Radio Shack, “the struggling consumer electronics retailer announced Tuesday that it plans to close up to 1,100 underperforming stores in the U.S., or about 26% of its current company-owned stores,” Patrick Seitz reports for Investor’s Business Daily.
Over the past few months, we have undertaken a comprehensive review of our portfolio from many angles — location, area demographics, lease life and financial performance — in order to consolidate our store base into fewer locations while maintaining a strong presence in each market. “The result of that review is our plan to close up to 1,100 underperforming stores. We will continue to have a strong, unmatched presence across the U.S. with over 4,000 stores including over 900 dealer franchise locations. – RadioShack CEO Joseph Magnacca
“RadioShack’s retail network today includes about 4,300 company-operated stores in the U.S., 274 company-operated stores in Mexico, and about 950 dealer and other outlets worldwide, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said Tuesday,” Seitz reports. “RadioShack announced the store closings along with its disappointing Q4 financial results. The retailer reported a loss of $191.4 million during the quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of $63.3 million. On a per-share basis, RadioShack lost $1.46, much higher than the 14-cent loss expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. RadioShack’s December quarter sales fell 28% year over year to $935.4 million. Wall Street was modeling for $1.12 billion in sales.”
“RadioShack stores have long been a target of comedians who have poked fun at its outdated image,” Seitz reports. “For instance, an April 2007 article by satirical news website the Onion was titled, “Even CEO Can’t Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In what’s become a refrain for far too many years now: Good luck to all those affected.
The Obama Failure (a.k.a. Putin’s Doormat).
I know, I know. I’m a “racist.”
Elections have consequences. Experience and character matter.
To paraphrase our last great U.S. President, Ronald Reagan:
“A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Barack Hussein Obama loses his.”
Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. – Ronald Reagan
Hello, good evening, my name is Mikhail Tal from the St. Petersburg region of Russia. I am Mr. Putin’s special adviser on Ukrainian issues as I am half Ukrainian – my mother is from Kiev.
I would like to know please where do you find such a doormat in America? Mr. Putin would like a doormat to go with his bearskin collection in his dacha in Sochi.
Thank you very much in advance. By the way, have you heard of this American creature called the left wing cretin? I hear a lot of this in my country. Mr. Putin says they have no balls. Once again, thank you so much in advance comrade for this valuable information.
I am anticipating the arrival Vasily Smyslov.
Vassily should be here shortly. He was detained by a Mr. Boehner who said he would help him find the doormat. He told me on the phone that Mr. Boehner said that the doormat would appear once he bought what he said was an ACA. Very strange country this America. They are almost as socialist as we are here in Mother Russia.
That’s all I know for now.
Boris Badenof
Mikhail:
Come to America and see for yourself about our “left-wing cretin with no balls.”
While here, you can buy a genuine Detroit car with tail fins. You can live in Montana and have a ranch where you raise rabbits. Your wife will prepare them for you when she serves dinner. Yes, they will let you live in Montana.
Ha! Movie reference. Is funny.
I might be moving to Montana soon, just to raise me up a crop of dental floss.
Radio Shack has been failing since before Reagan. Somehow that is the fault of the current US administration? Radio Shack created its own demise by selling junk and giving poor service. When they dropped the selection of electronics parts, they lost my business even though it was in the early 1980’s. I would only darken their door to wander in and laugh at their pathetic products.
I hate dick heads like you. People like you are what’s wrong with this company. Our president has more honor and integrity in his pinky then you could ever possess in a life time. Keep you political tripe to yourself asshole.
Barack Obama is a river of lies.
The Yellow River…
Indeed
Elections have consequences. Experience and character matter.
Yes, they do and now we are see when you elect someone who knows nothing and has never done anything that matters.
On the article about radio shack, I to am surprised they are still around. Use to get electronic parts there in the 80′ and 90′.
Wow, I should proofread next time before posting. Sorry for the awkward grammar structure.
Hmm. I find it interesting that so many people are rattling sabres at Russia. We have the largest, most powerful military in the world, but we’re overextended because of the unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those rascally socialists in China are buying us up because of our debt. Our military is exhausted. How is all of this Obama’s fault? Explain, please. And explain what lengths you, personally, are willing to go to rescue Ukraine. Will you enlist to go to war? Send your kids? Allow your taxes to be raised? I’m genuinely interested in your reply.
TRS-80, my FIRST computer. Apple II was BETTER with color, but hey, who was this Apple anyway? 1979.
Outstanding graphics ! 127 x 48. Top that !! 4k.
Hah! The “Trash 80” Good memories…
Is this part of the economic “momentum” written about yesterday?
“Yes, we can’t.”
More people for Obama’s Food Stamps. Way to go low-information voters.
Radio Shack has been going downhill for a long time. The consumer electronics they carry can be found for much less in other stores, and what little they carry in parts (also overpriced) is good only for those need-it-now bandaid repairs. For the kind of selection and prices one really wants, ecommerce is the way — unless you live close to a big, professional parts house somewhere. Those “real” electronics parts stores are too few and far in between.
what stores?
http://www.epohouston.com
… This has nothing to do with Obama – or any President, prior. Radio Shack has become a mere shadow of itself over the past 10 – 15 years – at its own hand. Back as a kid, while RS was often a call-word for ‘cheap’, they actually used to sell some interesting products (and *far* more parts for those of us who used to ‘roll our own’). Now, they don’t restock what they *do* offer for not weeks, but *months*.
They raised prices on things like cheap patch cords in glossy packaging *two-fold* in 24 hours – and despite their packaging, are of Dollar store quality if you were to cut one open and have a look.
And the consumer electronics end is laughable. Anyone in the market for Lo-Fi can get it cheaper at Best Buy. Moreover, the sales staff – who might as well have been pulled from a Temp Agency – have absolutely no product knowledge, outside of cell phone contracts. And one retiring veteran of RS told me directly that the current emphasis was for RS to become a phone store “that sold some other things”. This, as told to the managers and franchisers by Radio Shack, themselves.
As one who goes back to their ‘Catalog Days’, I consider ‘The Shack’ to be among the most aimless and fallen company of the past decade or two – wholly independent of politics.
you’re probably right..as an aside, one of my first graphic designer jobs was for Radio Shack corporate in Fort Worth, used to work on those catalogs, flyers and packaging designs…many, many moons ago. Back in the rubber cement paste-up days, they had a huge staff of airbrush artists, film strippers and in-house photographers and retouchers.
your posts make it clear you still spend your days sniffing glue and pasting BS
That’s a shame. They were always a good place to go for a variety of stuff like batteries, cables, Ethernet CAT5 stuff, etc. Another company fallen victim to the internet. Sorry to see any once great company like these guys fail. They were pretty much helpless to do anything about the paradigm shift going on in the retail realm.
Fry’s in Burbank. It’s like Best Buy and RadioShack combined. Very nice. And a very cool decor to say the very least.
Space ships, aliens, Jeeps, oh yeah, it’s fun there!
1,100 stores….that’s nearly 2,200 employees out of work!
Radio Shack is, for me, a great example of the value of staffing your store with know-nothing minimum wagers: Nothing.
I’ve run away screaming from Radio Shacks staffed with know-nothings many is the time. No big surprise that my personal avoidance of the places is shared by others.
Instead: I’ve discovered the still surviving privately owned electronics shops, bless them.
I agree completely, Derek. What is laughable are all the political trolls trying to make hay, absolutely nothing to do with Radio “Shaft”s decades of self inflicted wounds. No professional in any field of electronics would ever set foot in one of their stores. In the good ol’ days they would instead grab their Allied or Newark catalogs and order up. Later, Mouser & Digi-Key came along. I still love browsing around in “indie” electronics & surplus stores. Does anyone else remember C&H Surplus in Southern Caifornia?
Yes.
It sucks to go in those stores but surprising I liked working there until shit hit the fan and corporate started to push the sale of smartphones too much. It got crazy and I called it quits cause they wanted to sell a contract phone a day but we only sold one every week or every to weeks.
Shit. Now where am I supposed to get my, wait, what does Radio Shack sell?
And . . . that is why they are closing so many stores.
It is also why you never see anyone in a Microsoft store.
Samsung should buy them and turn them all into Samsung Stores. Seems like a perfect fit to me.