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Radio Shack Retail Is Back....Kinda — Parallax Forums

Radio Shack Retail Is Back....Kinda

PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
in General Discussion
Got an email from Radio Shack today, (I still use their online ordering for some items). The partnered up with HobbytownUSA to sell some items in the hobby store. Looks like 10-12 feet of rack space with 2 deep rolling shelves. Good place to get the basics, resistors, capacitors, diodes, LED, etc.
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Comments

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Or, you could save up your beer money for a month, then go to ebay and order a huge pile of resistors, capacitors, diodes, LED, etc. Paying about 100th the price. Enough to last you for years.

    Then, you have more beer money in the future :)

  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Heater. wrote: »
    Or, you could save up your beer money for a month, then go to ebay and order a huge pile of resistors, capacitors, diodes, LED, etc. Paying about 100th the price. Enough to last you for years.

    Then, you have more beer money in the future :)

    Yea but...on a Sunday and you need a 10K, you really don't care about the price. :)
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,390
    This move makes sense to me. It's a bankruptcy salvage effort, but it might just work for a while.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    This move makes sense to me. It's a bankruptcy salvage effort, but it might just work for a while.

    Probably not enough to write Parallax their checks.
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,390
    Publison wrote: »
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    This move makes sense to me. It's a bankruptcy salvage effort, but it might just work for a while.

    Probably not enough to write Parallax their checks.

    Thanks for reminding me.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    Publison wrote: »
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    This move makes sense to me. It's a bankruptcy salvage effort, but it might just work for a while.

    Probably not enough to write Parallax their checks.

    Thanks for reminding me.

    Was that supposed to have a :(
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    That well is long dry. I'm sure RS's chapter 7 is discharged and the trustee has assigned whatever money was left to a few creditors, likely limited to investors and lender banks, but zip-a-dee-doo-dah to vendors. There will be no surprise checks in the mail!
  • trookstrooks Posts: 228
    ...

    Hmmm.. In and among the bevy of boxes that are my traveling tools, parts, and inventory there are quite a few RS labels.

    I'll use the money I have been saving by giving up a night at the honky-tonk with a lap dance. I can take a look for things I have that might wear out or get loaned out. There are also those things I use often and they sometimes jump to the floor and seemingly find a portal to another dimension <8-(>.

    I'm gonna miss RS. We met quite often in our early years. Most times RS saved me the time and trouble of waiting for something to ship to me and likely to require another site visit. In many cases the parts obtained from RS were superior to the parts used to build the whosawhatsit.

    Did you ever notice, that no matter where you go, there you are. Or so I heard.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Publison,
    Yea but...on a Sunday and you need a 10K, you really don't care about the price.
    Very true.

    But, that what was the whole point of my post. If you stock up ahead of time with all the common items from ebay, you don't have to go driving out on a Sunday night to find them at 100 times the price.

    As for less common items, your local all night Fry's or Radio Shack is not going to have them anyway.



  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    @trooks, we always figured that the RS part quality was variable depending on the source. Some friends referred to RS parts as floor sweeping purchased from overruns or flushing stock bins of not needed obsolete parts. When an OEM still did occasional component level repairs, we were told in no uncertain terms that if we got a part at RadioShack, we would absolutely not bring that bag or packaging on site. And do not reveal RS as the source. All that was required was the part was the same or replacement type. But they had one advantage.....they were there.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Heater. wrote: »
    But, that what was the whole point of my post. If you stock up ahead of time with all the common items from ebay, you don't have to go driving out on a Sunday night to find them at 100 times the price.

    You don't have to tell this hoarder twice! I definitely plan ahead and order lots of stuff. FINDING it is the problem.

    The last years of Radio Shack were hardly spectacular (need a phone or watch battery?) but at least it was an available source of parts. Several of the magazine articles I wrote for Robot & Servo were projects tailored from Shack parts, or stuff from Hobby People. Now that both of those are gone, there is no easy common access for people to get parts at retail.

    It's almost tragic to me that Maker Faires are so novel for many people who have never built anything in their lives. They are not encouraged to create, only consume. But if you put the right kit together, they might consider getting their hands dirty.

  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    That's a great idea. RC shops need more component level stuff.
  • msrobotsmsrobots Posts: 3,709
    I still think that RS just missed to hire erco. He would have saved all locations…

    Enjoy,

    Mike
  • SeairthSeairth Posts: 2,474
    msrobots wrote: »
    I still think that RS just missed to hire erco. He would have saved all locations…

    Robie would have had a flame thrower. Just sayin'.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Seairth wrote: »
    Robie would have had a flame thrower. Just sayin'.

    Why just one? :)

    adios.0.0.png



  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    @msrobots, that would have been a lot of radio shacks to hoard in his garage. Would the wife have tolerated it for long? Then again we have a place here in Arizona, well never mind.........
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    frank freedman wrote: »
    @msrobots, that would have been a lot of radio shacks to hoard in his garage. Would the wife have tolerated it for long? Then again we have a place here in Arizona, well never mind.........

    The Corvair would not have tolerated it. :)
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Nature and erco's garage abhor a vacuum. :)

    If Mr. McComb and I switched names, you could call me "Hoardin' Gordon", but alas...



  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    And that store company does not have a location anywhere near me, excluding LI.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    Just when Radio Shack sorta comes back, Brookstone goes bankrupt and boom. http://www.newser.com/story/262816/brookstone-files-bankruptcy-will-close-all-mall-locations.html
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    erco wrote: »
    Just when Radio Shack sorta comes back, Brookstone goes bankrupt and boom. http://www.newser.com/story/262816/brookstone-files-bankruptcy-will-close-all-mall-locations.html

    I know. Kind of sad isn't it? I found out about it during yesterday's news cycle on the local NBC station.

    I'm still wondering off hand where the closest participating store is in this discussion.
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