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In the last 5 years Microcenter has been expanding their selection of electronics tools, kits, and parts. Not to mention Fry's which has always carried a select

In the last 5 years Microcenter has been expanding their selection of electronics tools, kits, and parts. Not to mention Fry's which has always carried a selection of electronics tools and parts. They've essentially picked up the market that Radio Shack dropped.

dylan604 12y ago
Have you seen Fry's selection of electronic components lately? There are 3 within a 30 minute drive of me, and I visited all 3 of them in one day trying to find a component without having to order it online. Their selection was not any better than the local Radio Shacks. The selection of components at RS were in drawers and was not impressive. The selection at Fry's was also not as impressive, but since they were just on hangers on a fairly large amount of real estate, all of the bags were yellowed and nasty looking. Some of there stuff even had a layer of dust on them. I'm not trying to bag on Fry's, but I would not be surprised if their component selection gets eliminated to make space for refrigerators, microwave ovens, and color TVs.
soylentcola 12y ago
Microcenter is pretty awesome (has its flaws but it's basically what I always wished Best Buy and the like could be. It ain't gonna happen but Microcenter doesn't have locations in many areas so I'd love it if they bought up a bunch of the little Radio Shacks and turned them into spinoff/satellite "Nanocenters" or some such. Maybe just stock the small stuff (hobbyist electronics and other things that don't take up a load of space) and rotate in the most popular/in-demand items from their normal stock. The volume and low margins of their bigger stores would help with costs that would be harder if they were only the smaller shops but it would be a cheaper way to bring computer hardware and other electronics to brick-and-mortar stores that are closer to more customers. I realize this would probably be a mess and never work due to market changes but it's a nice fantasy.
SwellJoe 12y ago
There's one Fry's in a city. There used to be dozens of Radio Shacks. It's a very different model. Radio Shack would have had to close 9 out of 10 stores, and turned the remaining one into some sort of superstore. I'm not saying that's not what should have happened (though the big box stores are now beginning to see the writing on the wall, as much of their business goes online), or that it wouldn't have extended the life of the Radio Shack brand another five, ten, maybe more, years. But, it would have also been the end of the Radio Shack of my childhood (then again, that Radio Shack died years ago anyway).

dylan604 12y ago

Have you seen Fry's selection of electronic components lately? There are 3 within a 30 minute drive of me, and I visited all 3 of them in one day trying to find a component without having to order it online. Their selection was not any better than the local Radio Shacks. The selection of components at RS were in drawers and was not impressive. The selection at Fry's was also not as impressive, but since they were just on hangers on a fairly large amount of real estate, all of the bags were yellowed and nasty looking. Some of there stuff even had a layer of dust on them. I'm not trying to bag on Fry's, but I would not be surprised if their component selection gets eliminated to make space for refrigerators, microwave ovens, and color TVs.

soylentcola 12y ago

Microcenter is pretty awesome (has its flaws but it's basically what I always wished Best Buy and the like could be. It ain't gonna happen but Microcenter doesn't have locations in many areas so I'd love it if they bought up a bunch of the little Radio Shacks and turned them into spinoff/satellite "Nanocenters" or some such. Maybe just stock the small stuff (hobbyist electronics and other things that don't take up a load of space) and rotate in the most popular/in-demand items from their normal stock. The volume and low margins of their bigger stores would help with costs that would be harder if they were only the smaller shops but it would be a cheaper way to bring computer hardware and other electronics to brick-and-mortar stores that are closer to more customers. I realize this would probably be a mess and never work due to market changes but it's a nice fantasy.

SwellJoe 12y ago

There's one Fry's in a city. There used to be dozens of Radio Shacks. It's a very different model. Radio Shack would have had to close 9 out of 10 stores, and turned the remaining one into some sort of superstore. I'm not saying that's not what should have happened (though the big box stores are now beginning to see the writing on the wall, as much of their business goes online), or that it wouldn't have extended the life of the Radio Shack brand another five, ten, maybe more, years. But, it would have also been the end of the Radio Shack of my childhood (then again, that Radio Shack died years ago anyway).