>Walk into Radio Shack
>Woman at counter asks what I need help finding
>Ask her where I could find potentiometers
>She tells me to put that in laymans terms
>Ask her where the Arduinos are
>She points me to the back of the store
>Pick up potentiometer, capacitor and 8-ohm speaker from that little slider case they have
>Go to check out, ask the woman how their cell phone sales have been
>She tells me that they're not doing cell phone sales any more and are getting back to their roots and "will be selling more parts and radios and stuff".
How long is this company going to stay in business?
Is PC gayming going up or down?
>buying anything from jewshack
they overprice everything and have a fucking terrible stock. I'm honestly surprised they're still in business. A lot of local ones are closing.
>>45628457
this just in! retail employees don't take their job seriously!
I'm surprised they're still in business. I remember going to a radioshack for some molex cables or something 6 years ago and they didn't have shit. I never saw anyone in that store.
fun fact: most radio shacks are money laundering operations
same with old ass "pc repair shops"
>>45628478
PC gaming is a booming, and if Radio Shack is smart they'll expand their computer component business to accomodate this. There will soon be a large market of casual gamers looking to go to that next level, but don't know to shop online or don't want to wait for stuff to come in.
That's where Radio Shack comes in, with live people explaining what people need for a build and being able give people what they bought the same day, no waiting, no fuss no muss.
It's not like Radioshack was going to make money selling phones anyway where they have to compete against big box stores or service providers on every corner selling them direct w/ contract
>>45628489
Oh we do, I actually love trolling the fuck out of anyone I think looks like a neckbeard, sperglord, or someone who supports the hacker 4chan.
>>45628457
wtf, the only thing that was keeping them alive were smartphone sales I thought, I guess they won't be around much longer (as I've been expecting for ages)
I only ever used to go there was for soldering accessories and some small electronic components in those short sliding drawers, but not I just buy everything off ebay for incredibly cheap.
>>45628638
so..become frys
>>45628670
dude you better be careful shittalking 4chan, he'll dox you!
>>45628670
based
>>45629196
fry's is actually shit for computer components. granted its probably the best store for that within 400 miles, but damn son if you built a computer using only parts you got at fry's you'd be severely limited by their selection
its a damn shame, if they fully embraced maker culture they might be able to stay afloat, but they'd ahve to downsize to a few, large and well stocked stores
>>45628457
>How long is this company going to stay in business?
I read somewhere that theyre still floating on the money they made with their RC's back in the late 2000s
>>45628457
>let's get rid of all the stuff you can't without mailing, and sell shit you could buy fucking anywhere
never should have gone consumer electronics
>>45629196
it could work, does frys have any competition? most places are just best buy wannabes
>>45629253
frys doesn't have any competition as far as I'm aware.
>>45628670
i worked at the canadian counterpart back when it was still owned by intertan.
i loved to help customer with electronic part and tools and hated celling goddamns cellphones for rogers.
dont hide your stupidity behind the LOL I TROLL U card
>>45629278
Except microcenter. Except thats like comparing Intel to AMD
>>45629296
literally never heard of microcenter
google maps shows the closest to me being 60 miles away
>>45628484
Its good if you need to buy 3-4 small circuit components. $2 at radioshack is better than $7 shipping for a $.10 thing.
>>45628567
So that explains the run down PC REPAIR WEB DESIGN stores I always see in the middle of nowhere. I always wondered where the fuck they get customers.
>>45629296
>>45629314
never heard of it either, but apparently there's one 20 miles from me
Why didn't you fuck her ?
>>45628567
Many immigrant "businesses" are just a cheap workaround for immigration laws.
>>45629296
Microcenter always has better deals than Fry's but they don't have as big of a selection. It's funny somebody brought them up in a Radioshack thread because Fry's has a better selection of electronics parts.
The dude at the last radioshack I went to actually knew about the little components like diodes and breadboards and shit so maybe he was just an exception. I just hate the prices there. It's better to go to Fry's for components anyways.
>>45630183
I like Fry's specifically for parts. Not GPUs and whatnot. Parts. Capacitors and whatnot. Radioshack really chucked that shit out when Tandy decided to let them pucker up and dry.
I thank you for mentioning Microcenter. Might be closer for me (closest Fry's is 30 miles).
>>45630163
So, when did your Dad get off the boat?
>>45628638
>That's where Radio Shack comes in, with live people explaining what people need for a build
That would require knowledgeable staff, not a random person who just walked in off the street looking for a job. I suppose they could hire "specialists" to fill that role, but those will probably be wanting more than what the general droids earn, and they'll have to shill whatever components corporate has decided to stock the stores with.
>>45629296
>microcenter
>see section in microcenter with a sign "build your own pc"
>inquire about wanting to put a low budget machine together
>"well sir, our fee for assembling the machine is $130 and that's not including the price of windows
ended up ordering $500 worth of hardware off newegg
>>45630308
White american so probably late 1700's or early 1900's.
>>45630274
>mfw reading some of the deals they have
Fuck me mane. I should have shopped around more before I went with amazon .
>>45628484
At least they charge less than $10 for a one foot SATA Cable. Fucking best buy charges $30
>>45630410
>built your own pc
>pay someone to build it for you
wat
your fault anyways for wanting to do that shit
>>45630410
Microcenter has GOAT deals in store all the time. I'm less than 10 miles from one and I saved almost $100 on a 2500k+Z68 mobo combo over newegg
>>45630579
I messed my build up lol. used stock heatsink with fx8350. waiting on the hyper 212 evo in the mail.
>>45630478
>$30 for a fucking sata cable
You HAVE to be kidding me. 30/60CM ones where I live are like $5.
>>45630586
Yeah, the one up here in Cambridge, I got a couple processors at $50 or so less than Newegg.
Really fantastic store with good selection and price.
>>45629196
tfw closet fryes is about 500 miles away
>>45630596
Best Buy dude, they also mark computers up like $200 from Neweggs retail.
>what is the source
>>45628638
Sounds like NCIX
Is RadioShack like Maplin then?
>>45631006
Holy shit haha.
I honest to god wish that Radioshack will always stay afloat. I'd die a happy man if Radioshack was still in business.
>>45631006
That has to be an Onion piece. R-right? Anon-kun?
Do they have 6.50Mhz crystals on stock?
>>45628567
I work at a place like this.
It's a legit business, but I have no fucking idea how the place is still open. We get business, but not near enough to keep afloat. It's weird.
I like it, though. My co-workers are cute. :3
>>45631354
To clarify, it's one of those COMPUTER REPAIR & WEB DESIGN places.
>>45631319
obviously?
>>45631006
>>45631363
>>45631319
I thought it was real
>>45628457
>woman
Believe it or not, when ipods first hit the market Wal-Mart was pressuring Apple to carry them. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart also pressures its suppliers to cut them a better wholesale price than their competitors get.
Apple looked at Wal-mart and told them to get fucked. Apple went over to RadioShack and said "This is what we're selling them to you as." and RadioShack signed the fuck up. You may not remember, but for over a year across most of the US the ONLY place you were going to find an iPod was at RadioShack. I wouldn't be surprised if they're still trying to count the money they made on sales.
Going into one these days, I see mostly that their biggest sales seem to be christmas RC toys and phones. Radioshacks seem to have really clinched every major carrier. Those of us in bigger cities might not realize, BestBuy is not ubiquitous across the US. But you can't go to a town that's got more than 10k people and not find a RadioShack. Who get a big cut of the cellphone pie.
>>45631006
wow he seams likeable
now post the article where you realize he's actually a cut-throat asshole who forces managers to work double-shifts 70 hours a week on salary and coerces employees to work off the clock, often times failing to credit them hours and cutting whatever paltry commission they make.
Thats a personal-touch article if its real. Theyre as desperate and mean as any other business.
>>45631498
This is a lie
Bestbuy had that shit too.
>>45631516
>mfw people think the onion is legitimate news articles
>>45631570
I was meaning for towns without them. I'm sorry for not being clear on the point that there were lots of cities without one. North Dakota, for example had 2. One in Fargo, one in Grand Forks, both on the East edge of the state. There were about 20 or so radioshacks scattered in its 6 major municipalities.
My point was the ubiquity of the stores gave it a higher coverage to more people.
>>45631595
It wasn't until after the 2005 or so that a BestBuy was added to Bismarck.
radio shack has saved my bacon a couple times.
Recently spent ~$150 on components there; I needed, in an off site field test, to pound out a signal conditioning circuit. They had what I needed at wildly inflated prices, that I paid gladly. I was impressed with the selection of stuff in the pull out drawers, and it takes up so much less floor space than the old bubble packaging on the wall hooks they mostly used.
The hacker stuff (hack a day community) is a growth business, but they are mostly a bunch of price sensitive neets.
>>45628457
i sadly work at wal mart and pretty much every lunch break walk down the strip to radio shack to check out their clearance stuff
>>45631656
working at walmart I cant believe you dont just grab an rf gun and scan your own stock.
>>45628457
I don't know but the radioshack in my mall is in the basement and they use the old logo. No one is ever in there.
http://www.sbnation.com/2014/11/26/7281129/radioshack-eulogy-stories
Anyone here ever worked for Radioshack vouch for any of this kind of stuff? A lot of it seems exaggerated to me and I find it hard to believe anyone would take this kind of shit in a minimum wage job and not quit.
>>45631498
chinese or minority owned mom & pop cell stores have secret low income plans. and you can even get unlimited data/voice for half the price. plumbing repair does the same thing. they change part & labor by zipcode.
>>45631625
this. i needed a tantalum decoupling cap and couldnt wait for digikey. radioshack had them. turns out the local store hosts arduino events at night.
>>45632139
>secret
Theyre mvno's and anyone can find them online for better prices and have better and more complete info on their choices
Physical stores are for the lazy, or the uninformed
>>45628567
Seems very likely, town next to me here in the Netherlands had a strangely large amount of barber shops, every single one was money laundering.
>>45629239
>>45629196
fry's is pretty good for looking at a large variety of monitors and cases in person
other than that it's shit, I have to drive nearly 100 miles roundtrip to go to my local one
>>45629249
I used to love going in back in the day because there were always RC cars to play with.
>>45629196
oh god I fucking hope not. The Fry's in my area only has a 4690k and 4790k in stock and only has 1 am3+ socket mother board its literally insane
>>45628489
I work at tiger direct but we get 90% stupid people so I assume everyone is an idiot and put it all into laymen's terms. Its maybe three times a month that someone comes in who I don't what the hell they're talking about.
radio shack is dying off, they are closing a few stores close by me soon. That company latterly has no idea what they are doing.
>>45634001
You know, I live in the best area for consumer electronics. Chicago suburbs. Fry's is 30 minutes away, there's two tiger directs, each 30 minutes away and microcenter is 45 minutes away
>>45628484
Only when I just need a couple things
>Order 10 potentiometers online at $10 w/ shipping
>9 of them are broken
>Go to RadioShack
>Buy just 2 of them which I need
>Pay $5
>They work and I could exchange them same day if they didn't.
>>45628457
>How long is this company going to stay in business?
not long, unless they pull a 180 and start selling parts like a motherfucker between now and christmas 2016. Even then it's likely they will get fucked in the ass by internet sales.
also for what it's worth, sears and kmart will be dead along and target and walmart on are on the decline too. We're witnessing the death of the department store as convenient stores, grocers, drug stores and the internet take their business
>>45634083
>>9 of them are broken
what website was this? I've never had this happen with adafruit or sparkfun
>>45628638
The problem with that, you see, is that it would be a smart move.
>>45629338
Never heard of it either, but apparently there's one 194 miles from me
Unfortunately Fry's isn't exactly close either: 86 miles
>Go San Antonio
We have this place called Altex instead, which has a pretty nice selection, like Fry's but without 99% of the general consumer stuff. But none of these retail stores are worth paying the premium on unless it's something I need right now.
>>45634114
I ordered them off Amazon since I had a gift card for them
>>45634164
>buying parts off amazon
>being this pleb
but seriously get your shit from a dedicated parts site like jamesco or similar. Returns are usually easier too.
Ever notice how every Radio Shack store is always in the most hard to find fucking place in town? The one at the mall in my town is hidden in the back next to a large black barber shop, so that even when you do finally find it, you immediately go elsewhere.
>>45628478
>using black or white terms
that aside, PC gaming is doing very well and radioshack (best buy too) are getting fucked because they don't sell PC parts (or have a meager selection). Same with the rise of the whole "maker" culture. Amateur DIY things have boomed in the past decade and show no signs of slowing down. And where are these people buying from? The Internet, mostly because brick and mortar stores simply do not supply DIY things anymore.
Never had anything like this. The dude who works the radio shack next to me knows his shit. I say I need a thing and he instantly says whether he has it or not, where it is, and wont hesitate to call me out for being an idiot and points me in the right direction instead.
>>45634189
I haven't been to a radio shack since i was 6
Is Radio Shack the American equivalent of Maplins; expensive, shitty products that fall apart on their first use?
>>45634189
Hard to find places == cheaper lease
Most of the Radio Shacks in my city are in strip malls, usually easy to find. I can only recall one mall they are in and it is kind of a pain to get to, caddy-cornered on the second story between Sears and Macy's, no entrances close by, it's quickest to go through Macy's if I want to go to it.
>>45634189
I'm pretty lucky, most of the radioshacks in my area are near grocery stores
that being said, they don't sell any actual fucking radios. And by that I mean legit ham radios and parts. They have fuckall for that and it annoys me.
>>45634240
no, Radioshack is a former supply store that now sells overpriced toys
the "shitty products that fall apart on their first use" still goes to Walmart and Kmart
>>45629296
I think.l Frys and microcenter are partners or something. Their website is like...identical
>>45628567
The only evidence of this being truth is your anonymous post but I'm going to believe.
Because it's the only fucking explanation for this thing still being open.
>>45629314
Microcenter kicks ass, I usually find prices equal to or less than shit on the web.
you can walk in, pick out your parts, and put together your computer all in one day.
Downfall is possibility of not having parts that you're looking for.
A friend of mine wh knows an employee or some shit. says if they don't do well this month. they are over. which i higly doubt they did or are. so they'll be gon ein less than a year.
I'm lucky enough to live about 5 minutes away from my microcenter and still buy most of my big components online
>>45628457
Hey man, RadioShack employee here, I have to say, we do hire a lot of retards, but not a lot of people know how to work with parts. Also don't blame the individuals, the executives are the one fucking us over. We have weekly sales on the iPad, but we never have any in stock. Same with pretty much all of our phone. RadioShack will die because our CEO and management are assholes and cunts. Did you know RadioShack used to give random packs of batteries for free? There used to be a cult like following for RadioShack, but that nigger CEO fucked it all up. Also, I got my job by telling my (at the time future) boss that everyone I've talked to knows nothing about electronics.
>>45634248
They have some radio parts, mostly CB stuff.
Interesting fact I learned:
>Go to closest Radio Shack
>Trying to find some CB stuff
>Nothing in stock
>Ask clerk, since I swore I've seen CB stuff at one before
>Clerks says each store has a special focus on certain parts
>Directs me to the store that specifically stocks CB stuff
I guess it's good, even if you have to drive further you can get a good selection of a particular thing at one store instead of an anemic selection at every store.
>>45634240
no, radioshack is shit but their products more or less work. The problem is that there is no reason why anyone would want to shop at a radioshack anymore; /diy/ people have the internet, /g/ people have the internet, and normalfags would rather buy their stuff at best buy or on the internet
realistically speaking, radioshack could fix themselves immideatly if they focused on diy and amateur electronics again. However, they most likely won't (because you can't really sell a niche market to investors) and it's a mystery why they are still in business. Their website is ok though, I guess. It's just that their core customer base has moved on and they're desperately trying to appeal to non tech people.
>>45634186
the fuck is arong with amazon? I got prime nigga. it's nice.PRIME
>>45634314
>There used to be a cult like following for RadioShack, but that nigger CEO fucked it all up.
this, so much. It's hard to explain but back when Radioshack was literally the only electronics supply store around (save for random family places, most of which they didn't directly compete with) it was magical. It's seriously a fucking shame that the company is where it is now, because it was /g/ before the internet existed.
>>45628489
how does trader joes manage it then? someone who actually learned something in b-school needs to run that company
>>45634365
>the fuck is arong with amazon
nothing, at least when it comes to most things. I wouldn't trust any small parts or bulk items I'd buy from it though unless it was from a brand name. Prime is nice but it's useless when your 50-pack of blue LEDs ships from Xiapang province by boat.
>>45628457
I still go here
the shack is kill
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/15/radioshack-cds-idUSL1N0TZ0V720141215
>Either way, the issue became moot, for the moment at least, on Friday when ISDA's credit determinations committee - in its third meeting on the subject - decided that a proposed failure-to-pay event had not occurred, ensuring that an auction on the US$593m notional outstanding of CDS would not be triggered this time around.
in english: Radioshack nearly went bankrupt a week ago, and will likely not make it through 2016 at this rate
>>45634432
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102260215
>On a conference call, Magnacca outlined steps to save $400 million annually, including trimming $105 million in marketing spending and $90 million from potential store closings.
>The planned savings from store closings, Magnacca noted, will depend on lender approval. Earlier this year, lenders blocked RadioShack's plan to close 1,100 stores. The company said Thursday it has closed 175 stores so far this year.
>S&P said it views a default as "very likely" in the near term, unless RadioShack raises additional liquidity or significantly improves its operating trends. The ratings firm added that a restructuring or change in terms for its existing obligations are also "tantamount" to a default.
it's over
>>45634592
http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/24/investing/radioshack-black-friday-80s/
>>45634061
They closed all of them in Canada about 10-15 years ago. It was sad. Now they were bough by Bell Canada and they sell mainly phones and some electronic accessories. No more components.
>>45630443
Wow, your dad is old.
>>45634432
>>45634592
>>45634631
holy shit, it really is over
>>45632048
>http://www.sbnation.com/2014/11/26/7281129/radioshack-eulogy-stories
>yfw you realize all the stories about radio shack are probably more true for Wal-Mart, and they're just better at shutting down dissenting voices
>>45630478
At walmart last week a 8ft HDMI cable was $40
Ordered a 10ft off amazon for about $7
>>45628457
OH GOD
>>45634707
you bet. As already mentioned in the thread, Sears and Walmart are seriously fucked because Amazon and dollar tree are taking their business. And when they're forced to compete with established grocers and drug stores they get wrecked. There is no market for big department stores anymore, especially when most suburbs are draining of middle class types that have money.
>>45634759
... yeah, economics seem to be trending differently in Canada and the US... Walmart seems to be doing fine here, and kicking most direct competition's ass (Kent, Costco, other stuff is fine).
While Amazon... I'm not sure trading the physical monopoly of Walmart for the online monopoly of Amazon is any better.
>>45634707
>We kind of had to amuse ourselves. For some damn reason, the company had ordered a ludicrous number of remote-controlled PT Cruisers. We literally had a hundred of them in our little store alone. Nobody bought them, of course, because PT Cruisers are boring and stupid.
>So a friend of mine would take a couple of them out to the middle of the mall and hold impromptu demolition derbies, just smashing them into each other until one of them stopped working. They would draw little crowds, and employees of nearby stores would stand in their doorways and watch. We even put money on them one time.
>>45634928
>The same merchandise procurers who ordered all those PT Cruisers ordered all kinds of other unsellable crap, like remote-controlled Brum cars. It's okay that you don't know what Brum is. It's a British children's cartoon that nobody in America has ever heard of.
>And yet, we were required to display a stack of 20 or so Brum cars right in the middle of an already-cramped store, because we were so desperate to get rid of them. People would walk around them and bump into them and say, "uh, what is Brum?" Zero of them were sold.
>After months of this, a family I presume to be from England walked into the store one day. They saw the display and their eyes lit up in unison. And I swear to God: they made a circle around the Brum toys and held hands and started dancing around it, singing the Brum song. Either it's a two-minute-long song, or they sung it a bunch of times in a row.
>>45634941
>This is a consumer technology business that is built to work perfectly in the year 1975. The Internet comes around, and this, being a technology company, is expected to move on it aggressively and know what it's doing, except basically nobody really understood the Internet for a very long time. So they whiffed big a few times. Then the iPhone came around and rendered half the stuff RadioShack sold completely redundant. This company needed to become something radically different a decade ago. I just don't think it knows how to be anything else.
I feel sorry for people who don't live within driving distance of a real component shop.
>>45635028
>tfw went into one for the first time a week ago after spending my entire life using scavenged parts or stuff off the internet
it was fucking amazing
>>45635028
15 mins by light train on my city.
Feels good man.
>>45635028
>.gif
Alright /g/uys
If one of us was put in charge of RadioShack tomorrow, what should we do to try and turn it around?
>>45635321
Relevant electronics and sex toys. And electronic sex toys. Fuck zoning.
The company is planning to file a bankruptcy
>>45635070
>>45635089
The best are the ones that also do salvage/surplus. There's a place up in New Hampshire that's a ~90min drive for me but I like to head up a couple times a year because he always has wacky shit. Great prices on used enclosures and road cases too.
>>45635121
It's from the place's website. He's a semi-retired engineer, he can't into internet.
>>45635321
Do some type of online order and instore pickup with a large catalog. #1 to figure out what people want to buy and #2 to get them into the stores. You might be able to leverage your distribution network to do next-day pickup on lots of stuff without added expense.
>>45628457
>buttblasted about RS trying to expand their customer base
>buttblasted when they stop trying and try to get back to serving their core customers
>NOTHING YOU DO SHALL APPEASE ME!!!
the worst mistake a company could make is to attempt to cater to nerds.
>>45631006
It's very simple. Radio Shack is kept in business by a vast emergent AI that is manipulating people into becoming drones to purchase required components so that it can slowly build its secret underground robot army in a physical commerce version of a smurfing attack. When needed, it props up Radio Shack's finances by adjusting it's bank accounts directly.
>>45634061
It doesn't matter if they know what they are doing. There just really isn't a place for this combination of small outlets and obscure hardware. They would have closed way more stores by now, but they literally cannot afford to close them.
>>45635321
All they have to do is look at their name "RADIO SHACK"...There it is. Radios, radio accessories, car audio systems, Beats(TM) etc...
They're not PhoneShack or TVshack..
>>45634314
>There used to be a cult like following for RadioShack, but that nigger CEO fucked it all up.
This is for the best in the long run. Their economic niche has changed, and they need to die to free up their remaining customer base for an enterprise more suited to fill that niche.
And then you can go work there. It's not like when Radio Shack dies they are going to round you up and march you into the gas chambers.
Also marching you into showers wouldn't be a terrible idea. haha i kid though.
>>45635423
you can already do that, the problem is that other web-only stores have lower prices. Radioshack can compete by capitalizing on it's convenience
>>45635562
this is the most true though, the changes that needed to be made needed to happen around 2005-2010ish as sites like adafruit and sparkfun started popping up. That didn't happen, and instead of pandering to the core group of amateur electronics people, radioshack tried to be a diet sharper image (who themselves went bankrupt). As of right now, there is just no place for radioshack in the world, especially considering that most of their stores are in dead/dying malls.
>>45635666
>especially considering that most of their stores are in dead/dying malls.
this burns the most for me. The whole notion of "I'm going to drive to the mall this weekend" is dead, especially when the few that remain are giant toilets.
if you didn't have one of these as a kid you seriously need to get off /g/
>>45631516
you're a dumbass
>uni student
>campus EE supply store is a 10 minute walk away
>has all components I could need, and markup is usually less than 15% more compared to online.
>>45635321
It would be a hell of a gamble, but I would get as much investment and loans as possible, and then market a line of laptops called The Radical that were as modular and configurable as desktop PCs.
This would fail horribly and I would retire in shame to work as the night manager of a chicken and waffle hut in compton, where I would die after being stabbed in the neck in the alley while taking the garbage out.
Either that or it would be a massive success and Radio Shack would become the dominant force in consumer hardware and absorb newegg, tiger direct, NCIX, and then Apple, Foxconn, AMD and IBM. And then I would fuck up and start the robot uprising and we would all die screaming in nuclear hell.
>>45635786
>campus EE supply store
aren't you a lucky son of a bitch, the only store my school allows is their bookstore where they sell $600 textbooks. No stores within at least 10 miles of the school too because it's in a suburb.
>>45634592
>Earlier this year, lenders blocked RadioShack's plan to close 1,100 stores.
>So help me god if you don't burn all of the money we put into you
>You WILL keep those stores open and you WILL fuck up the company beyond all repair
>>45635825
Well come on. People don't make risky investments because they are expecting a guaranteed return on them.
>>45635028
I live near a Maplin. Which is sort of like a component shop. If all you need is overpriced solder, common plug fuses and av cables. And Zippo hand warmers.
But not lighter fluid.
It's like every time I need something, I think "Oh, Maplin will probably have it - I can just pay online and go pick it up in an hour", only to find peripherals, accessories, related items, and pretty much everything that isn't what I want to buy.
>>45635778
I think no one had one of these. Damn that's ugly
>>45635825
can't say I blame them, the CEO's plan is to basically halve the entire company just to get it profitable enough to pay off it's debts. No investor wants that, because less stores = less potential money = lower stock = bad investment. It's a lose-lose situation, the fact that the company is already in this position is proof that it's no longer viable as a company. The only thing that can save it is a buyout from a larger company. I seriously wouldn't be surprised if google or zuckerberg made a move to buy all of radioshack's assets when they inevitably go bankrupt.
>>45635778
Oh, if only I had been aware of where my fragmented interests would lead me, I would have been all over that shit as a child.
>>45635931
>zuckerberg buys radioshack
>uses them to sell the oculus and spite best buy
>also turns it into a fucking supply store like it was supposed to be
>facebook, inc. becomes the largest retailer of electronic components in the world
I don't know if this is a troll, but there's no way RS can compete with Mouser, Digikey, and Newark.
They couldn't decide if they were a franchise or not, they couldn't decide if they were a cell phone store or consumer electronics store or hobbyist store, they've got way, way, way too many locations. I don't see how they can get out total failure. The brand doesn't even have any cachet anymore, the only people I could see buying it up purely for the name is some Chinese company who wants to slap it on their goods.
>>45635963
You're forgetting the best part.
The NSA will get all the hardware before it hits the storefront. No more avoiding interception, and tons of jobs for nuggers created.
>>45628457
>employee actually admits to not knowing something (and still manages to help) rather than saying "umm... let me get someone who might know more about it", who then asks someone else, who then asks someone else, etc. or otherwise just pretending to know anything and just making shit up on the spot
they seem to be doing better than best buy in the customer service department if nothing else
>>45635991
that already happens though, because the NSA goes to chip developers directly
that being said, my Femtos machine running on an atmega128 is unhackable. It also has only 128kb of ram and doesn't have any networking capabilities as far as I'm aware.
They sell cell phones at such a lower cost than the manufacturer that I'm surprised they haven't stopped sooner.
A phone that would cost $200 to pick up at the Verizon Store would cost $50 or less picking it up at Radio Shack.
>>45636023
128kb is too volatile and prone to hacking. You need to bring it down to like 16kb just to make sure.
>>45636023
what's said is that most of /g/ probably doesn't know what an atmega chip is
>>45636023
everything is hackable. have you x-rayed your pcb board? how do you know there isn't a passive monitoring relay embedded right into the board? how do you know that there isn't a micro-accellerometer embedded into the very plastic shell of each one of your keyboard keys.
just look at these walls. these are like 9 inches thick. how can you say for sure that all of these power plugs don't have a spy camera lurking deep within the grounding socket. AHHHHH BRB I NEED TO GET MY SLEDGEHAMMER!!!! WE NEED TO GO DEEPER!!
>>45636139
>there are people right now that don't manually make their own processors and have each gate connected to an LED so you can see your program's memory usage in real time, and then hook it up to the internet through an analog phone line (re: twisted pair of copper wires)
>>45636189
I know right? Absolutely disgusting.
>>45636189
>>45636245
>not making your own cables from copper you've mined yourself
>not setting up your own telegraph network between your homemade tabulation machines
top pleb
2025
>brick and mortar retail is kill
>amazon and the like rule
>grocers ship via drone
>local restraunts are still alive
its gonna be the true digital age, you ready?
>>45636376
>cables
>not using infinitely superior and more secure system of eugenically selected slime mold culture
With your slavish devotion to these faddish insecure technologies you may as well just walk into the NSA and show them your genitals.
>>45636422
>>grocers ship via drone
not going to happen, because drones are fucking shit when it comes to carrying heavy things like spam and milk. Grocery delivery will become much more common though, and it's likely that even that won't be automated because some shmuck still has to unload each delivery by hand.
that being said, the "future" will be mostly defined by the death of suburbia. As existing suburbs turn into retirement communities (and then ghettos) cities will continue to build up (as they should have been in the latter 20th century) and we'll be living in some sort of super duper urbanized future with lots of class warfare as the middle class dies.
>>45628457
One of my friends is a regional manager for radioshack and he told me to expect them to go under about this time next year
>>45636521
What we need is like an airbnb or lyft for people's unused trunk space.
metatrunk. it's the next big thing. mark my words.
>>45636615
it could be. Really the "next big thing" I see is some sort of taskrabbit but dedicated towards mexican day laborers, with the intent of making sure they're all here legally. Imagine if a company like Lowe's or Home Depot adopted it, as a means of regulating who sits outside their stores.
40 to 60 percent of profits are from phones and phone contracts. It's the main focus for selling by far working there besides selling warranties. It's the only reason it's still around.
Worked there for a year or so, was so chill. Store is gone now though, lol.
RadioShack->GameStop->Wal-Mart
the list goes on, Having two capital letters in the same word leads to death
>go to radioshack
>remember it was dark and shit with red carpet
>now its all white
>Only one there is a 60 year old man that doesn't understand what a text is and how to respond
>phone cases everywhere
>only headphones are beats by dre
>more cases!
I missed that dark basement feel
>>45636728
of course it does, in the same way having a possessive in your name does (Mervyns, Sears, Khols)
it's the product of a bygone era. First the middle class department stores went, now the lower class ones (walmart and kmart) are
>>45636775
the ones with the old people are generally the best, because they usually have a clue as to what all the diy components do
try going into a radioshack where both employees are liberal arts college students. and then asking them if they have a 120 volt rectifier that works on DC equipment
>>45628638
If that was a successful plan then wouldn't compUSA still exist? Even best buy just has the few old people left alive with a windows desktop instead of an iPad buy a new part to remedy whatever issue they're having.
>>45635786
your school should just be giving you all the fucking solder you need for free in your tuition anyway, that's bullshit. gauging college kids for that shit must be a great business operation for the jews these days.
>>45628638
The days of the Radio Shack employee or manager would have an amateur license are long fucking gone, my friend.
And they're never coming back.
>>45631354
Money laundering is 99% about the books of account, 1% about the premises, staff and stock.
Source: the only way to teach me how to spot money laundering was to teach me how to DO money laundering
>>45636838
compusa was bought out and turned into tigerdirect with circuit city
>>45636861
>implying you get anything for free with schools these days
my school wanted to ping me with $500 per textbook, and then charge for lab use per hour. Also computer/wifi use was subject to a fee as well.
>>45636914
yeah, the "they should at least give you that shit" line was what my local radioshack guy said to me when i had to pick up a few things for a class.
>>45636792
>Sears
>possessive
Now don't be sad, 'cause two out of three ain't bad.
>>45636838
funny that you bring that up
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrydownes/2012/01/02/why-best-buy-is-going-out-of-business-gradually/
http://www.cnet.com/news/is-best-buy-following-compusa-circuit-city-to-certain-doom/
if I had to guess, blame retail markup and the accessibility of their stores. At least you can put a Radioshack into pretty much any general store space, but you need a 10,000+ square foot store long with a parking lot (and delivery bay) just for a Best Buy, Circuit City or CompUSA. Same reason why Tower Records went out of business, because their customers couldn't get to their stores anymore.
>>45636861
>gauging
gouging
>>45636914
>ping
ding
come on guise. words have meanings.
>>45636987
COME ON ANON. SENTENCES START WITH CAPITALS
>>45637022
You forgot the terminator (.) in that sentence, anon.
>>45635778
germanfag here, I actually have to build-your-own-radio kits.
get on my level.
>>45629288
The source? Everyone who works there is retarded, how do you get through the day.
>go into the source
>annoying employees all jumping over
>can we help you
>uh I just need a mini display port to displayport adapter.
>uhhh what? Are you sure you have the name right
>asks all other employees completely flumixed.
>I think you mean mini HDMI to hmdi?
>no I'll just find it myself
>employee spends five minutes searching aimlessly beings me a mini HDMI to HDMI adapter.
>MFW when it was right by the minidisplay port adapter too.
Maybe they really are just trolls?
Seemed pretty fucking serious tho
>>45637022
capitalization is obsolete. we should recycle upper case characters and assign them new phenomic values in order to expand our linguistic vectorspace exponentially.
>>45637063
>needing a kit to build your own radio
>not making your own out of a breadboard, atmega64 and coax cable
2slow4me
>mfw I walked into a radioshack last week to get a simple radio, and they didn't fucking have any
>>45636422
I can't wait pizza drones.
>>45637639
quit livin in the past man
>>45628457
you were buy potentiometers OP and you didn't ask "hey do you have any pot?"
>>45633442
| _/
>>45637639
buy one of their kids' electronics kit and make your own.
>>45635028
I'm sure there's more in my area, but the one I readily know of is in the industrial area near the airport, and save for Saturday mornings, only open during the week.
>>45637639
>not building a radio out of a Raspberry Pi, old computer parts, and the throwaway earbuds that came with your phone.
>>45628457
>walk into radio shack
>bitch asks what I need
>tell her I need a slimport adapter for my nexus5
>says she never heard of it
>explain its for outputting video from my phone to TV
>she asks to see my phone
>looks at the USB port
>oh you need an html adapter
>i tell her I need a slimport adapter
>she tells me im wrong, i need an html adapter
>all of my wut
>>45628457
>Don't walk into RadioShack
>Pretty good day
>How long is this company going to stay in business?
...
>Doesn't walk into RadioShack
>>45635028
I went into a shop like this and tried to find a screw for my laptop.
After I talked a little about it they wanted to charge me just 4 cents for the screw.
It felt like I was ripping them off so I gave them 30 cents.
Now about a year later it still feels like I ripped them off.
>>45638383
electrical components are cheap, if you did the math he'd probably be cheating you because the metal to make those screws is probably below one cent
>>45638383
lol
I work at a big box retail tech store
Our techs 'forget' to replace the screw in almost every laptop we work on. They usually put on two or three and toss the rest in a bucket.
We give them out for free if people as and have their latop with them.
>radioshack components drawers
>>45638459
yeah and the forced chinese labor woud have only cost like 2/3 cent and maybe only like 1/10 of a cent to ship it here
Selling desktop components would be a fool's game for RadioShack. If you're buying something greater than $100 in value you're more likely to shop around and ultimately buy online anyway. RadioShack has made a reasonable business selling small parts, which allow them to focus on a smaller footprint and sell things more "impulsively". It's predatory, but god damn it if they're selling some electronics shit that I could use to tinker around with some LEDs and shit, I just might buy them. And I sure as fuck wouldn't if I was on Amazon or something.
They should embrace the kitschy small trinket market. Not low quality, mind you, but tangible hackable stuff that doesn't cost a lot of money.
>>45628457
ir really depends on where the store is located, the RS near my house sells toys and cellphones exclusivly because of all the idiots in the area and think that anything not in a shiny self contained brick is black magic.
>>45638527
I just figured out the best way to explain what I mean.
RadioShack should be selling Sugru. That shit is quintessentially the kind of shit they ought to be putting in their inventory. It's simple, small, popular among hacky/DIY people, and a great "impulse" buy. Selling computer components as others have said here would be a mess. A GTX 970? And if someone comes in asking for the Gigabyte 4GB card and you only have the Asus card? What, you want to stock them all? And the 980s? And some Radeons for competition's sake?
That's Fry's, and Fry's is awful. Their employees don't seem to know what fucking planet they're on, let alone what merchandise the store has. Ugh.
>>45638499
actually many components are made in mexico, because it's so cheap to make that shipping via boat is more expensive than just putting it into a truck and driving it right to the distribution center
and you overestimate the cost of making most components, when literally billions are made each year
>>45635028
how do I find such a wonderful place?
>>45629196
It's strange how everyone on here is familiar with Fry's, and everyone has Fry's a billion miles away. Me included.
>>45638588
google "electrical hardware supply near me"
>>45638619
>live in the bay area
>4 fry's locations within 30 miles
you're not missing much though. The only good thing they did recently was promise to price match internet prices including Amazon (but only direct amazon sales). Whenever Amazon has a good deal on, I go in and price match them so I can take the product home that day. Also easier to return if there's a problem.
Only downside is that I got an SSD from them recently and the thing was a lemon. When I went to return it they had run out, so I could either get cash back and put my desktop on ice for a few days, or pay the difference for a desktop version of the same SSD - basically $20 for a desktop mounting cage and a USB adapter (neither of which I needed or wanted).
fuckers.
>>45638621
>electrical hardware supply near me
I got stuff like ace hardware and home depot. So then I've got none near me.
>>45638679
>tfw live less than 10 minutes from Jamesco
too bad my home is totally fucked during an earthquake because it's built on landfill
>>45638585
How can I purchase a Chinese girl?
>>45638705
try "electronic" then
>>45634393
because they've deluded hipsters into thinking they're actually doing something good by working for a grocery store that isn't a "big bad scary company."
>>45635963
I wouldn't mind this...
>>45635991
oh wait, nevermind.
well... It's not like the NSA doesn't already record all your online purchases. With faceshack you'd get all the convenience of a physical store with all the spying of online purchases.
>>45638769
TR gets along because they're just an upscale grocer. Hipsterism is only a part of that, nobody would give a shit about starbucks if it was seen as average.
>>45628457
>leaving the house to buy electronics
you're doing it wrong
majority of the time its overpriced picked over stock
>>45638552
I have always wanted to make on of these but by hell I can't find any blued razor blades this day and age.
>>45638769
>Use an individual's name and title as your store company
>hipsters will shop there because it isn't a "big bad scare company" because the store has a more human and individual feel.
I'll remember this
>>45640419
>programmer bill
>computer steve
>freedom richard
>>45629316
Try taydaelectronics.com.
5$ minimal order, and very reasonable shipping.
>I work at Best Buy Mobile
>I shit on radioshack and corporate phone stores in my area
>I don't give a fuck
>>45640419
RadioShaq
>>45628567
There's a sketchy as fuck computer repair place across the street from my office that I think has to be a front for something.
I still go there because they have super-cheap cables and odds and ends though.
>>45631006
In Canada, The Source (previously know as Radio Shack) were bought out by Bell, A national telecom. So that's how they are still around here anyway.
>>45628457
>actually buying components from Radioshack
man do you even ebay?
>>45636914
>computer/wifi use was subject to a fee as well.
3k/yr community college student here, wifi use was never charged
>tfw i used to work for Radio Shack
>tfw i worked in 4 stores across 2 states.
I honestly have no regrets. I worked there 2000-2001. Back when they actually did decent business. Also when Cell Phones were going through their boom.
Averaged $900/wk in SPIFFs+commision on phones alone.
>mfw i just realized i made money money as a faggot 17 year old than i do now as a faggot 31 year old.
the fuck happened to me...
I made myself sad...
Every time I go into the one near my house to buy key fob batteries [CR2032] they are always out of stock
>well its a popular battery
Then maybe you should order enough to meet demand ?
>we can order some for you if you like
I can order some myself from amazon for 1/4 of the price too..
>>45634661
Pretty much every store in the mall that doesnt sell clothes sells phones or phone related shit these days
Before phones became ubiquituous there was a joke on the simpsons about Bart going to the mall and the shop keeper tells him to hurry up before the place becomes a starbucks, as Bart leaves with a starbucks cup in his hand you can see that every shop in the mall is a starbucks.. The joke applies to do as every other shop is a phone / phone accessory shop.
>nearest fry's
>nearest micro center
i fucking hate Florida.
>>45641980
i made more during the dot-com boom than I do now. (web dev)
>>45642021
I remember another time I had to get a battery for a different key fob, which they happened to be in stock today
They offered to install the battery for me,
I thought about it, since I don't have the tools to pry it open and wouldn't mind just getting it done and being on my way..
>they wanted ~~$5 to install the battery
Sometimes I don't want to believe people exist to actually pay for services like that..
but I remember one day I was sitting in the lobby waiting for my car's oil to be changed, and in comes some elderly man that was going to pay the shop to install windshield wipers...
>Live in Indiana
>Why even live
>Remember that I'm in the neat part of Indiana that's right by Chicago and the National Lakeshore
>Oh yeah, that's why
>Fry's: 51 minutes with tolls, 61 without
>Microcenter: 33 Min with tolls, 40 without
>Tiger Direct: 45 minutes without tolls
>World Famous MSI Chicago: 20/25 mins. with/without tolls
>Illinois/Chicago border 6 blocks up the street
>mfw Indiana taxes and freedom with south Chicago accessibility
>>45641893
>Ah fuck I forgot/bought/shoved in cornhole the wrong dohickey lemme just wait 3 days, or travel to a location where I will meet like minded neckbeards.
>>45635028
>live like 5 mins from a parts store
>it's supposed to be discount (some parts are from major brands like nte, tons of chinese no name)
>they have amazing customer service though
