and their version of the $400 headphones made popular by Beats by Dre. My personal favorite is the Keurig coffee maker. Where else can you get a $20 coffee maker for $150, that makes coffee from grounds that cost $125lb.

If you overcharge an exorbitant amount, they will come.
and they put a bar ode reader in it so "you have to use their kcups" . easy hack : take old label, tape it to reader. use the aftermarket refillable kcup.

cweb

Quote from: wr250 on February 09, 2015, 05:40:27 PM
and they put a bar ode reader in it so "you have to use their kcups" . easy hack : take old label, tape it to reader. use the aftermarket refillable kcup.
"Copy protected" single-serving automatic coffee machine cups.

Now there's a damn first-world problem if I've ever seen one.

Gd5150

Quote from: wr250 on February 09, 2015, 05:40:27 PM
and they put a bar ode reader in it so "you have to use their kcups" . easy hack : take old label, tape it to reader. use the aftermarket refillable kcup.

The heat probably melts the barcode ink so it can't be reused. If not, it should. It would be the DIVX of coffee pods.

sydtron

I have a pre barcode kurig. How many got down to their last cup and wanted another?  Said FUCK IT and re-used it?
How many times can you use a cup before it just tastes like brown water?

Delphi

Do they really put barcode readers?  I find that hard to see

b_dubb

Coffee is not that hard to make.



VtaGeezer

Quote from: MV on February 18, 2015, 07:52:10 PM
i wonder if that's photoshop or real.
I doubt its real, but it's a notable idea for an image either way. 

coaster

I loved Radioshack back in the day. I was a big cb radio nut and would get all my gear there.

Quote from: (Redacted) on February 08, 2015, 04:34:16 PM

A tech support dude once quipped:  "At Radio Shack, you have questions, we have stupid looks."

You haven't seen stupid until you ask a Walmart employee to help you find something.

If your IQ is over 60 and you want to work at Walmart, forget about it.....

WOTR

Quote from: ItsOver on February 08, 2015, 08:27:28 AM
Just another outfit that lost it's original identity and was transformed into an abortion, courtesy of a pack of clueless suits and accountants who couldn't differentiate a capacitor from an employee on a spread sheet.  Sound familiar?
Canada's Target?

On a side note, if you are in Canada and need resistors, capacitors and other assorted electronic junk my favourite place is http://www.be-electronics.com/ .  then again, if you need it- you probably already have a favourite supplier.

Kelt

Quote from: From Somewhere Out There on February 22, 2015, 01:08:57 AM
You haven't seen stupid until you ask a Walmart employee to help you find something.

If your IQ is over 60 and you want to work at Walmart, forget about it.....

There was a Kroger a couple miles from where i live, where they instituted a sort of 'Equal Opportunities' program.

This meant that they started hiring the... fuck knows what today's PC terminology is, so let's say 'mentally deficient'... which was great, I thought.

Unfortunately this policy seemed to extend to almost every new member of staff, so as... again, don't know the PC term for the non mentally deficient, so we'll call them 'Norms'... as the norms left over the coming months their places were filled by the mentally deficients. Eventually about 75% of the staff seemed to be mentally deficients, from the shelf stackers to the people at the check outs, and was beginning to resemble the mall scene in Dawn of the Dead.  You would ask a question and get a blank look, or in a couple of cases I had one girl follow me around telling me she liked my hair, and trying to engage me in conversation.

Eventually I, and most other norms stopped shopping there, and they closed it down because the whole place was just going to shit.





Radio Shack was awesome in the mid nineties, I remember going there with my daddy was a ham radio operator and they would have all kinds of cool little gizmos, and they would have all kinds of transistors and circuit boards and soldering irons and little wires and so on, when I was a kid my dad bought me this things that you would put little circuits and stuff in these little holes and depending on where you put on different things would occur when you push buttons and so on, now the electronic kits have no skill required there pretty much just things that snap together its not like you needed to learn how to solder or anything. glorified Lagos pretty much

I believe Radio Shack has an incredible opportunity to rapidly evolve instead of completely disappearing.

1. Revert to the older big red letters logo.
2. Become a music streaming service like Pandora, etc. 
3. Continue with the shutting down of all physical store locations. No more selling of overpriced adapters and second rate electronic spew. 
4. Fourth, sit back and watch all the baby boomers installing the nifty application - featuring the retro red logo icon - on their phones and computers as they hearken back to the "good old days" and say with pride, "I'm listening to Radio Shack."

I know, it falls very short of assembling a robot or repairing your oscilloscope from Heathkit, but it's something. You know it's something because the old logo is on your screen.

On the Art thread, I joked about calling the show Art Bell's Radio Shack implying someone needs to take advantage of the brand name.

Who/what better to take the helm of the brand name than the triumphant return of Art Bell? Heh.

It could work (Art or no Art). Become a completely different business, and capitalize on the nostalgia of the brand as it was before it went so horribly and painfully south.

Before the logo was pathetic - the logo from mid 70s to mid 90s and was still two separate words:

[attachimg=1]

Today, RadioShack repeated that there will be no recovery for any holders of its common stock in its pending bankruptcy proceedings.  Stock closed Thursday at 18 cents, on volume of 1.08 million shares.

"Equity holders of a company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy generally receive value only if all claims of a company's secured and unsecured creditors are fully satisfied. RadioShack said it believes that the claims of its secured and unsecured creditors will not be fully satisfied, leading to the conclusion that RadioShack common stock has no value," Radioshack stated.

MV/Liberace!

Quote from: Camazotz Automat on March 12, 2015, 07:33:16 PM
Today, RadioShack repeated that there will be no recovery for any holders of its common stock in its pending bankruptcy proceedings.  Stock closed Thursday at 18 cents, on volume of 1.08 million shares.

"Equity holders of a company in Chapter 11 bankruptcy generally receive value only if all claims of a company's secured and unsecured creditors are fully satisfied. RadioShack said it believes that the claims of its secured and unsecured creditors will not be fully satisfied, leading to the conclusion that RadioShack common stock has no value," Radioshack stated.

why shouldn't the value, by law, go to the shareholders first?  seems inverted.

nextgen.fm

Quote from: Camazotz Automat on March 12, 2015, 05:59:40 PM
I believe Radio Shack has an incredible opportunity to rapidly evolve instead of completely disappearing.

1. Revert to the older big red letters logo.
2. Become a music streaming service like Pandora, etc. 
3. Continue with the shutting down of all physical store locations. No more selling of overpriced adapters and second rate electronic spew. 
4. Fourth, sit back and watch all the baby boomers installing the nifty application - featuring the retro red logo icon - on their phones and computers as they hearken back to the "good old days" and say with pride, "I'm listening to Radio Shack."

I know, it falls very short of assembling a robot or repairing your oscilloscope from Heathkit, but it's something. You know it's something because the old logo is on your screen.

On the Art thread, I joked about calling the show Art Bell's Radio Shack implying someone needs to take advantage of the brand name.

Who/what better to take the helm of the brand name than the triumphant return of Art Bell? Heh.

It could work (Art or no Art). Become a completely different business, and capitalize on the nostalgia of the brand as it was before it went so horribly and painfully south.

Before the logo was pathetic - the logo from mid 70s to mid 90s and was still two separate words:

[attachimg=1]

i am sad about radio shack

i never got to say goodbye to my local store properly :(

Quote from: MV on March 12, 2015, 10:52:38 PM
why shouldn't the value, by law, go to the shareholders first?  seems inverted.

That's an interesting point. I assume it's because distributing such value first could potentially prevent creditors receiving anything at all and perhaps such loans are made with the guarantee they have first recourse. I'm really not sure.  But it does appear the shareholders will definitely be getting the Radio Shaft.

Or in Jazmundaspeak, the Radio Umbrella used in many mysterious assassinations:

zeebo

Quote from: MV on March 12, 2015, 10:52:38 PM
why shouldn't the value, by law, go to the shareholders first?  seems inverted.

My understanding is that the company's value acts first as collateral for any outstanding debt, and whatever value is left is owned by equity holders.  Bonds etc. are more like legal agreements I guess, whereas stock is more like ownership, for better or worse. 

(Btw preferred stock has higher claim rights than common stock since it's kind of like a hybrid bond/stock kinda deal.)

WhiteCrow

Quote from: MV on March 12, 2015, 10:52:38 PM
why shouldn't the value, by law, go to the shareholders first?  seems inverted.

If you (owner/shareholder) were radio shack and I (supplier/unsecured creditor) sold you goods on credit terms.
And you sold those goods, without paying me and then you filed for bankruptcy.
My claim for nonpayment would be against whatever "value" you (owner/shareholder) had.

A secured creditor lends funds secured by a company asset. Mortgage/GBSA/UCC filing etc.
A secured creditors cure usually supersedes all other claim, except unpaid taxes.



   

Radio Shack should go back into business selling VHS Rewinders.
Those things go for $50 now.

WOTR

Quote from: WhiteCrow on March 13, 2015, 09:26:01 PM
If you (owner/shareholder) were radio shack and I (supplier/unsecured creditor) sold you goods on credit terms.
And you sold those goods, without paying me and then you filed for bankruptcy.
My claim for nonpayment would be against whatever "value" you (owner/shareholder) had.

A secured creditor lends funds secured by a company asset. Mortgage/GBSA/UCC filing etc.
A secured creditors cure usually supersedes all other claim, except unpaid taxes.
Pretty much.  A shareholder is pretty much a "part owner" in a company.  When a company goes bankrupt the secured debt (think mortgage holder) gets paid first.  The unsecured after that (anybody stupid enough to loan money to a failing institution without demanding some form of guarantee.)  After that comes everybody else, and the "owner" gets whatever might be left over after the courts, lawyers and accountants take their cut (oh, right... Usually the bankruptcy trustee is pretty close to first in line despite the fact they were last to arrive...)

wr250

Quote from: wotr1 on March 15, 2015, 01:31:10 AM
Pretty much.  A shareholder is pretty much a "part owner" in a company.  When a company goes bankrupt the secured debt (think mortgage holder) gets paid first.  The unsecured after that (anybody stupid enough to loan money to a failing institution without demanding some form of guarantee.)  After that comes everybody else, and the "owner" gets whatever might be left over after the courts, lawyers and accountants take their cut (oh, right... Usually the bankruptcy trustee is pretty close to first in line despite the fact they were last to arrive...)
actually unpaid taxes get paid 1st. the govt always gets its cut 1st.

Quote from: wr250 on March 15, 2015, 07:46:33 AM
actually unpaid taxes get paid 1st. the govt always gets its cut 1st.
The truth is, the mafia gets paid first, then the government.

Admittedly, the difference between the two is often blurry.

PaulAtreides

Quote from: wr250 on March 15, 2015, 07:46:33 AM
actually unpaid taxes get paid 1st. the govt always gets its cut 1st.

And God forbid that someone thought so little of you and gave you a RadioShack gift card for Christmas.  In terms of unsecured creditors, you are at the very bottom of the pile.

Radio Shack should never have opened those branches in Amish Country.

Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on March 16, 2015, 06:53:38 PM
Radio Shack should never have opened those branches in Amish Country.

[attachimg=1]

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