As a little shaver growing up in the house of an engineer – one who cited ham radio as one of his numerous hobbies – the name ‘RadioShack’ was a pillar of my childhood.
RadioShack was one of the stores we frequented on weekend shopping trips; Dad’s shop was equipped with RadioShack gear. As a teenager, I spent many hours recording hit songs off the radio using my RadioShack tape recorder and ‘Realistic’ cassette tapes.
Recently, I found a cache of them in our storage room. I wonder what 70s and 80s tunes would be preserved on the polymer film coated with a magnetic strip? Maybe some 70s classic rock or the dying embers of disco? Who knows.
It was sad news for me to learn, as many folks did yesterday, that the electronics giant, that played such a big role in my past, has hit some seriously hard times.
Earlier this year, the company shuttered about 200 of its 4,000 stores. Yesterday, it announced it was closing 200 more.
Its stock value continues to tumble (down more than 45 percent this year) and the company reported losses of $98.3M in the first quarter this year. Those numbers are grim no matter how you cast them.
RadioShack is embarking on a plan to retool, rebrand and modernize. Those actions could help turn the tide. Time to ’Do it Together,’ as it were.
Still, you can’t help feeling a bit of nostalgia for the venerable retailer. And nostalgia, while fun and emotional, doesn’t equate ‘modern’ and ‘cutting edge.’ I think I said something similar when I wrote about the financial woes of another proud American retailer back in January.
You just have to hope, if you’re a RadioShack fan, that it can find a way to tap into the frenetic evolution of gadgets and technology and hit a home run to pull out this game before it ends.
JG
Originally posted 6/11/2014
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