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Nine reasons RadioShack shouldn't change its name.

4 points by technologizer 17y ago

SwellJoe 17y ago
The reason I stopped going to Radio Shack was because they turned into a bigger version of the shopping mall cell phone kiosk. High pressure sales people looking to sell me a phone, every time I walked in the door, and high ticket consumer items pushed the project kits and electronic components into the ghetto in the back corner of the store. Radio Shack was no longer a fun place to browse, and rarely had the things I went looking for in stock. In Houston I shopped at EPO and in Austin and here in Mountain View at Fry's. I have to drive a little further, but they don't try to sell me a bunch of crap, and they have a wide variety of cool stuff to look at. I simply never think, "I know, I'll go to Radio Shack!" It's been at least ten years since that's been my first instinct when I needed something electronic. I also hold a bit of a grudge against Radio Shack because when I was about 15, a sales guy talked down to me about some device or other (maybe an oscilloscope or a DMM or something; both of which I'd been using for several years at that point) as though I was too much of an idiot to even be looking at it, much less touching it. My dad was browsing nearby, overheard, and laughed at him and explained that he'd be willing to wager that I knew more about the device than the sales guy did. I got a lot of that kind of thing from grownups back then (I had hair down to my waist and wore metal T-shirts all the time), but rarely from fellow nerds, and so I was irritated when it happened at one of my favorite places to poke around, and where most of the people who worked their knew me and were always friendly. Anyway, it's funny that this article brought back this flood of memories about a store I haven't visited in many years (but throughout my childhood visited every couple of weeks).
- jacquesm 17y ago
  My story is just about the opposite of yours. I grew up in Amsterdam, there were only a few stores that sold electronic components and radio shack (tandy in europe) was one of those. So, I went there quite frequently (age about 12) and became friends with the store manager. He would give me discounts on all kinds of stuff and allow me to scan his 'to be destroyed' batch for interesting bits & pieces. When computers arrived (the trs-80 series) he allowed me to play with them as much as I wanted as long as I would help to explain to customers what they could do. This probably played a large factor in getting me on the track to programming for a living, which in turn led to just about everything else in my life. So, even though radio shack the company has done lots of bad stuff in their time (their pull-out from europe was one of the nastiest business maneuvers ever) some of the people there were absolutely great.
  - SwellJoe 17y ago
    Actually, that's very similar to my experiences with Radio Shack. I was always treated very well by the Radio Shack folks, including when I was really young (like 10, or so) and would ride my bike over to browse around; a friend and I once went in with our allowance to buy parts to build a robot. They were very helpful with LEDs, batteries, and other such things. My negative experience was one specific incident, but it was particularly galling because I had always felt comfortable at Radio Shack, and like the folks working their weren't being condescending even when I didn't know anything. I think Radio Shack started fading for me as a positive brand on that day. The TRS-80 was already moribund by then (the Tandy 1000, fat keyboard model, was probably on display at that point), and I think the writing was already on the wall for Radio Shack...but the cell phones hadn't started showing up yet. I thought it was interesting enough to bring up, because I'd never really thought about why I have such a low opinion of Radio Shack, and that one employee ~20 years ago is a big part of the story. Sure, the phone sales guys are useless idiots, but I don't remember them vividly...they're just a wash of "Oh, yeah, Radio Shack was a waste of time, and I ended up finding it at Fry's." experiences. It was the guy who treated me like a dumb kid that stands out. It's also hard for me to recall any occasion after that on which I got useful assistance from a sales person at any Radio Shack.
    - jacquesm 17y ago
      Radio shack was a company in search of a problem to solve, hobby electronics were fading out, their computers had a head start for a little while and then got passed on all sides by other companies (maybe with the exception of the 6809 based color computer). The product quality degraded, and so did the quality of the people working there. They destroyed each and every bit of goodwill they ever had. I remember the kits they sold that taught kids the basics of electronics, all the 'notebooks' with simple circuits that you could build. I think plenty of people of a certain generation gained a lot from their interaction with that company, I also don't doubt that they all ended up being disillusioned by them. Cost cutting and bad manufacturing + rude and pushy sales people will not make you friends in any industry.
  - wooby 17y ago
    I have very fond memories of Radio Shack also. It's where my dad bought the first family computer, a Tandy 486, when I was in elementary school. The guy who sold it to us was friendly and knowledgeable. I remember asking him how I might program the computer myself. He said "Try QuickBASIC, and make an effort to learn how to touch type. It will pay off." It was some of the best programming advice I've ever gotten. It seems like the "hacker" side of Radio Shack has fallen victim to the age of comparison shopping and online communication. For me growing up in a small town, Radio Shack was the place to go for technical advice from very smart people. And really, it was; Radio Shack was one of the few places where tech-savvy people could make money at a 9-5 with their skills and knowledge in just about every town in America. It was an ubiquitous bastion of DIY and technological enlightenment. The few times I've been to a store since childhood I've been less than impressed with both the salespeople and products. It seemed like each time I was there, another drawer had disappeared from the electronic component rack. So, whether they're changing the name or not, the real Radio Shack was gone a long time ago.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
chaosmachine 17y ago
RadioShack already changed names in Canada to "The Source", after InterTan got bought by Circuit City, and lost the rights to the name.

4 points by technologizer 17y ago

The reason I stopped going to Radio Shack was because they turned into a bigger version of the shopping mall cell phone kiosk. High pressure sales people looking to sell me a phone, every time I walked in the door, and high ticket consumer items pushed the project kits and electronic components into the ghetto in the back corner of the store. Radio Shack was no longer a fun place to browse, and rarely had the things I went looking for in stock. In Houston I shopped at EPO and in Austin and here in Mountain View at Fry's. I have to drive a little further, but they don't try to sell me a bunch of crap, and they have a wide variety of cool stuff to look at. I simply never think, "I know, I'll go to Radio Shack!" It's been at least ten years since that's been my first instinct when I needed something electronic. I also hold a bit of a grudge against Radio Shack because when I was about 15, a sales guy talked down to me about some device or other (maybe an oscilloscope or a DMM or something; both of which I'd been using for several years at that point) as though I was too much of an idiot to even be looking at it, much less touching it. My dad was browsing nearby, overheard, and laughed at him and explained that he'd be willing to wager that I knew more about the device than the sales guy did. I got a lot of that kind of thing from grownups back then (I had hair down to my waist and wore metal T-shirts all the time), but rarely from fellow nerds, and so I was irritated when it happened at one of my favorite places to poke around, and where most of the people who worked their knew me and were always friendly. Anyway, it's funny that this article brought back this flood of memories about a store I haven't visited in many years (but throughout my childhood visited every couple of weeks).

jacquesm 17y ago
My story is just about the opposite of yours. I grew up in Amsterdam, there were only a few stores that sold electronic components and radio shack (tandy in europe) was one of those. So, I went there quite frequently (age about 12) and became friends with the store manager. He would give me discounts on all kinds of stuff and allow me to scan his 'to be destroyed' batch for interesting bits & pieces. When computers arrived (the trs-80 series) he allowed me to play with them as much as I wanted as long as I would help to explain to customers what they could do. This probably played a large factor in getting me on the track to programming for a living, which in turn led to just about everything else in my life. So, even though radio shack the company has done lots of bad stuff in their time (their pull-out from europe was one of the nastiest business maneuvers ever) some of the people there were absolutely great.
- SwellJoe 17y ago
  Actually, that's very similar to my experiences with Radio Shack. I was always treated very well by the Radio Shack folks, including when I was really young (like 10, or so) and would ride my bike over to browse around; a friend and I once went in with our allowance to buy parts to build a robot. They were very helpful with LEDs, batteries, and other such things. My negative experience was one specific incident, but it was particularly galling because I had always felt comfortable at Radio Shack, and like the folks working their weren't being condescending even when I didn't know anything. I think Radio Shack started fading for me as a positive brand on that day. The TRS-80 was already moribund by then (the Tandy 1000, fat keyboard model, was probably on display at that point), and I think the writing was already on the wall for Radio Shack...but the cell phones hadn't started showing up yet. I thought it was interesting enough to bring up, because I'd never really thought about why I have such a low opinion of Radio Shack, and that one employee ~20 years ago is a big part of the story. Sure, the phone sales guys are useless idiots, but I don't remember them vividly...they're just a wash of "Oh, yeah, Radio Shack was a waste of time, and I ended up finding it at Fry's." experiences. It was the guy who treated me like a dumb kid that stands out. It's also hard for me to recall any occasion after that on which I got useful assistance from a sales person at any Radio Shack.
  - jacquesm 17y ago
    Radio shack was a company in search of a problem to solve, hobby electronics were fading out, their computers had a head start for a little while and then got passed on all sides by other companies (maybe with the exception of the 6809 based color computer). The product quality degraded, and so did the quality of the people working there. They destroyed each and every bit of goodwill they ever had. I remember the kits they sold that taught kids the basics of electronics, all the 'notebooks' with simple circuits that you could build. I think plenty of people of a certain generation gained a lot from their interaction with that company, I also don't doubt that they all ended up being disillusioned by them. Cost cutting and bad manufacturing + rude and pushy sales people will not make you friends in any industry.
- wooby 17y ago
  I have very fond memories of Radio Shack also. It's where my dad bought the first family computer, a Tandy 486, when I was in elementary school. The guy who sold it to us was friendly and knowledgeable. I remember asking him how I might program the computer myself. He said "Try QuickBASIC, and make an effort to learn how to touch type. It will pay off." It was some of the best programming advice I've ever gotten. It seems like the "hacker" side of Radio Shack has fallen victim to the age of comparison shopping and online communication. For me growing up in a small town, Radio Shack was the place to go for technical advice from very smart people. And really, it was; Radio Shack was one of the few places where tech-savvy people could make money at a 9-5 with their skills and knowledge in just about every town in America. It was an ubiquitous bastion of DIY and technological enlightenment. The few times I've been to a store since childhood I've been less than impressed with both the salespeople and products. It seemed like each time I was there, another drawer had disappeared from the electronic component rack. So, whether they're changing the name or not, the real Radio Shack was gone a long time ago.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

chaosmachine 17y ago

RadioShack already changed names in Canada to "The Source", after InterTan got bought by Circuit City, and lost the rights to the name.