That's great! The 1978 catalog shows the Mach One 15" speakers I still use.
I had to replace the foam surrounds on the 15" woofers but they sound as good as they did when I bought them on Feb 6 1984 - exactly thirty one years ago today
The Realistic "Mach One" speaker was produced from 1976 to 1984, an impressive 8 year run. An interesting feature, of this 160 watt speaker, is that it incorporates a horn tweeter and midrange speaker, both of which are filled with ferro-fluid, to dissipate heat, and both have adjustment controls as part of the crossover circuit. The 15 inch woofer is made of a very dense paper and the surround is made of a thick high quality foam which does not deteriorate over the years. The price of the Mach One steadily rose from $199.50 each in 1976 to $239.95 each in 1984. It was Radio Shack's flagship speaker until it was surpassed by the Optimus T-300 in 1984 which was offered at $259.95 each. Both speakers were discontinued in 1985 and replaced by Radio Shack's new flagship speaker, the Realistic "Mach Two" which was offered at $219.95 each.
Today the Mach One is considered to be classic and one of the best speakers ever offered by Radio Shack. It's considered superior in sound and construction to that of the later Mach Two speaker. Good examples of the Mach One show up on ebay from time to time.
My two speakers were purchased from the west side Indy Goodwill Outlet Center, in the fall of 2008, and are currently hooked up to my Kenwood KR-9000G monster stereo receiver.
+1. The Shack and Forrest Mims' books led directly to me winning the Science Fair in 11th Grade (Light Beam Communications) and landing a design job at Mattel 30 years ago. Loved wandering through the stores (Battery of the Month Club!) and browsing the Shack catalogs, every bit as good as the old Sears Christmas wishbook catalogs. Even though the Shack got diluted by cell phones and such in recent years, it was still fun to go there and have ready access to the parts drawers that Martin_H (as he mentioned) and I had mostly had to ourselves. I will definitely miss the Shack.
erco,
I'd like to say it contributed to me winning the science fair...unfortunately I grew up in a 'country' setting where nobody was into electronics (except for me) and when I built a project for the 'science fair' other students thought it was something else and so there was an evacuation, law enforcement, special K9 units, etc. Oh yeah, and did I mention a suspension? All because my project was built inside of a 2-liter plastic bottle and had some lights (not LEDs).
P.S. - I remember every one of those catalogs in that list!
Actually, this was before I knew anything about 7-segment displays. It had nothing but small colored light bulbs. My parents thought it was a coke-bottle Christmas tree. Apparently some other students thought it was something else and reported it as such.
If the franchise owners want to stay in business they should look for alternate suppliers and expand their parts inventory. Getting together and operating as a single entity would also be a good move.
I think there might be a question regarding franchise agreements -- I haven't seen the franchise terms, of course, but many of them restrict what you can obtain outside of the franchiser. For example, can they buy non-RS batteries? Now that RS has filed for bankruptcy, any executory contracts between RS and its franchees are going to be up to the trustee. If RS has the stock available, it may not be a simple matter of the franchises now going outside the agreement to purchase competing goods from other sources. I've read stories of the franchise store owners getting frustrated from the lack of communication from RS.
The Shack's old catalogs will live online forever! A shoutout to Jim (Publison) for turning me onto these a while back. Looking at the catalog covers, it's easy to see that a large measure of the Shack's success in the 70's and 80's was from large audio-related products. Speakers, amps, Dolby cassettes & turntables.
One of them is indeed about audio. You're exactly right that for a long time RS was a big player in the consumer hi-fi biz. 'Course, they don't call it hi-fi any more. That alone is sad!
I think there might be a question regarding franchise agreements -- I haven't seen the franchise terms, of course, but many of them restrict what you can obtain outside of the franchiser. For example, can they buy non-RS batteries? Now that RS has filed for bankruptcy, any executory contracts between RS and its franchees are going to be up to the trustee. If RS has the stock available, it may not be a simple matter of the franchises now going outside the agreement to purchase competing goods from other sources. I've read stories of the franchise store owners getting frustrated from the lack of communication from RS.
Like many, many tech people, Radio Shack was a strong influence on my future career choices.
We can fault RS management for many things but in the end it is the tech community that failed Radio Shack...if sales of do-it-yourself inventory had been strong the company would never had to result to selling cell phone plans to keep the doors open.
It is a slippery slope when it is cheaper to buy versus build....and the loss of tech experience is a real loss to the industry and the country.
There will be few killer deals...the REAL deals were in the last year where they cleared the shelves of worthwhile do-it-yourself items trying to stay afloat.
They have already stripped the stores of all the valuable items...and the remaining stuff will be likely sold through a liquidation firm.
They will be trying to shut the doors ASAP to lower closing costs.
I heard that the severance pay for staff has already taken a hit.
I'd like to say it contributed to me winning the science fair...unfortunately I grew up in a 'country' setting where nobody was into electronics (except for me) and when I built a project for the 'science fair' other students thought it was something else and so there was an evacuation, law enforcement, special K9 units, etc. Oh yeah, and did I mention a suspension? All because my project was built inside of a 2-liter plastic bottle and had some lights (not LEDs).
P.S. - I remember every one of those catalogs in that list!
I too also remember each of them.
Meanwhile I won't remember the Internet pages of today tomorrow.
There is something to be said of having a B&M presence with printed material.
There is no real estate. RS didn't own any of their corporate run stores. They even leased back their headquarters offices (they once owned it, but sold it years ago).
What RS has is leases, which they might be able to sell, depending on the location. Selling a lease doesn't necessarily provide them a profit, as there are many other costs associated with closing each store.
I've read the deal with Sprint allows some (up to about a third) of the RS stores to remain open, with half or more of each store area devoted to RS products. I think this is the Chapter 11 plan.
About 20% of RS stores are franchise owned, and not affected by the bankruptcy, though they are currently in limbo regarding purchasing new product.
I believe Amazon's interest in the stores doesn't equate to any win for RS shoppers. Amazon simply wants the locations for their own use.
It will be interesting to see what Amazon actually buys...guess one needs a location to launch a drone from.
Meanwhile the cell phone wars are going strong...and Sprint needs a larger presence to do battle.
What value will RadioShacks common stock have in the future? Is it now worthless?
The Company believes there will be no recovery for any equity holder in the Chapter 11 proceedings. Please contact your professional investment advisor for further information and guidance."
Very short and to the point, "Dude, you're screwed!"
I hope my 401(K) doesn't have any Radio Shack holdings.
I've gone through the list and my local store doesn't seem to be there... fingers crossed!!
I shop there several times a week buying things I simply have to have for projects that are still unidentified. ;-)
Amanda
Edit: Yay! Just checked at my local store. They've avoided the axe... at least for the time being.
What value will RadioShack’s common stock have in the future? Is it now worthless?
"Dude, you're screwed!"
I hope my 401(K) doesn't have any Radio Shack holdings.
Yep, The stock is now worthless. I took a hit back when United Airlines filed for Chapter 11. Funny, they came back and all the investors got was, oh well, sorry about that.
Looks like both the store in Ventura and the one in Oxnard will close. To be quite frank, I don't see how RadioShack could hope to compete with Fry's down here in SoCal anyway, though.
Yep, The stock is now worthless. I took a hit back when United Airlines filed for Chapter 11. Funny, they came back and all the investors got was, oh well, sorry about that.
Well, one of the grand privledges of owning common stock in a public corporation is that the owner gets nothing in a bankruptcy... value goes to zero.
Creditors and some select forms of stock ownership get to pick over the bones.
+++++++++++++++
Simply hanging on to a failing stock until it comes back can be dangerous. The creditors, bond holders, and so forth will push the company into bankruptcy just because they are weary of waiting for their money, or someone sees a great way to pick over the remaining assets (lawyers make quite a bit of money from fees in a bankruptcy).
I am still scratching my head about this Sprint take-over of locations in part, while Radio Shack is supposed to sell something in the other part of the location. And the fact that some sort of private hedge fund is managing the deal seems to be a bit more intrigue.
In sum, Radio Shack appears to be going privately held via a bankruptcy, and is becoming something of a property management firm.
Will the inventory and products get better under such an approach? Much remains to be seen. The Radio Shack side of the outlets may just become a token to keep the Chapter 11 terms.
Over there in Blighty in the 60's and 70's us kids had, well, nothing.
Some how as a teenager I was introduced to electronics, via HAM radio enthusiasts with their tube gear.
When us teenagers wanted actual transistors, 74 series logic, LEDs, etc we had to truck 70 miles to London and visit places like the Henries Radio store on the Edgeware Road to get it.
It was kind of interesting as a teenager to visit Lisle Street in the middle of London. A small back street full of stores that were either selling war surplus electronics gear or were sex shops!
I was brought up in London and visited Lisle St. and Edgware Rd. most Saturdays. Henry's Radio in Edgware Rd. (they are still going) was selling the first transistors to become available - germanium reject ones they tested and identified with a red or white spot depending on their frequency performance. I spent 10 shillings on a red spot device and used it to amplify the output from a crystal set radio. It actually worked for a while, until I shorted out a couple of wires (my wiring was very untidy).
My mother didn't like me visiting Lisle St. because of all the naughty ladies plying their trade there, above the electronics shops. It's now in the Chinese quarter, and is full of Chinese restaurants.
Looks like both the store in Ventura and the one in Oxnard will close. To be quite frank, I don't see how RadioShack could hope to compete with Fry's down here in SoCal anyway, though.
I live 5 miles away from the Frys in Austin, so that will be my goto place for parts when the RadioShacks close here. However, none of the stores in Austin are on the hit list, even though there are lots of stores in other Texas cities that are on the list. I wonder why that is.
I've been collecting some of those MAKE/Great Create brochures from the Shack. Countdown timer, PIR alarm type projects. Arduino-based. Not a huge variety, but a token to remember the last days of the ubiquitous Shack.
And hopefully, scalp them on Ebay for a few hundred bucks in 25 years to middle-aged Arduinites who wax nostalgic about how they got started at the Shack in 2012. So grab all you can find!
In 40 years, when humans have been reduced to disembodied brains living in tanks of nutrients connected to the interFaceBookNSAGoogleTube (a misnomer because nobody has a face at that point), there will be old brains in jars reminiscing about how they used have to poke LEDs into Arduino's to light them up. "It's too easy for the kids to have the interFaceBookNSAGoogleTube simulate all that for them today, they don't learn anything that way. In the old days we had to poke LED's into Arduinos with our own hands" the old brains in jars will say. They would all nod in agreement, if they had necks.
When I owned a franchise on Maui back in the 70's, we could sell anything we wanted. To be a franchisee, you were required to buy a specific dollar amount of merchandise from Radio Shack, but as best I recall, you could sell anything you wanted. We bought most of our electronic parts (resistors,switches, transistors, etc) from Philmore, a major distributor back on those days. We also sold non Radio Shack stereos and other electronics. Of course, you wanted to carry a good supply of RS merchandise because people trusted the name and had the catalogs.
I just looked at the list and of the 6 Radio Shacks within 40 miles of my place 5 are on the list including the local one . The only one that isn't is the one I started visiting when I was a teenager getting into electronics in the 70's during the "glory days" when almost anything was available at Radio Shack. That one also relocated to a better location. I asked and got gift cards for Radio Shack for Christmas so I better make up a shopping list to spend it on before they are worthless. After the stores close up I'll have to make a 70 mile trip to the MicroCenter in Cleveland. The closest Frys is 7 hours away .
I remember the catalogs too. My heart sank one day when I went to Radio Shack and asked for a catalog and the salesman said they stopped doing it because their web site replaced it.
I live 5 miles away from the Frys in Austin, so that will be my goto place for parts when the RadioShacks close here. However, none of the stores in Austin are on the hit list, even though there are lots of stores in other Texas cities that are on the list. I wonder why that is.
I suspect the locations staying open are related to where Sprint wants future market penetration.
Well, one of the grand privledges of owning common stock in a public corporation is that the owner gets nothing in a bankruptcy... value goes to zero.
Creditors and some select forms of stock ownership get to pick over the bones.
+++++++++++++++
Simply hanging on to a failing stock until it comes back can be dangerous. The creditors, bond holders, and so forth will push the company into bankruptcy just because they are weary of waiting for their money, or someone sees a great way to pick over the remaining assets (lawyers make quite a bit of money from fees in a bankruptcy).
I am still scratching my head about this Sprint take-over of locations in part, while Radio Shack is supposed to sell something in the other part of the location. And the fact that some sort of private hedge fund is managing the deal seems to be a bit more intrigue.
In sum, Radio Shack appears to be going privately held via a bankruptcy, and is becoming something of a property management firm.
Will the inventory and products get better under such an approach? Much remains to be seen. The Radio Shack side of the outlets may just become a token to keep the Chapter 11 terms.
That and if one takes a look at the typical cell phone store you will see a collection of accessories for them.
Also remember that the Radio Shack brand does have value...which can be mined through related sales.
Finally one must remember that any store Sprint keeps open comes with a trained sales force to sell their phones...a significant value in itself.
I live 5 miles away from the Frys in Austin, so that will be my goto place for parts when the RadioShacks close here. However, none of the stores in Austin are on the hit list, even though there are lots of stores in other Texas cities that are on the list. I wonder why that is.
True...but the vast majority of America does not have a Frys next door.
Read the article from Wired I posted..it discusses other the B&M alternatives...few that they are.
Comments
I had to replace the foam surrounds on the 15" woofers but they sound as good as they did when I bought them on Feb 6 1984 - exactly thirty one years ago today
http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1978/hr040.html
http://indianaradios.com/Realistic%20Mach%20One%20Speakers.htm
erco,
I'd like to say it contributed to me winning the science fair...unfortunately I grew up in a 'country' setting where nobody was into electronics (except for me) and when I built a project for the 'science fair' other students thought it was something else and so there was an evacuation, law enforcement, special K9 units, etc. Oh yeah, and did I mention a suspension? All because my project was built inside of a 2-liter plastic bottle and had some lights (not LEDs).
P.S. - I remember every one of those catalogs in that list!
BTW, you are the only Chris NOT mentioned in this story about Chris Pratt, Chris Evans and Chris Haven. Your project may have gotten you blacklisted! https://celebrity.yahoo.com/blogs/celeb-news/chris-pratt-fulfills-chris-evans-super-bowl-bet--star-lord-lands-boston-175934421.html
Uh-oh. Is NSA monitoring the forums?
Here's where I got my foam surrounds. Gluing them on was a little tricky - I left the plastic rings off.
http://www.speakerworks.com/15_Mach_I_Speaker_Repair_Kit_p/swk15mach.htm
My speakers are in excellent shape - I rub the walnut veneer with lemon oil onceor twice a year.
I think there might be a question regarding franchise agreements -- I haven't seen the franchise terms, of course, but many of them restrict what you can obtain outside of the franchiser. For example, can they buy non-RS batteries? Now that RS has filed for bankruptcy, any executory contracts between RS and its franchees are going to be up to the trustee. If RS has the stock available, it may not be a simple matter of the franchises now going outside the agreement to purchase competing goods from other sources. I've read stories of the franchise store owners getting frustrated from the lack of communication from RS.
A couple by me on this page:
http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1989/h071.html
One of them is indeed about audio. You're exactly right that for a long time RS was a big player in the consumer hi-fi biz. 'Course, they don't call it hi-fi any more. That alone is sad!
http://qz.com/340292/here-are-all-the-stores-radioshack-is-closing/
Like many, many tech people, Radio Shack was a strong influence on my future career choices.
We can fault RS management for many things but in the end it is the tech community that failed Radio Shack...if sales of do-it-yourself inventory had been strong the company would never had to result to selling cell phone plans to keep the doors open.
It is a slippery slope when it is cheaper to buy versus build....and the loss of tech experience is a real loss to the industry and the country.
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/dear-radioshack-adored-love-wired/
There will be few killer deals...the REAL deals were in the last year where they cleared the shelves of worthwhile do-it-yourself items trying to stay afloat.
They have already stripped the stores of all the valuable items...and the remaining stuff will be likely sold through a liquidation firm.
They will be trying to shut the doors ASAP to lower closing costs.
I heard that the severance pay for staff has already taken a hit.
I too also remember each of them.
Meanwhile I won't remember the Internet pages of today tomorrow.
There is something to be said of having a B&M presence with printed material.
It will be interesting to see what Amazon actually buys...guess one needs a location to launch a drone from.
Meanwhile the cell phone wars are going strong...and Sprint needs a larger presence to do battle.
What value will RadioShacks common stock have in the future? Is it now worthless?
The Company believes there will be no recovery for any equity holder in the Chapter 11 proceedings. Please contact your professional investment advisor for further information and guidance."
Very short and to the point, "Dude, you're screwed!"
I hope my 401(K) doesn't have any Radio Shack holdings.
I shop there several times a week buying things I simply have to have for projects that are still unidentified. ;-)
Amanda
Edit: Yay! Just checked at my local store. They've avoided the axe... at least for the time being.
Well, one of the grand privledges of owning common stock in a public corporation is that the owner gets nothing in a bankruptcy... value goes to zero.
Creditors and some select forms of stock ownership get to pick over the bones.
+++++++++++++++
Simply hanging on to a failing stock until it comes back can be dangerous. The creditors, bond holders, and so forth will push the company into bankruptcy just because they are weary of waiting for their money, or someone sees a great way to pick over the remaining assets (lawyers make quite a bit of money from fees in a bankruptcy).
I am still scratching my head about this Sprint take-over of locations in part, while Radio Shack is supposed to sell something in the other part of the location. And the fact that some sort of private hedge fund is managing the deal seems to be a bit more intrigue.
In sum, Radio Shack appears to be going privately held via a bankruptcy, and is becoming something of a property management firm.
Will the inventory and products get better under such an approach? Much remains to be seen. The Radio Shack side of the outlets may just become a token to keep the Chapter 11 terms.
I was brought up in London and visited Lisle St. and Edgware Rd. most Saturdays. Henry's Radio in Edgware Rd. (they are still going) was selling the first transistors to become available - germanium reject ones they tested and identified with a red or white spot depending on their frequency performance. I spent 10 shillings on a red spot device and used it to amplify the output from a crystal set radio. It actually worked for a while, until I shorted out a couple of wires (my wiring was very untidy).
My mother didn't like me visiting Lisle St. because of all the naughty ladies plying their trade there, above the electronics shops. It's now in the Chinese quarter, and is full of Chinese restaurants.
And hopefully, scalp them on Ebay for a few hundred bucks in 25 years to middle-aged Arduinites who wax nostalgic about how they got started at the Shack in 2012. So grab all you can find!
Oh yeah,
In 40 years, when humans have been reduced to disembodied brains living in tanks of nutrients connected to the interFaceBookNSAGoogleTube (a misnomer because nobody has a face at that point), there will be old brains in jars reminiscing about how they used have to poke LEDs into Arduino's to light them up. "It's too easy for the kids to have the interFaceBookNSAGoogleTube simulate all that for them today, they don't learn anything that way. In the old days we had to poke LED's into Arduinos with our own hands" the old brains in jars will say. They would all nod in agreement, if they had necks.
When I owned a franchise on Maui back in the 70's, we could sell anything we wanted. To be a franchisee, you were required to buy a specific dollar amount of merchandise from Radio Shack, but as best I recall, you could sell anything you wanted. We bought most of our electronic parts (resistors,switches, transistors, etc) from Philmore, a major distributor back on those days. We also sold non Radio Shack stereos and other electronics. Of course, you wanted to carry a good supply of RS merchandise because people trusted the name and had the catalogs.
Kenny
I remember the catalogs too. My heart sank one day when I went to Radio Shack and asked for a catalog and the salesman said they stopped doing it because their web site replaced it.
I suspect the locations staying open are related to where Sprint wants future market penetration.
That and if one takes a look at the typical cell phone store you will see a collection of accessories for them.
Also remember that the Radio Shack brand does have value...which can be mined through related sales.
Finally one must remember that any store Sprint keeps open comes with a trained sales force to sell their phones...a significant value in itself.
True...but the vast majority of America does not have a Frys next door.
Read the article from Wired I posted..it discusses other the B&M alternatives...few that they are.