Looks like the final curtain for Radio Shack

[retailfan]

It’s a sad day for tinkerers. America could be about to say goodbye to Radio Shack. All its stores may close in the near future. Bloomberg reports Radio Shack “is preparing to shut down the almost-century-old retail chain in a bankruptcy deal that would sell about half its store leases to Sprint and close the rest,” according to sources. The New York Stock Exchange plans to delist Radio Shack shares. The troubled retailer warned last year that it may have to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its CEO recently warned it might not be able to find a long-term plan to stay afloat. In the latest quarter, Radio Shack said its sales plunged more than 16 percent compared with the year before. The company’s stock price has fallen 90 percent in the past year. Amazon, which plans to increase its brick-and-mortar locations, may be interested in buying some Radio Shack stores.

[store215]

Any real tinkerers have been ordering stuff online for the last 15 years; It will be a sad day for grandma because she can't get a phone battery for her 1990's house phone.
Honestly, RS has served no purpose in the last decade besides being another place to buy cell phones.

Reports are Sprint and Amazon may be looking to buy up some of the stores, or the Chinese group that bought out Brookstone may buy out RadioShack.

[dmx10101]

RadioShack files for Chapter 11
February 6, 2015 | By Marianne Wilson

It's official: The long-struggling RadioShack has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The 94-year-old retailer made its filing in  U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, listing assets of $1.2 billion and total debt of $1.3 billion.

In the still developing story,  the company on late Thursday afternoon said it has reached an agreement with hedge fund Standard General for the firm to purchase up to 2,400 of its stores.

The plans calls for an asset purchase agreement with Standard General and Sprint to use a "store-in-store" model that would allow the RadioShack name to exist in as many as 1,750 of the acquired shops, CNBC reported.  Other underperforming locations would shutter. The branding on the surviving stores would primarily feature Sprint, according to a Sprint statement.

“We’ve proven that our products and new offers drive traffic to stores, and this agreement would allow Sprint to grow branded distribution quickly and cost-effectively in prime locations,” said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. “Sprint and RadioShack expect to benefit from operational efficiencies and by cross-marketing to each other’s customers.”

[retailisking]

Any surprise closures or survivors? Having a Sprint store nearby seems to have influenced the decision-makers.
http://radioshackcorporation.com/pdfs/RS-Store-Closure-List_020415.pdf

[Hudsons81]

I'm surprised that my nearest store at 14100 Fort Street in Southgate, MI isn't on the list. I'd hate to see that store with that much of a cool-looking exterior shut down. There is, however, already a Sprint store about a half-mile south in what was once a Fretter.

[jamesway_95]

My nearest RadioShack is not slated to close. There is indeed a Sprint store right down the road.

[EddieJ1984]

That reminds me, I still have a gba sp from years ago I have yet to open, I bought 2 of them since they were on clearance.


Hmm, that plastic was clear when I bought it lol its so yellow now.

[ynkeesfn82]

Southington, North Haven, and Wallingford, Connecticut are not on the list and according to The Meriden Record-Journal those locations will be sold. It should be interesting if Sprint is indeed the buyer. They just opened a new Sprint store in Southington last year in the new development with Panera and Velocity Urgent Care. It replaced a different Sprint store.

Bristol and New Britain, Connecticut aren't on the list either. Actually to tell you the truth I don't even know if the one in New Britain is still open anyway. I don't go to New Britain.

[TRU7536]

Southington, North Haven, and Wallingford, Connecticut are not on the list and according to The Meriden Record-Journal those locations will be sold. It should be interesting if Sprint is indeed the buyer. They just opened a new Sprint store in Southington last year in the new development with Panera and Velocity Urgent Care. It replaced a different Sprint store.

Bristol and New Britain, Connecticut aren't on the list either. Actually to tell you the truth I don't even know if the one in New Britain is still open anyway. I don't go to New Britain.

sprint in Southington is a 3rd party store, not corporate. Seems Sprint wants to really expand their footing and open a lot more corporate stores, New Britian is still open just like Hartford bc they are some of the more busier Radio Shacks around the area due to pre paid cell phones and dish network.

[HannafordHearts]

The stores closing in my area look to be Albany, Guilderland, Schenectady, and Scotia. My local one in East Greenbush doesn't seem to be on the list.

[BillyGr]

Apparently they can't even get a web posting done well - who thought it was a good idea to list the stores by store #, such that trying to find ones in a particular area may be in a dozen different places on the list (as opposed to, say doing them by state - even if it was still in the 3 parts, that's better than hunting through 22 pages of listings).

Trying to think of what other ones are still around here - The Guilderland was not a mall (I think?) so not sure if they still have one in Crossgates, or Colonie Center for that matter?

[standa]

Southington, North Haven, and Wallingford, Connecticut are not on the list and according to The Meriden Record-Journal those locations will be sold. It should be interesting if Sprint is indeed the buyer. They just opened a new Sprint store in Southington last year in the new development with Panera and Velocity Urgent Care. It replaced a different Sprint store.

Bristol and New Britain, Connecticut aren't on the list either. Actually to tell you the truth I don't even know if the one in New Britain is still open anyway. I don't go to New Britain.

I found the North Haven store on the closing list.

[buzz86us]

Apparently they can't even get a web posting done well - who thought it was a good idea to list the stores by store #, such that trying to find ones in a particular area may be in a dozen different places on the list (as opposed to, say doing them by state - even if it was still in the 3 parts, that's better than hunting through 22 pages of listings).

Trying to think of what other ones are still around here - The Guilderland was not a mall (I think?) so not sure if they still have one in Crossgates, or Colonie Center for that matter?

I can confirm that the one in Crossgates is dead and gone...

[retailfan]

Radio Shack has always went by store number  my old store 4486 is on the list as are 4648 and 6781  4486 just reopened in a new location recently in a brand new building
They used to go by tiers   the 6000 numbers are the oldest stores 

[HannafordHearts]

Apparently they can't even get a web posting done well - who thought it was a good idea to list the stores by store #, such that trying to find ones in a particular area may be in a dozen different places on the list (as opposed to, say doing them by state - even if it was still in the 3 parts, that's better than hunting through 22 pages of listings).

Trying to think of what other ones are still around here - The Guilderland was not a mall (I think?) so not sure if they still have one in Crossgates, or Colonie Center for that matter?

Colonie Center's is still alive; not on the closing list. The store at Crossgates JUST closed up, literally right before the bankruptcy was announced.

[MikeRa]

Bensalem, Pa has 2 Radio shack locations.  The one on Street Road, at Hulmeville Road, is closing.  The one inside Neshaminy Mall, next to Boscov's (former Lit Brothers/Pomeroy's/The Bon-Ton) is staying open.

[BillyGr]

Bensalem, Pa has 2 Radio shack locations.  The one on Street Road, at Hulmeville Road, is closing.  The one inside Neshaminy Mall, next to Boscov's (former Lit Brothers/Pomeroy's/The Bon-Ton) is staying open.

Wonder who lived in that area when they were naming roads and came up with that creative one (Street Road)?  I remember seeing it in one of the towns in that area (Warminster, Willow Grove, ??) as well.

[JoshAustin610]

It actually dates back to when "street" and "road" meant different things; streets were paved and roads weren't: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Route_132

[Bdubs]

Looks like Norwich CT is a survivor. That doesn't surprise me though. Its in a busy strip mall, and there isn't a Sprint store anywhere in the area. Perfect spot to keep for them.

[Bdubs]

Looks like Norwich CT is a survivor. That doesn't surprise me though. Its in a busy strip mall, and there isn't a Sprint store anywhere in the area. Perfect spot to keep for them.

Nevermind.  It's closed.  I didn't see it on the list, but the windows are all covered up, and it says to visit them at another location.  I'm not sure where it was sending customers, I didn't get a close look at the paper.

[BillyGr]

If there are any reports of a minor earthquake in Fort Worth, TX, you can probably attribute it to Charles rolling over in his grave.

(If anyone doesn't understand the above, see Radio Shack history) :)

[retailisking]

Looks like that deal with Sprint won't happen as expected. Rights to the RadioShack name are up for auction.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/25/8109469/radioshack-brand-bankruptcy-auction-20-million

[ynkeesfn82]

Game Stop is picking up 163 stores for cell phone stores.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/radioshacks-troubles-feed-a-growth-spurt-for-gamestop-1425057101

[Hudsons81]

Game Stop is picking up 163 stores for cell phone stores.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/radioshacks-troubles-feed-a-growth-spurt-for-gamestop-1425057101

It's going to be interesting how well Gamestop will do in the cell phone store business.

[Kmart4life]

The final Radio Shack in my area which was scheduled to close in May is still open with signs in the front window advertising 60 to 80% off of everything. They have extended the closing sale until the end of June.

[BillyGr]

The final Radio Shack in my area which was scheduled to close in May is still open with signs in the front window advertising 60 to 80% off of everything. They have extended the closing sale until the end of June.

Maybe they decided to keep one in an area open and consolidate any leftovers from other stores to try to get rid of them?

[JimSawhill]

i guess the Charter Oak East Hartford, CT  store is gone...

[Pikapower]

So can we move the Radio Shack thread to the "closed chains" forums now?

[ynkeesfn82]

So can we move the Radio Shack thread to the "closed chains" forums now?

No because many locations are still open and will remain open. http://www.radioshack.com/

[MikeRa]

The Radio Shack location at Neshaminy Mall, Bensalem, PA is down to it's last 3 days, including today.