R.I.P. RadioShack

[=ml=]

It's been a long time coming and it's finally happened: RadioShack declared bankruptcy three days ago.

As much as it is a cliché to say, it is the end of an era. An era of which our beloved boomboxes are some of the last remnants. An era of products with repair manuals, philips-head screws, and through-hole circuitry. An era in which consumer electronics could be repaired, instead of tossed into a landfill at the slightest malfunction.

As a loner latch key kid, I spent countless hours at RadioShack reading the electronics books and fantasizing about having enough money to buy one of their kits or even better, building one of the Forest M. Mims, III projects. RadioShack was my home-away-from-home for many years as an awkward adolescent. I credit the understanding employees with helping me through those confusing years by ignoring me as I sat on the floor at the back of the store poring over the books and catalog in my own electronics reverie.

The last time I went into a RadioShack was to buy a cable to connect an iPod to a boombox for a Boomboxラジカセ Creators installation. They had the cable and I bought a less expensive Nano there too. I also took a peek in the electronic components drawers. The capacitors, transistors, and resistors were there, but not in the quantity or selection of the RadioShack of old. The Forest M. Mims, III books weren't there at all.



Anyway, that was my remembrance. Here's what the internet thinks:
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/dear-radioshack-adored-love-wired/
https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/are-you-sad-to-see-radio-shack-gone.261972/
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/internet-write-this-eulogy-4-radioshark

Go!

=ml=

 

[T-STER]

Shame to hear about RadioShack. If it helps with your nostalgia I have scans of all Radio Shack catologs from ealy seventies to early 2000's. I could stick them in my dropbox and give anyone that was interested access.

 

[bill]

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/

 

[Superduper]

That era was lost ages ago when radio shack changed from a hackers heaven with lots of component parts into a competition with best buy type stores focused on selling cell phones & data plans, and other cheapo type electronics etc.

However it's also an indication of how far things have changed in the minds and culture of consumers. Nobody goes into radio shack looking for electronics books and soldering irons or components or 400 pc. Electronics lab kits anymore, they go for cell phones, batteries and iPad charge cables/computer accessories and ONLY if they see it on sale in a catalog for cheaper than someplace else.

 

[JustCruisin]

Going into Radio Shack as a kid was great, drooling over the selection of cabinet speakers.. 10"s, 12"'s, 15"!
TANDY! REALISTIC! OPTIMUS! Mixers, component stereo equipment, radio controlled cars, loose speakers, walkie-talkies, gizmos, gadgets, and more!
I bought my first SONY minidisc player there, which i played through my GF-9000 with a cassette tape adapter.. i used to buy my prepaid minutes for my old ass cell phone there too..

Walking into it now does look more like a cellular service provider.. Nothing there to get your imagination going..

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Miles, you're dead on. I too rode my bike to the local RS to drool over the SCR8 and the patients of the young man behind the counter rivaled Gondi. I touched EVERYTHING in that store.

"What's that do?", "Oh"...."And what's that do", "Oh", "And what's that for?", "Oh".....

In the 70's and 80's our society was criticized for being a "Throw away culture" and it's gotten 100 times worse since.

The last thing I bought from a RS were some small electronic components and the guy in the shop couldn't even help me, had no idea what those parts were or what they were for. I did buy a Kindle for the wife a few years back and a cable here and there, but that's not enough to keep the doors open.

Bye bye old friend. I will miss you I will keep your memory of the REAL you alive in my mind :'-(

Time to ROCK MY SCR-8! THE GREATEST RADIO, RADIO SHACK EVER SOLD!

 

[trippy1313]

That era was lost ages ago when radio shack changed from a hackers heaven with lots of component parts into a competition with best buy type stores focused on selling cell phones & data plans, and other cheapo type electronics etc.

However it's also an indication of how far things have changed in the minds and culture of consumers. Nobody goes into radio shack looking for electronics books and soldering irons or components or 400 pc. Electronics lab kits anymore, they go for cell phones, batteries and iPad charge cables/computer accessories and ONLY if they see it on sale in a catalog for cheaper than someplace else.

Nobody... except us goofs. I go in quite often looking for this and that, but usually leave dissapointed. Although I did buy another soldering tool a few months back. And they do always have solder. But finding radio screws, and certain components is almost always a wasted trip.

I'm 28, but when I was a kid my mom and dad would go there quite often and I would alway look through the electronic repair stuff. I remember my parents buying me some circuit board kit, kinda teaching how to work with electricity, it was pretty cool.

Always found it interesting playing with this kinda stuff. It's a bummer to hear this.

 

[hemiguy2006]

One of the only local places you could pick up an led or replacement antenna, or maybe even an rca to 1/4 inch adaptor.
gone forever. It will only be a matter of time before internet resources dry up as well.
Darn shame, End of an era that existed long ago.

 

[Superduper]

Nobody... except us goofs. I go in quite often looking for this and that, but usually leave dissapointed. Although I did buy another soldering tool a few months back. And they do always have solder. But finding radio screws, and certain components is almost always a wasted trip.

Well, obviously, it wasn't literally nobody and of course I meant the "customers" that would keep RS in business and unfortunately, there simply isn't enough of us "nobodys" nowadays to singlehandedly prop them up. I am/was probably just like your parents. I bought, and still have somewhere most all of those books that ML posted up, and I bought my fair share of those electronics kit too. Built the oscillators, am radios, light activated circuits using optoelectronics, etc. Those were really cool stuff back then.

 

[floyd]

sucks because there's one less than a mile away from me , will prolly stay in business because it's in a busy shopping center.
been shopping there my whole life , was nice be able to buy electronic supplies close to home.

 

[bill]

Radio shacks been gone here for quite a long time. We actually have quite a few excellent electronic part stores here. Radio shack was a pretty fun place as a kid tho. I had so many cool Christmas and birthday gifts from the shack.

 

[Transistorized]

Part of what I used to Love about Radio Shack was the ability to find the odds and ends type stuff Pots, etc. I knew this would happen eventually. You go into one of their stores around here and ask for a PNP Transistor and you might as well have asked for the Flux Capacitor on the DeLorean.

The common young adult working there knows everything about cell phones and nothing about components.

 

[TW5]

There only bankrupt not gone
heard they will closing some stores
and rearranging etc
hope they pull through

 

[gsbadbmr]

Radio shacks been gone here for quite a long time. We actually have quite a few excellent electronic part stores here. Radio shack was a pretty fun place as a kid tho. I had so many cool Christmas and birthday gifts from the shack.

 

[Brutus442]

Very Sad. I couldn't begin to count the times I rushed to RS for parts or components for various projects

This seems fitting...

 

[gsbadbmr]

Very Sad. I couldn't begin to count the times I rushed to RS for parts or components for various projects

This seems fitting...

radioshack.jpg

too funny

 

[static2000g]

wow, my first mixer, mics, speaker wire, plugs woofers.......allll the stuff I wanted and needed to create a studio type setting for myself at 14 came from Radio Shack. I was never really into mail order stuff so Radio Shack was the be all to end all for me. BUT no body wants to fix anything anymore. Hec, I used to by used speakers from the fee market and replace them with radio shack parts just for fun!

dang

 

[Ghettoboom767]

Loved just buying speakers and stuff back in the 70's.cords antennas,soldering irons.solder ect.
I'm bummed about this!!

 

[caution]

Bill you beat me to it GREAT site! Love reading the old catalogs to get a feel for what sort of things were popular wayyy back in the day. I also spent my childhood there, every time mom would take us grocery shopping I'd sneak off to the attached strip mall so I could get my free batteries (remember that??) and ogle at everything else. Still use my Minimum-7 speakers from 1989. Woo!

They're going through the same problems other brick-and-mortars are going through, so it's not solely changes in the electronics landscape. And I don't really think you can't fault them for trying to keep the hobbyist spirit alive. When I was in one by me last month to buy some op amps, resistors and a perfboard for my M70 project I was heartened to see an entire section dedicated to project building using Arduino and other microcontrollers. The employee that helped me was pretty knowledgeable about them. This is cool because honestly you can do more with this setup than a pile of discretes, although that's always an option. Back in the early '90s I was building a project around a BASIC52 chip and there was little/no help out there for single board computer kits. Now they're everywhere. Played the hell out of this at age 9 and is responsible for my lifelong passion for electronics.

 

[trippy1313]

^^^^^This was similar to one of the things I had, what's the date on that one? I had mine around.... '93... that looks possibly older.

SuperDuper - I agree with your posts, they were fun, it's too bad there aren't more of us "nobodys" to keep these kinds of skills and hobbies alive. I hope I can get my daughter (3 months old), and any future children to enjoy this kind of stuff.