Radio Shack ain't Radio Shack anymore

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 17 Jan 2006 6:43 am

I went down to the local RS to get a crossover or two to fix a couple of speaker cabinets. "We don't sell them anymore!" Yup, the component and goody selection at RS has all but dried up. Now it's toy cars and cell phones. Soon they'll be selling microwave ovens and washing machines. It was a good run while it lasted.

Leon Grizzard · Post by **Leon Grizzard** » 17 Jan 2006 7:43 am

It isn't what it used to be, but yesterday I went in and got a bagfull of various adapters for different configurations of stereo and mono mini and RCA connections. Nowhere else in town can you walk in and get that stuff. They don't even try to make you give them name and address anymore.

ed packard · Post by **ed packard** » 17 Jan 2006 7:45 am

Ray...I have felt that way for many years...the reason is that my first "tech" job was filling mail orders at RADIO SHACK's original store on Washington St.in Boston. They were probably the first electronic parts and system catalog company. What a great components education in those days...couple that with the Kaufman Q&A for radio licensing and away we go...hooked on the tech world...and living next to MIT and the Cambridge Ma. tech companies to boot.

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 17 Jan 2006 9:54 am

I miss Radio Shack like I miss the old
Edmunds Scientific catalog
coming from time to time

Post by **b0b** » 17 Jan 2006 10:41 am

It depends on the store. It's a franchise. The owner has the option to include whatever he wants from the large RS catalog.

Big ticket items make more profitable use of floor space than racks of resistors, capacitors and op-amps. A little mall store will always have a more limited selection of products than a larger store.

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Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 17 Jan 2006 12:26 pm

Although I don't question your basic point about franchiser's choice, b0b, I'm pretty sure that the catalog that you are remembering is but a shadow of its former glory. I just came from there and couldn't find the simple components I was needing and a quick look at their website tells me that they are down to a very minimal catalog. A stereo 1/4" normally closed switching jack? Nope.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 17 Jan 2006 2:40 pm

I worked for Tandy Corp (now Radio Shack Corp I guess?) for many years, and had a lot of friends in the Radio Shack Division. Unless things have changed, besides the franchise stores that b0b mentioned, there are also 'corporate' stores, owned and operated by RS Corp. Most franchise stores are in smaller towns or outlying areas, while the 'big city' stores are usually corporately owned.

If I remember right, even the franchise stores had to stock certain items, but they had more say in what went on the shelves than the corporate store mgrs did. I believe that the corp stores were restocked based on sales for that particular store, and if sales for a certain item fell enough, it just didn't come back. I think they called it a 'forced order system' or something like that, with the idea being that a computer could manage inventory and turn better than a store mgr.

I wasn't involved with the RS side much in those days, so all of this is just what I heard sorta on the side. It may be totally different now.

That said, the local RS here in Bastrop has a pretty good supply of components compared to some RS stores I've been in.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 17 Jan 2006 3:21 pm

RS did have a lot of components, at one time, but the quality was never considered "good" by most tech's I know. We would only use a Radio Shack part in an ememrgency. The pots, jacks and plugs were all metric size and slightly smaller than the standard US sizes (along with the inferior quality compared to Switchcraft, Mallory, Clarostat, ohmite, etc). RS prices always seemed high, compared to a regular Electronics parts house too.

But I still miss Allied Radio, Lafayette Radio Electronics, McGee Radio and TV, Bernstein-Appleby, etc. I see an Allied Radio catalog but it's not like the "old" Allied Radio. I still have an old Lafayette Radio RF Signal Generator sitting on my workbench.

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 17 Jan 2006 7:09 pm

...I still miss Allied Radio, Lafayette Radio Electronics...

Jack,
I'm wit'chu on dat one. I used to love gettin' the Allied Radio catalogs in the mail. Then.RS bought out Allied &,for a while,called it "Allied Radio Shack",but eventually dropped the "Allied" part.

I have a rack-mount CD/cassette combo by Tascam.(CD-A500) I went into RS several yrs. ago,& they had one,knob for knob,dial for dial,IDENTICAL,except for THEIR name on it. Most likely made for them by Teac. They wanted $100 MORE for theirs than I paid for my Tascam. But you're right,RS is nothing but a toy/phone/computer store now.

We had a Lafayette Radio store in Wheeling W.V. back in the mid 60's,that I used to love to hang out at. I don't know whatever happened to them,but they were GREAT! Most likely,bought out by some conglomerate. Whatta waste!!

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Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 17 Jan 2006 7:16 pm

Yeah, Allied radio, and Knight-Kits! Those were good days. That catalog was my wishbook.

To be honest, and apologies to those who work or have worked for Radio Shack, but compared to a "real" electronics or ham radio store, it's never been much of an electronics store to me or most fellow hams/electronics guys I've known and in the last few years has degenerated into nothing more than stereos, phones, computers, R/C toys, TV antennas, etc and only a few electronic parts and as Jack said they never were really high quality. Fine for hobby-type stuff.

When I was at the TV station we'd use Radio Shack parts only in an emergency or for relatively simple non-crucial uses. And most of the employees have no idea what you're talking about when you ask for a specific electronic part. I loved it when they'd ask, "what's it for?" ... Actually I hate being asked that, so now I give them a very technical answer that makes them wish they hadn't asked, after they stand there blankly and don't know what to say....

[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 January 2006 at 07:31 PM.]

Andy Greatrix · Post by **Andy Greatrix** » 18 Jan 2006 1:02 am

All the Radio Shack stores in Canada are now owned by Circuit City and are now called "The Source".

James Stewart Jr · Post by **James Stewart Jr** » 18 Jan 2006 2:34 am

And OH How I miss those Heathkits !!! James,Jr.

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1975 Sho~Bud Pro III Custom (8-7)
1981 Peavey Session 500

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 18 Jan 2006 7:44 am

When the home music systems went "hi-fi" I bought a Knight kit pre-amp/eq kit and a tube amp kit and put them together. And they really sounded good.
Shortly thereafter, they came out with "stereo" and I bought another tube amp kit and put that together. Man, WHAT SOUND!!! I still have the units after all these years.
Erv

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 18 Jan 2006 8:00 am

I've still got a Heathkit Tube Checker and an O'scope and a DVM. The Tube checker still works, but the O'scope "smoked" and I haven't got around to troubleshooting and fixing it.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 18 Jan 2006 8:54 am

I remember my Dad takin' me to Olsen Electronics. He was building our family's first tv set from a kit. Early '50s.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 18 Jan 2006 9:46 am

I still have my Heathkit HW-16 ham radio transceiver (or more accurately it is a receiver and transmitter in the same box but not quite a tranceiver, for you accuracy buffs!) that I built in 1969 and it still looks and works perfectly. Also have a Heathkit "condenser" checker and signal generator my dad built when I was a kid, they work great too.

Fun days!

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 18 Jan 2006 10:26 am

My first amateur radio was a Heathkit transceiver (AA2FX). Here in Corry they roll up the streets at night and put the single horse to bed. Our radio shack stocks quite a bit still, even IC's and transistors but I suspect it's mostly just old stock. I buy parts from Mouser, Allied Electronics, and Digikey mostly.

Greg

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 18 Jan 2006 12:31 pm

Speaking of tube checkers & o'scopes,does any one remember "Eico" electronic kits? That's what we used in school,when I took up electronics in the early 50's.

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<pre> ~ ~
©¿© It don't mean a thang,
mm if it ain't got that twang.
www.ntsga.com</pre>

[This message was edited by Smiley Roberts on 18 January 2006 at 12:33 PM.]

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 18 Jan 2006 5:17 pm

My dad had an old Eico oscilloscope for years, I used to play with it. I had an Eico 753 (known to hams as the "7-drifty-3" due to its over-the-top frequency drift), and an Eico code-practice oscillator. [This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 18 January 2006 at 05:18 PM.]

Scott Appleton · Post by **Scott Appleton** » 18 Jan 2006 5:47 pm

there have always been " real " electronic supply houses around. RS has always been my last choice
for parts .. mainly because the parts they sold were
usualy inferior to the electronic suppy shops.
here in San Mateo county we have "San Mateo Electronics" they have what the pro or hobbyist
actualy need.

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Mullen S12 Almost Mooney
71 Tele, Regal 45
Sho Bud S10 NP
Line 6 Flextone 3 + JBL D130, Acoustic 165 100 W all tube EV 12, Nash 112, digitech 2101 FX

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 19 Jan 2006 8:14 pm

I think part of the reason you are seeing electronic parts disappearing from Radio Shack is the fact that most of the products you buy now are not easily serviced by your average person. Now you just buy something, use it until it dies, and buy a new one. They would rather devote a wall to cell phone accessories which sell fast (and for more bucks) than to a bunch of resistors, capacitors, etc that may just hang on that wall for months on end.

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Carter D10 9p/9k, NV400, Korg Triton Le88 Synth, Korg CX-3 organ, Yamaha Motif Rack Module, Regal Dobro, Tele, Gretsch Acoustic.

Ron Sodos · Post by **Ron Sodos** » 20 Jan 2006 12:54 pm

Radio Shack stopped being radio shack more than 25 years ago. Does anybody out there know where the name Radio Shack came from and what it means?[This message was edited by Ron Sodos on 20 January 2006 at 12:54 PM.]

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 20 Jan 2006 1:01 pm

"Shack" was where you ran your ham radio.

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 20 Jan 2006 1:09 pm

Yep, the shack was where you melted down tank coils, burned up 6L6's 6BQ6's, stored many copies of dog eared ARRL Radio Amateur's Handbook, and usually had a spider web of wires coming out the roof going off to all kind of weird contraptions attached to the roof or slung from trees.
Lightning storms were always filled with wonder. You wondered if you were gonna survive.
I love the smell of solder in the morning.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 20 Jan 2006 1:28 pm

I think Richard S. is right about the "evolution" of Radio Shack.

Ray, you nailed it too, just described most of my teen years and then some! It's kindof a shame that very few of the young people now will ever experience the thrills of building your own receivers and transmitters, making a contact on them etc. Most of them think "who needs ham radio? I can chat with anyone anywhere by internet, with no static or license..." and in a way they're right, but it's not the same.

Like they say, everything changes.