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>> What is actually stopping you from opening your own version of Fry's or Radio Shack right now? We had...like 4 Radio Shacks in my not-very-large town in the

>> What is actually stopping you from opening your own version of Fry's or Radio Shack right now? We had...like 4 Radio Shacks in my not-very-large town in the 80's. I don't think we had enough electronics nerds to support that, I wonder as a chain what the internal struggle was to keep that line of business going. They had all kinds of electronics alongside it - computers, RC cars, tons of radios and stereos. but by the late 90's and early 2000's they turned into just selling batteries, cell phones, service plans, power adapters... I don't remember when, but at some point a buddy and I went in there to get some resistors or something for a project, and they no longer sold them.

bluGill 3y ago
There was higher margins on cell phones in the 90s. Then the cell phone companies decided to bring that in house, and all the third party cell phone sellers died. Radio Shack had a good solid but low growth business in all those components. They pivoted to cell phones on the strength of "you don't understand these complex cell phones, but we are the nerds that do", and did great until that business died and they had no backup. If they had continued to sell those components they would probably still be around, but they wouldn't have been nearly as profitable in the 1990s. There are enough people who would like to have a local store for things like resisters (at 10x the street price if you mail order), 3d printer filament and other "nerd hobby" toys to support a new radio shack type store in most every city. However getting such a store started would be difficult.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
  I think specialty stores in general may be a null concept at this point. At the turn of the 20th century, specialty stores for every specialty could survive in any population center (and sometimes in less populous place) because the alternative was a Sears catalog that would sell it to you to be delivered 6-12 weeks after they received payment, all from some microscopic line drawing. You paid a premium to buy from the store, for the privilege of being able to see the merchandise before spending. Now, you can order it off of Amazon with one day shipping, after having looked at numerous high resolution color images, and probably a dozen Youtube videos as well, all to see if it is the product you want and need. And if it's not, chances are that it can be returned for a refund with little hassle. They've nailed the ability to do the initial purchase online, and that's what would build loyalty for a specialty storefront, that's the one purchase where people often wouldn't dare mail order. That's the purchase where someone gives you word of mouth advertising. This might even have been flipped on its head, where the stores that are still large enough to have survived until now have people coming into the showroom to see what they want, but then ordering the same model off of Amazon or where ever to get their volume discount. That couldn't have worked earlier, as the only company that might have the same products mail order was the same as the store front. We live in an era where the only brick and mortars that could possibly survive are those that sell highly perishable goods (groceries) or products for which even next day shipping are too late (plumbing repair parts at hardware stores).

bluGill 3y ago

There was higher margins on cell phones in the 90s. Then the cell phone companies decided to bring that in house, and all the third party cell phone sellers died. Radio Shack had a good solid but low growth business in all those components. They pivoted to cell phones on the strength of "you don't understand these complex cell phones, but we are the nerds that do", and did great until that business died and they had no backup. If they had continued to sell those components they would probably still be around, but they wouldn't have been nearly as profitable in the 1990s. There are enough people who would like to have a local store for things like resisters (at 10x the street price if you mail order), 3d printer filament and other "nerd hobby" toys to support a new radio shack type store in most every city. However getting such a store started would be difficult.

NoMoreNicksLeft 3y ago
I think specialty stores in general may be a null concept at this point. At the turn of the 20th century, specialty stores for every specialty could survive in any population center (and sometimes in less populous place) because the alternative was a Sears catalog that would sell it to you to be delivered 6-12 weeks after they received payment, all from some microscopic line drawing. You paid a premium to buy from the store, for the privilege of being able to see the merchandise before spending. Now, you can order it off of Amazon with one day shipping, after having looked at numerous high resolution color images, and probably a dozen Youtube videos as well, all to see if it is the product you want and need. And if it's not, chances are that it can be returned for a refund with little hassle. They've nailed the ability to do the initial purchase online, and that's what would build loyalty for a specialty storefront, that's the one purchase where people often wouldn't dare mail order. That's the purchase where someone gives you word of mouth advertising. This might even have been flipped on its head, where the stores that are still large enough to have survived until now have people coming into the showroom to see what they want, but then ordering the same model off of Amazon or where ever to get their volume discount. That couldn't have worked earlier, as the only company that might have the same products mail order was the same as the store front. We live in an era where the only brick and mortars that could possibly survive are those that sell highly perishable goods (groceries) or products for which even next day shipping are too late (plumbing repair parts at hardware stores).