CORP/BIZ Left for dead, twice, RadioShack gets another shot online
- Thread starter thompson
- Start date
Sportsman
Veteran Member
I worked my way through high school and college selling at the counter of a corporate Radio Shack. Like mentioned above, corporate really had their marketing down, especially for that era.
We did sell some crap stuff on the 27 board like grab bags of components that were actually floor sweepings from DFW area electronics manufacturers. Those cost the company almost nothing and were quite profitable. But, there were also some quality components by the two pack and such. They had some really "well engineered to be inexpensive" products under the Realistic brand. Many of those designs amazed me in their design simplicity and circuit innovations. But we also had some top end Realistic stereos that came out even or on top of the Marantz quality products in an audio lab comparison. Back in the day, that "weather cube radio" was the cheapest way to get a VHF police receiver by tweaking the tuned circuits.
I turned down a large corporate store manager and a district manager job when I graduated with my BS. They actually offered about 50% more than the engineering job I took. Glad I went the route I did though!
I don't think the RS company brand as we knew it can be successfully revived. Times change, and customer attitudes change. Most of the people that loved them have now aged out of the marketplace, and to younger shoppers the name means almost nothing. I doubt there are enough electronics hobby types out there to support a physical store presence, and on-line they're competing with everyone from Amazon and Adafruit to Digikey. Much as I'd love to see it, I can't imagine a venture capitalist company building Loup's dream store.
I wish them luck. All the professional societies I belong to are worried about finding the next generation of technicians and engineers. We need a new supply of electronics oriented young people in the world and they need an incubator and components to work with.
We did sell some crap stuff on the 27 board like grab bags of components that were actually floor sweepings from DFW area electronics manufacturers. Those cost the company almost nothing and were quite profitable. But, there were also some quality components by the two pack and such. They had some really "well engineered to be inexpensive" products under the Realistic brand. Many of those designs amazed me in their design simplicity and circuit innovations. But we also had some top end Realistic stereos that came out even or on top of the Marantz quality products in an audio lab comparison. Back in the day, that "weather cube radio" was the cheapest way to get a VHF police receiver by tweaking the tuned circuits.
I turned down a large corporate store manager and a district manager job when I graduated with my BS. They actually offered about 50% more than the engineering job I took. Glad I went the route I did though!
I don't think the RS company brand as we knew it can be successfully revived. Times change, and customer attitudes change. Most of the people that loved them have now aged out of the marketplace, and to younger shoppers the name means almost nothing. I doubt there are enough electronics hobby types out there to support a physical store presence, and on-line they're competing with everyone from Amazon and Adafruit to Digikey. Much as I'd love to see it, I can't imagine a venture capitalist company building Loup's dream store.
I wish them luck. All the professional societies I belong to are worried about finding the next generation of technicians and engineers. We need a new supply of electronics oriented young people in the world and they need an incubator and components to work with.