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Parallax Deals Still To Be Had at Radio Shack — Parallax Forums

Parallax Deals Still To Be Had at Radio Shack

WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
edited 2016-06-11 00:17 in General Discussion
[color="#"][/color]Drove over to Ruston, Louisiana (home of Louisiana Tech where my daughter go to school next fall). They have a dying Radio Shack.

There was a clearance table with discounted item including many Parallax goodies. There was a sign saying you could get an extra 50% off the clearance price if you bought an item at regular price. I bought a set $3.49 Test Lead Hooks (which they said qualified me for the discount.

Crawler Kit for the Parallax Small Robot - (#30055) $34.99 was priced at $14.97 - final price $7.49 - Got it!
HomeWork Board - USB - (#555-28188) - $39.99 was priced at $29.97 - final price $14.99 - Got it!
S2 Robot - Last I remember $129 was priced at $74.99 - final price $37.50 - Did not get - have enough - Kicking myself - can you ever have enough?
SumoBot Robot Competition Kit - Serial (w/USB Adapter & Cable) (#27402) $249.00 - was priced at 174.99 - final price $87.50 - Did not get - even though it is the only Parallax Robot (non Aduino) that I do not own - REALLY kicking myself. Back to Ruston?

Help me...

Comments

  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    We need to start a donation for Whit. How can you promote it for the collection plate? Kid's after church robotics teaching? :)

    I think the Suma is the best deal. You get two children involved at on price.

  • KMyersKMyers Posts: 433
    Erco would be happy!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Back to Ruston I say!

    The Robotie Kid... "Rust on, rust off."
  • FireNWaterFireNWater Posts: 93
    Just tell your wife that Radio Shack is your "shoe store" . .
  • Keith YoungKeith Young Posts: 569
    How many SumoBot kits did they have at that price?
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    @Keith - Three sets when I was there.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    I found a surviving Shack where the front half was Sprint. No deals, just sad little full price inventory. Guy can't order anything, Shack.com has more but is a separate company. Not sure if they can survive in half a store selling less now. Very different vibe with loudmouth, foul-mouth Sprint salesmen up front.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Just found this old pic. Ah, those fine Shack memories!



    RS%20close.jpg
    RS close.jpg
    960 x 720 - 114K
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    Our local dealer-owned store is still still hanging on, although the parts drawers (i.e. the stuff I go there for) are virtually empty. Most of the time when I go in there, the place is void of customers, with two or three employees staring at their cellphones, the owner in the back room, and the owner's dog. This is in a leased retail space of less than 1000 sq. ft. Dunno how they survive, but I hope they can.

    -Phil
  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    edited 2016-11-16 16:03
    I went to the local RS a couple of months ago, and which is twenty+ miles away, looking for some transistors. They used to carry a variety pack of odds and ends, all I wanted was one 2N3906.
    I had the same experience as Phil, I walk in to see some geeky kid sitting behind a desk that's practically in the middle of the store. And another salesperson standing next to him trying to look busy. The whole front half of the store delt with cell phones.
    As I was walking to the back where the parts draws are located, the RS salesman came out of the back room. I told him what I needed, and it didn't take long to realize he didn't have a clue. He starts rummaging through the cabinet, no where near where the transistors would be. Every drawer he opened was nearly empty, so I took it upon myself to open the one where the transistors should be. A couple of bags of knobs, some light bulbs and one FET was all the drawer contained.
    He did direct me to a store another thirty miles north that may possibly carry what I needed, morral of story: mail order and don't try RS for anything anymore.


    BTW: has anyone tried to buy one of those parts cabinets? Sure would be handy if you can get it cheap.
  • RS_JimRS_Jim Posts: 1,764
    Mike,
    I am sorry to hear about your Radio Shack parts drawer experience. Had you come to My store, you would have found our parts drawers stocked with all of the available product in the correct places. My transistor drawer has no out of stock. You might drop a line to Radio Shack Corporate and explain your dissatisfaction.

    Jim
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    Now I'm confused. The story I get from my local store is that they can't get RS stock for the parts drawers anymore. What gives?

    -Phil
  • RS_JimRS_Jim Posts: 1,764
    I think your store is a Franchise store and that may be the case. I work for a corporate store.
    Jim
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    It's a dealer store, which I think is different from a franchise store.

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    MikeDYur wrote: »

    BTW: has anyone tried to buy one of those parts cabinets? Sure would be handy if you can get it cheap.

    Those sold fast. I saw "sold" signs on every cabinet in every store I visited long before they were empty.

  • Jeff HaasJeff Haas Posts: 421
    Our local store is only a couple of miles away and not only remodeled but is now fully stocked in all the parts and other stuff. Part of it is a Sprint store but the rest is actually pretty nice. I guess since it's in a busy downtown it's worth keeping going.
  • MikeDYurMikeDYur Posts: 2,176
    edited 2016-11-17 17:56
    RS_Jim,
    I am very happy to here that the condition of my local RS store is not typcal. The store I was referring to is in Norwalk, OH. The store I was referred to thirty miles north is in Sandusky OH. Which I think keeps the store the way it used to be, stocked for the hobbyist. Then there is a store thirty mile to my south in Ashland OH, that is as bad as or worse than Norwalk, Young kids behind the counter that know little more than how to make change. And that one surprises me , it's a collage town, You would think it would be well stocked for the DIYer.

    erco wrote: »
    Those sold fast. I saw "sold" signs on every cabinet in every store I visited long before they were empty.


    I am going to inquire the next time in town, they are a prize.
  • wmosscropwmosscrop Posts: 409
    A few years back I needed an "N" size battery for a clock. Went to my usual RS store and they had remodeled, placing the batteries behind the sales counter.

    So I asked the sales clerk for an "N" size battery. Which I could see, packaged in sets of 2, hanging from the pegboard behind them.

    "We don't carry those anymore".

    I said to look behind them at the wall. They didn't even look and said the same thing again.

    I went behind the counter, pulled the package off of the pegboard hook, and put it on the counter.

    "Oh'.

    And that was my last purchase from that store. Which was one of those closed in the liquidations.

    At least my current store knows where the electronic parts are located. And we have a Batteries+ here now.

    Regarding those cabinets... I don't have quite that many parts :) but I'm working on it! Keep the deals coming, erco!

    Walter

  • John AbshierJohn Abshier Posts: 1,116
    Radio Shack has become a nonentity for me. Store in my town--closed. Store along route to my shooting club--closed. Two stores in the town where my grand kids live--closed. Cost of gas to nearest store more than shipping from Digikey.

    John Abshier
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    Strange... All but one of the stores I buy stuff from are good. And one does not have a Sprint thing in it.

    One that mysteriously popped up is on my "avoid for three months list" is a small store.

    In one store I walked in and found a familiar friend, the LCD display that most of us start out with, the 2 line job, and an exoskeleton of a project case. They sold both to me at deep discount.

    Still another had two more of those cases back, they are also here.

    And another is also on that list, its a mall store, and staffed it seems by dunderheads..... Only two capable people there, that one who was a dunderhead was much like what you complained about Walter, all of the ones who were like the ones you're complaining about Mike are gone sadly......

    In fact, that one who sold me the display, had a similar response to what surfaced here about two years ago October.....

    But what does six robots leaving California on foot have to do with it?
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