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Adafruit acquires RadioShack?
- theyregreat 9y agoDaayam. That’s awesome! Hopefully they rename it RatShack and sell actual radios and kits through what’s left of it. Also, it would be cool if there were IoT, electronics, μctrlr interfacing kit subscriptions for academic-level learning through practical kits on a monthly basis. Adafruit is an awesome, modern business model (juxtaposed to the tiny margins of components and other commodification) that pumps out tons of quality kits, and Fried is killing it! I see tons of new product demos all the time on their YouTube channel.[0] 0: https://youtube.com/user/adafruit https://youtube.com/user/adafruit PS: Still have my PS/2 :cueCat. Update: if you really love electronics, more YT channels: eevblog, ave, bigclivedotcom, mikeselectricstuff, strange parts, this does not compute, louisrossmann (IIRC)
- flyGuyOnTheSly 9y agoThis is really exciting. I just know that Adafruit will bring back at least some of the luster that Radio Shack once held in my heart.
- ocdtrekkie 9y agoI guess I didn't realize before seeing this that Adafruit was of the scale that they could buy a major brand like Radio Shack. Although, in retrospect, I suppose Radio Shack isn't worth much anymore. I have so much Radio Shack branded crud around my house (and that was even before I went on a shopping spree through like six stores undergoing clearance), they used to be so much more than a store. I'm glad to see it finally end up in good hands.
- Hydraulix989 9y agoI can't believe it either. I always thought of Adafruit as the underdog, and to me, it still seems like a David and Goliath story.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- rbanffy 9y agoI can't imagine a better match. Thanks, Adafruit.
- taneliv 9y agoAs a non-American, I'm completely unfamiliar with RadioShack, except for having seen the name often, and often associated with some sort of strong feelings. Why do they hold such "high" status, or stay relevant in discussions? I could not really gather an answer to this from their Wikipedia page; perhaps I'm just imagining the whole attitude? (Adafruit's collection I've browsed online, and possibly even ordered something from there; RadioShack appears not to even ship outside the US.)
- malloryerik 9y agoRadioShack was a ubiquitous feature in the U.S. and probably still has a far-reaching string of commercial properties. Hard to believe that any American wouldn't know them. Unfortunately they grew staid and dusty. Adafruit seems the perfect buyer.
- evan_ 9y agoFor a really long time Radio Shack was synonymous with hobbyist electronics- they had a location in virtually every mall and shopping center in the country where they sold little plastic baggies of resisters, capacitors, and the like- not to mention kits, tools, small electronics, etc. Then they basically all turned into cell phone stores and became irrelevant.
- __x0x__ 9y agoAnd let's not forget the battery of the month club! Oh yes RS was Wonkaland for me when I was a kid. I also lusted after the CB radios they sold.
- abritinthebay 9y agoIf you’re familiar with uk stores: Tandy Electronics, or a crappier Maplins.
- tonyedgecombe 9y agocrappier Maplins That's quite hard to imagine.
- malloryerik 9y agoAmazing and super cool! I'm not even in the U.S. and I haven't yet done anything with Arduinos, etc. apart from buying one for a kid, but this news will put spring in my step today.
- iClaudiusX 9y agoThis is perfect. The only thing that made Adafruit less than ideal was the shipping cost and delay for small purchases. If I can just hop over to a local retail site and get what I need for my projects I will be so happy!
- kn0where 9y agoI don't think there exists a single remaining RadioShack store in the US. The website appears to have everything on clearance. I think they've essentially just bought the name, likely very cheaply since virtually nothing else exists anymore.
- zbowling 9y agoThe only stores that remain open are the ones the at did well for Sprint as a Sprint retail location. All the others closed.
- theyregreat 9y agoYup. It’s probably a licensing deal with the conservator or some such to give a little coin back to investors/debt-holders. The remaining B&M I’ve encountered basically just sell mobiles, junk like toys, accessories and cables. Maybe a handful of discrete passive components, if you’re lucky. Heck, in the valley, IRL fulfillment (willcall)/retail of electronic components is limited: (Halted isn’t organized and sells mostly used stuff without ESD management anywhere, Fry’s is a joke). Maybe you can will-call some places (Jameco), but the main sources like FleaBay and DigiKey don’t compare to IRL/right-now like Shenzhen highrise of everything bad fakes, good fakes and authentic. If you’re prototyping and about to do small runs it’s much easier in China because suppliers of all sizes and contract manufacturers right there, and can turn-around PCBs in a couple of hours. America doesn’t have anything remotely close to the density and rapid business efficiency of Shenzhen.
- colejohnson66 9y agoI once heard a rumor that if you get parts manufactured in China, they’ll keep the schematic so they can clone it later on. Not sure how true it is, though.
- jacquesm 9y agoI had that exact same thing happen to me in Europe, so it stands to reason this is an industry wide problem, not just a Chinese problem.
- ianpenney 9y agoI'm not sure the title is 100% true. I think they just bought a framed stock certificate at an auction. Likely, Kensington Capital still owns the RadioShack brand. Sources: - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-radioshack-kensingtoncapital/radioshack-brand-to-survive-under-new-owner-sources-idUSKBN1A427F https://www.reuters.com/article/us-radioshack-kensingtoncapi... - http://ubidestates.hibid.com/catalog/103245/radioshack-auction--1/?q=framed http://ubidestates.hibid.com/catalog/103245/radioshack-aucti...
- twerdster 9y agoSeems like a pretty misleading HN item then. Also, considering that Adafruit specifically mentioned on their website a few years ago that they were not prepared to use Radioshack as a distributor it doesnt make sense that they would choose to start using physical stores. But who knows these days ...
- obrajesse 9y agoWell, as of January that at least had changed. https://blog.adafruit.com/2017/01/04/adafruit-products-at-radioshack/ https://blog.adafruit.com/2017/01/04/adafruit-products-at-ra...
- obrajesse 9y agoGiven that Adafruit is retweeting things like https://twitter.com/danielphippsaus/status/916508668132073472 https://twitter.com/danielphippsaus/status/91650866813207347..., I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe that they’re saying they bought RadioShack. Indeed, the company is a husk of its former self and has already sold off most of its assets.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- wickberg 9y agoIndeed, it does look like the set she's holding is one of three that were sold in the auction. If Adafruit has actually acquired the brand, this is certainly an odd way to go about announcing it. I could see this having been a joke that's now gotten misinterpreted. But, if so, the @adafruit twitter account is definitely further confusing things.
- dejawu 9y agoThis is crazy, this is like Porsche almost acquiring Volkswagen. If you'd told me the other way around (RadioShack acquires Adafruit) a couple years ago I would've believed it.
- scott_karana 9y agoPorsche almost DID manage to do just that! Fascinating stuff: https://priceonomics.com/porsche-the-hedge-fund-that-also-made-cars/ https://priceonomics.com/porsche-the-hedge-fund-that-also-ma...
- rdtsc 9y agoI was in Fort Worth, TX for a job interview around 2005 or so and we decided to walk through the city and chat with one of the owners. We passed by the RadioShack headquarters. And I said something like "They seem to be declining, they just resell cell phones and plans mostly". And they said, "Nah, it's a large company they'll figure something out". Well I guess they never did. Though Adafruit buying them feels right. It's like having RS return to its roots. Hopefully Adafruit finds some use from it and it doesn't let it drag it down.
- shriphani 9y agoThey have a great chance to set up something like techshop for electronics. I discovered a new serious hobby in carpentry thanks to the community there. Imagine what this could do for electronics hobbyists.
- tosstossy 9y agoFunny, and I hope it was cheap and not riddled with debt baggage, because I doubt there's much value left in a pile of ailing brick and mortar stores at this point. I hope for adafruit's sake this is just a joke around a framed radio shack cert.
- em3rgent0rdr 9y agoI have fond memories of buying my first transistors, capacitors, resistors, and soldering gun from RadioShack and soldering my first devices (a TI-85 interface to computer serial port). RadioShack seemed to lose their way when they started selling phone subscriptions. Adafruit is what RadioShack is supposed to be. I'm glad they have reappropriated the name. I guess all the real estate is gone...but it would have been cool to have those RadioShack stores as ada fruit stores/learning centers. I went to my local RadioShack's liquidation...bought a ton of RadioShack branded things at discount to have for nostalgia purposes. Was also pleasantly surprised to see a section of the DIY kits you would find at adafruit including arduinos and RPi's.
- criddell 9y ago> RadioShack seemed to lose their way when they started selling phone subscriptions. What else could they do? Even with the big markups, those resistors and transistors weren't profitable because they turned over so slowly.
- newman8r 9y agoSounds like a perfect fit. I would be a customer for sure. Microcenter should take a hint and reorganize their neglected hobbyist electronic section.
- jlgaddis 9y agoBefore everybody gets too excited about brick and mortar stores opening (back) up, think about it for a second... If RadioShack couldn't earn enough to stay open -- selling all the various products that they did (mostly Sprint phones and service the ladt few years, AFAICT) -- do you really think there's gonna be enough sales of AdaFruit products to keep retail stores open? No.
- evan_ 9y agoIF this is true it's surely just the brand, definitely not any of the locations.
- criddell 9y agoThey could never keep 2500 stores open, but they probably could keep 25 going.
- fapjacks 9y agoBut RadioShack was a shithole. The reason I stopped going was because it just wasn't frankly safe to go there and buy a last-minute capacitor from the store on Sunday night, versus just wait a few days for DigiKey to ship. You're taking a fairly substantial risk by using those crap substandard components sold by RadioShack, and it had been this way for some years before they shut down. If RadioShack had actually stocked quality parts for makers, and not tried to pander to the lowest common denominator as their primary focus with the stupid consumer electronics (and phones and mountains of batteries), things might have turned out differently. Now, Adafruit is expensive, but I trust their components not to explode or otherwise destroy my project. I would travel to an Adafruit-owned RadioShack on Sunday night for that last-minute component. And like I did so often in the 90s, walk out of there having thrown a couple hundred dollars into the "this looks interesting" project hole.
- Zak 9y agoAside from the fact that whatever Adafruit bought, it's almost certainly not Radioshack's whole former business with 2500 locations... Radioshack failed by giving up its original niche and trying to do what bigger, better-funded competitors were doing, badly. Maybe there wasn't a sufficient market for an electronic components retail store, but there certainly wasn't a sufficient market for a mini Best Buy with even worse prices. There might well be a market for a much smaller number of stores with stuff for people who make things. Germany's Conrad Electronics appears to do well with that, though their stores are larger and also include a lot of ordinary consumer stuff.
- mungoid 9y agoThe title made produce a rare, audible 'whaaat?' when i read it. But looking more, I don't believe it's as simple as they literally own all of RadioShack now. I think it would be a terrible idea for them to do that this late in the stage.
- ejanus 9y agoAdafruit , here we come !
- stereosteve 9y agoI wish they had a physical store in NYC. So sad I have to wait several days for shipping when there warehouse is on Varick street. Add a pickup counter... I would still pay shipping to pick up.
- SethMurphy 9y agoRadio Shack missed the opportunity of going back to their maker roots a long time ago, the brand is worthless and has been tarnished by an inconsistent vision. Radio Shack give me nostalgic feelings of my grand father building the families first color tv in the basement, not of a future makers go to store. It’s a real shame.