With rapid growths in technology and gadgets, it is no wonder various brick and mortar technology stores are thrown into a frenzy of competition with their competitors. In order to stay in business and strive these technology and gadget store fronts need to constantly evolve and improve their staff to stay on top. As of 2015 the leading store front for the latest and greatest in technology and electronic gadgets is without a doubt Best Buy.
With a wide selection of televisions, stereo systems, smartphones, tablets, headphones, the list goes on; Best Buy is the premier location for all your electronic needs. Obviously Best Buy did not become the leading electronic store overnight; after many years of dedication and change Best Buy was able to overcome the competition, no matter the duration and reputation of other well known companies. One of these companies that had been surpassed and left to die and disappear is the time old company RadioShack.
Radioshack in the Beginning – The 1920s
For the sake of simplicity and ease let’s start at the dawn of RadioShack. Founded all the way back in 1921 RadioShack was started by two brothers Theodore and Milton Deutschmann. The intent and purpose of the newfound storefront located in Boston, Massachusetts was to be a one-store retail and mail-order for ham radios.
In 1962 the Tandy Corporation, a leather goods corporation, was looking for a hobbyist related businesses to acquire and expand. On the verge of bankruptcy, a recurring problem found in the history of RadioShack, the Tandy Corporation acquired RadioShack for $14 million worth of AM and FM radios, ham radio gear, walkie-talkies, and speakers. However RadioShack was spending more money than it was taking in.
With the new acquisition of RadioShack, Tandy closed the unprofitable mail-order business that RadioShack has once set up. In addition to the closing of an inefficient business practice, Tandy also ended credit purchases and fired many top management positions while retaining the salespeople, merchandisers, and advertisers. Tandy also changed the store front of RadioShack from designated buildings to :little holes in the wall” found in malls and plazas. Finally, Tandy ended the sale of all non-electronic items, such as go-carts and musical instruments, were abandoned and ended entirely.
To ensure that there would be an incentive for getting store managers to work long hours and remain profitable, Tandy required store managers to take an ownership stake in their stores. In order to generate up foot traffic from the 1960s to the early 1990s, RadioShack offered a “battery of the month” club; this, while not overwhelmingly successful, still added some level of foot traffic no matter how trivial. Basically you would go to your nearest RadioShack and get a free Enercell battery once a month.
In 1970, the Tandy Corporation bought both retail and industrial divisions of Allied Radio. The former stores of Allied Radio would resume under the name of RadioShack. In the same year the RadioShack chain expanded into the UK and Australian market. The chain amassed a large amount of revenue based on the mass popularity of citizens band radio in the mid 1970s; this represented at its peak 30% of the chains revenue.
After many unsuccessful years and jokes at the expense of RadioShack, Tandy decided in the mid 1980s to drop the RadioShack name branding on its 8-bit computers as RadioShack branded items were referred to as “Radio Scrap”. In addition to changing the branding, RadioShack kept up with the rapid changing of technology offering 20 different models of home phones. At this point in the lates 1980s RadioShack was the world’s largest electronics chain.
Radioshack in the 2000s – Stores Start Closing
In addition to coming off as insensitive and cold, RadioShack experienced numerous customer relation issues. After having a large number of unanswered and unresolved complaints, RadioShack and the Better Business Bureau met to implement a plan to decrease the number of complaints their stores were receiving. This meeting lead to a dedicated toll free number and website where customers can voice their complaints. Then in July of 2011 RadioShack ended its partnered with T-mobile replacing it with a “Verizon Wireless Store” within a store.
Radioshack Now in 2018
Despite its almost 1 year long continuation since conception, RadioShack had came to an unfortunate demise as the business could not sustain itself any longer. While the company was one of the first electronic stores, and at one point the leading electronic store, RadioShack has been falling into its end for years. As the director of CBS News said, “RadioShack died years ago; we’re only now holding the funeral now.” Coupled with a decline in public interest and public admiration, due to its layoffs in the mid 2000s as RadioShack came off as insensitive, RadioShack has lost its favor in the eyes of the public.
RadioShack had 2 totally incompetent CEOs in a row – Julian Day and James Gooch. Both were money men who had absolutely NO retail experience whatsoever and didn’t care to learn. Day led a systematic waterboarding of the company, firing experienced managers and personnel, and then replacing them with people who knew as little or less than he did about running a retail company. He drove the company straight into the ground. Gooch was fired for his incompetence after he nailed the coffin shut.
It was sad to leave the company but it was time. I was a manager of one of the stores that closed its doors in February of 2015. I was offered to stay with the company but that would have meant a dramatic pay cut and I was not able to do that so I went back to the job market and found a decent paying job with a small pay cut but that took me 5 months. Although it was sad to see a company that I had been a part of for some time fall to the ruins it is in now I am glad that I was able to find my way in a new field.
it is true that the two CEOs prior to the last one destroyed the company. I fear that tying Sprint to RadioShack now may be its final nail in the coffin. I cannot make any predictions to the end of the chain forever but I don’t see it lasting much longer when many of the people I know that work there now are starting to say no more (They are fed up with the management and all of its failings). It has been nothing but bad things from General wireless to the employees at RadioShack. The current employees all hate it there I am surprised they are still there… RUN!!!
The author is obviously too young to know anything interesting about Radio Shack. There was a time when a hobbyist could purchase kits for home electronics and electronic gadgets . Build your own stereo receiver, computer, or ham radio. Solder parts together late into the night. Building useful things instead opining on the Internet . Ham radio, btw, was much more personal contact than Facebook or texting. It was a time when “it’s long distance” meant something important. The Radio Shack catalog was my 1950s version of Victoria’s Secret. I’d pour over pages of electronic parts. Read arcane descriptions. Examine the images. I was not a hobbyist, but the catalog stimulated my interest in electronics.