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Radio Shack.. Seeking new identity... again... — Parallax Forums

Radio Shack.. Seeking new identity... again...

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
edited 2014-02-11 16:36 in General Discussion
My how attitudes change in a short time...

Being a child of the 80's, I'm laughing, but at the same time....
«13

Comments

  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-02-02 16:56
    Yeah, I can't handle big hair again......

    I'm trying to remember if the Radio Shack of the 80's was a good one for hobbyists or a bad one.
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2014-02-02 17:01
    Judging from this link (pages 90-123), the 1980's Radio Shack wasn't too shaby for elevtronics hobbyists...
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2014-02-02 18:10
    Yeah because they didn't sell cell phones in the 80s.
    That is when they went downhill.

    Bean
  • blittledblittled Posts: 681
    edited 2014-02-02 18:12
    Doe this mean the pegboards with all the parts are coming back :)? I remember the catalogs of the 80s. I always went straight to the parts section. The last time I asked about a catalog at RS they said they don't do that anymore and to go online to see what is available.
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2014-02-02 19:14
    mindrobots wrote: »
    I'm trying to remember if the Radio Shack of the 80's was a good one for hobbyists or a bad one.

    ...way "gooder" than now!
  • Peter KG6LSEPeter KG6LSE Posts: 1,383
    edited 2014-02-02 19:15
    80s .... KISS and the challanger . that is all I remmber .


    I dont know how well the shack is gonna do . but at this point they cant get much worse off .

    I remember the * smell * of a early 90s radio shack I used to hang out at . The smell of solder and realistic brand Gear and the RC toys ....... I f I had a TARDIS then that shack is my 1st stop ....... If only to pick up a few cap and inductor grab bags .......... that and a fresh copy of the Forrest Mimms books ....... Mine are all VERY much loved .

    I blame that smart man and his well made books for where I am today :)
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2014-02-02 19:22
    I don't even want to think how expensive this commercial was. Was this a Super Bowl ad?
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-02-02 19:46
    GordonMcComb wrote: »
    I don't even want to think how expensive this commercial was. Was this a Super Bowl ad?

    Yes, it was and I was very surprised to see Radio Shack pop up as a Super Bowl add! I then tried to remember the good things about the 80's......except for meeting and marrying my lovely bride, I couldn't think of much off hand.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2014-02-02 20:03
    RadioShack over here in Australia is slightly different and traded as "Tandy Electronics" which was taken over by Woolworths and merged with Dick Smith Electronics. They have all gone the same way and I could see them making this mistake over the years by letting their business be run by the bean counters. Those tiny components aren't very profitable you know, so get rid of them and concentrate on the gadgets instead I can hear them say. Of course a real business takes this advice into consideration and that consideration should also take into account what kind of people come to the store and why in the first place, to buy that low profit item component and then they are enticed by all the other bits and pieces including the gadgets. Now without the components and bits and pieces there is no reason to go there as there are plenty of other cheaper and more convenient places to get gadgets from. This "stock only the profitable lines, get rid of the junk" mentality is also prevalent in other businesses that are slowly dying too.
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2014-02-02 20:27
    Oldbitcollector (Jeff) wrote: »
    Judging from this link (pages 90-123), the 1980's Radio Shack wasn't too shaby for elevtronics hobbyists...

    Now that's the Radio Shack that I grow up loving to go to!
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2014-02-02 20:28
    Bean wrote: »
    Yeah because they didn't sell cell phones in the 80s.
    That is when they went downhill.

    Bean

    I'm going to have to disagree! I thought they went downhill when they concentrated on radio controlled cars and other "toys"
  • garyggaryg Posts: 420
    edited 2014-02-02 20:42
    My interest in electronics started in the mid 1980's
    I started using Radio Shack in the 80's.
    I would go there, get exactly what I needed and build my project.

    The commercial was good.
    I'm just hoping that Radio Shack might, just possibly, maybe, try to go there again.

    Time will tell.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2014-02-02 21:53
    Seems to me they were trying to make it clear that they are no longer a hobbyist store*. They really should just change the name to Cellio Shack. Then we can ignore them.

    *I suppose others see it differently. It takes a special kind of genius to make a point unique to every viewer in less than a minute.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-02-02 23:20
    Did you watch the other commercials? Some guy with a hockey mask making house keys on a 3d printer, Cliff Claven adding EL wire to his postal uniform....their new "buzz phrase", DIT, Do It Together! Sounds like they are jumping on teh Maker wagon!!
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-03 01:18
    As an outside observer this is interesting. In American mythology there are jocks and nerds. The jocks we might expect to be watching a football game and see these adds. The nerds not so much, they are busy in their basements making stuff.

    Clearly these adds are not targeted at the nerds.

    What an amazing admission that "everything we have been trying to sell you for years is Smile. We are going to throw it all out and get new stuff. Oh, and nerds don't need to bother to come back."

    If we follow the links in that vid we get RS commercials about, cell phones, 3D printers and some kind of "shape keeping band". Apart from possibly the printers this supports the claim above.

    The new store style seems to be yet another variant of the Apple stores we see everywhere and everybody else has copied in recent years. Great innovation there guys.

    What does "Do. It. Together." mean anyway? Why is it three one word sentences?

    All in all it looks as Jazzed described above.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-03 01:38
    NOoooooooooooo......!!!!!!!!!! Not another Radio Shack revival thread.

    A. Amazon sells everything and delivers for free.
    B. EBay has more of the same made cheap by the Chinese and delivered for free.
    C. Going to the mall is so passe.
    D. The good stuff is at Digi-Key and Mouser
    E. What's a radio?

    (I was happy to see Chucky though... He's back...!.!...)

    I can only conclude that the American corporate world is now capable of supporting 'corporate zombies' that wander the earth and snag innocent consumers into their lairs.
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-02-03 01:41
    That's why I called it a buzz phrase. I don't see it meaning anything except it's a trend they are trying to capture (like everything else they have tried). But this is a cool trend because they can build around the "technology bar" environment that is oh so innovative in 2010...2008? Don't really know, I've never been to an Apple store.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-03 01:46
    Parallaxians 'do it together'. (Some thoughtful responses are required, participants actually seek to learn by teaching and sharing with others.)

    At Radio Shack it is more akin to D.T. or Duh Together. (Buy it, try it, get back to me for more....)
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-03 03:16
    Yet another Apple store clone. Another annoyingly stupid catch phrase that hints at something deep and profound whilst being meaningless.

    They don't teach much at marketing school now a days do they.

    Parallaxians "Do it together". Yes indeed Loopy. As do Adafruitarians, Sparkfunites, Arduinosta. And the Maker movement and hacker spaces. And even those Burning Man weirdos. And check out the DIY audio sites and many other things going on.

    RS is a bit late to the party.
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2014-02-03 04:25
    Oldbitcollector (Jeff) wrote: »
    Judging from this link (pages 90-123), the 1980's Radio Shack wasn't too shaby for elevtronics hobbyists...

    Okay, I have to admit that pages 110 and 111 got me a little misty eyed. I used to get one of those "xxx in one" kits every Christmas as a kid.

    Bean
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2014-02-03 04:53
    I'd be very impressed if the "new" Radio Shack outlets all had a vending maching that you inserted your debit, ATM, or credit card and then could select the resistors and capacitors that you wanted (maybe even iPhone wifi link to your shopping list).

    You just push enter, out comes everything in tidy packages, and the machine never runs out of the items you most need. (Or, the machine might offer alternatives to items that are unavailable.)

    But the truth is that I'll likely never get back to the USA to ever visit a Radio Shack.... none in Taiwan.
  • John AbshierJohn Abshier Posts: 1,116
    edited 2014-02-03 07:09
    I saw the commercial during the game. When it was over I immediately thought, OK, 80's are out. What is "in" to make me want to go to Radio Shack.

    John Abshier
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2014-02-03 07:22
    Many of those 80s characters are iconic, and while I know it was a Super Bowl ad designed to go viral, it sends a negative mixed message. Rather than trump how the store is changing for the better, all it does is wee on things many people love and identify with. The Back to the Future Delorean? Really??

    Radio Shack's key demographic is nostalgic for the 80s (we tend to be for the decade we grew up in), and the commercial tells them their decade is old, tired, and being thrown away.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-03 07:23
    "IN" is:

    An Apple store style. Minimalist, mostly empty looking, certainly not cluttered with a wide selection of products. Think up-market handbag store.
    Wrist bands that monitor your heart rate in case you are having a heart attack.
    Smart phones so that you can tweet someone when you do.
    3D printer for, well, I don't know what for.
  • RS_JimRS_Jim Posts: 1,766
    edited 2014-02-03 07:27
    With all of this swirling around,can you imagine how frustrating it is to work for the organization?
    Jim
  • BeanBean Posts: 8,129
    edited 2014-02-03 07:30
    For the money spent on the production and airing of that commercial, they could have electronics training for their staff so they know what they are talking about.

    I'll go back to Radio Shack when the salesperson knows what a diode is and how it works. Is that really ask so much for an electronics store ?

    Bean
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2014-02-03 07:32
    Heater. wrote: »
    Think up-market handbag store.

    I'm trying to think if I've EVER been in an up-market handbag store...........nope, nothing comes to mind. :smile:
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2014-02-03 07:36
    mindrobots,
    I'm trying to think if I've EVER been in an up-market handbag store...........nope, nothing comes to mind.
    Exactly.

    One glance through the window is enough to tell you you don't want to go in there.

    Rather like an Apple store:)
  • GenetixGenetix Posts: 1,754
    edited 2014-02-03 09:14
    I am sorry but Radio Shack is nothing like it was in the 80's and if they think this commercial will increase sales then they are dead wrong. If anything it will only turn off more people when they walk in and see what a disaster it has become. Typical marketing hype. I loved looking through the catalog at all the cool stuff they had and they were great if you needed a replacement part. Today, they just sell stuff for more and the people know nothing about electronics.

    Sure, the 80's will come back to Radio Shack............1980's dollars.
  • trookstrooks Posts: 228
    edited 2014-02-03 09:29
    I was never a jock or a nerd.

    I worked field service on computers/medical electronics/assorted electromechanical devices.

    Many times when I did not have the right parts with me I would locate the nearest Radio Shack and usually find enough stuff to cobble together a patch until the specific part could be shipped.

    They should just change their name to Gizmos 'R' Us.
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