[imglorp]

They didn't quite hit the right tone in their other markets either. It's hard to pay rent selling $2 packs of components. Computers were ok for a while, especially at the beginning, but not selling. They didn't want to compete on TVs. Hifi gear seemed a shrinking market. I'm not sure what I would have done differently in their place.

[snozolli]

I'm not sure what I would have done differently in their place.

I remember some buzz around carrying Arduino not long before they went out of business. They drifted away from the DIY scene into cellphone kiosk territory. Maybe if they shuttered a bunch of stores and leaned into the new era of DIY (Arduino, 3D printing, drone parts) they might have survived.

[imglorp]

Yeah ours had an Arduino branded section for a year or two at the end. Some starter kits, proto boards, a few relays and servos, that kind of thing. Not enough to pay the rent obv but fine for jumpstarting hackers.

[epcoa]

> I'm not sure what I would have done differently in their place.

Microcenter. Granted much larger and fewer store model, not a slot next to Orange Julius.

But RadioShack was famously cluelessly managed for years.

[buescher]

Right plus that was the transformation that was happening that they didn't follow - electronics and gadgets out of the mall and into big box stores like Best Buy and Circuit City.

Tough too to get by on small parts for minor repairs when things break rarely and then aren't worth fixing. Time was grocery stores had little tube tester kiosks, you know. That said, Batteries Plus seems to have a business.

[buildsjets]

Radioshack did try to create electronics megacenters.

Incredible Universe was very similar to Frys and catered mostly to consumer electronics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incredible_Universe

[mc32]

I love the The Onion’s parody interview of Radio Shack’s CEO. It was an epic rant.

https://theonion.com/even-ceo-cant-figure-out-how-radioshack...

[luckman212]

> "Even the name ’RadioShack’—can you imagine two less appealing words placed next to one another?”

This made me chuckle.