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RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American
retailer Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...
founded in 1921. At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. Outside of those
territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
, the company licensed other companies to use the RadioShack brand name in parts of Asia, North Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. In February 2015, RadioShack Corporation filed for
Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
protection under
United States bankruptcy law In the United States, bankruptcy is largely governed by federal law, commonly referred to as the "Bankruptcy Code" ("Code"). The United States Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4) authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subje ...
after 11 consecutive quarterly losses. By then, it was operating only in the United States and Latin America. In May 2015, General Wireless Inc., an affiliate of Standard General, bought the company's assets, including the RadioShack
brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
and related
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
, for US$26.2 million. General Wireless Operations Inc. was formed to operate the RadioShack stores, and General Wireless IP Holdings LLC was formed to hold the intellectual property. Mexico-based
Grupo Gigante Grupo Gigante is a holding listed at Mexican Stock Exchange founded in 1962, enterprises includes: Office Depot, The Home Store, SuperPrecio and Toks. The namesake hypermarkets and supermarkets are sold in 2008 to Soriana. Until December 20 ...
, through its subsidiary RadioShack de México, acquired the RadioShack brand within Mexico. El Salvador-based Unicomer Group acquired the RadioShack brand within the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean. Egypt-based Delta RS for Trading acquired the RadioShack brand within North Africa and the Middle East. General Wireless IP Holdings LLC retained rights to the RadioShack brand in all remaining territories, which is mainly the United States because General Wireless IP Holdings never had the rights to the RadioShack brand in other parts of the world that were previously assigned to
InterTAN InterTAN was created by Tandy Corporation in 1986 to operate Radio Shack stores in Canada, Europe and Australia. After the UK locations, which were branded 'Tandy', were sold to Carphone Warehouse in 1999 and the Australian locations (which were a ...
in 1986, such as Australia until 2020 when it sold the branding rights to Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV). In March 2017, General Wireless Inc. and subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy, claiming its Sprint partnership was not as profitable as expected, and announced plans to close most of their company-owned stores after
Memorial Day Weekend Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
in 2017, and to shift its business primarily to online. In November 2020, Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), a holding company owned by Alex Mehr and his partner Tai Lopez, a controversial investment
influencer An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social m ...
, acquired RadioShack. RadioShack operates primarily as an
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...
website, a network of independently owned, franchised RadioShack stores, and a supplier of parts for
HobbyTown USA HobbyTown or HobbyTown USA is an American retail hobby, collectibles, and toy store chain headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. There are more than 100 HobbyTown franchise stores located in 39 states in U.S. Beginning with the purchase of a local ...
.


History


The first 40 years

The company was started as Radio Shack in 1921 by two brothers, Theodore and Milton Deutschmann, who wanted to provide equipment for the nascent field of amateur radio (also known as
ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...
). The brothers opened a one-store retail and mail-order operation in the heart of downtown Boston at 46 Brattle Street. They chose the name "
Radio Shack RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921. At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...
", which was the term for a small, wooden structure that housed a ship's radio equipment. The Deutschmanns thought the name was appropriate for a store that would supply the needs of radio officers aboard ships, as well as hams (amateur radio operators). The idea for the name came from an employee, Bill Halligan, who went on to form the
Hallicrafters The Hallicrafters Company manufactured, marketed, and sold radio equipment, and to a lesser extent televisions and phonographs, beginning in 1932. The company was founded by William J. Halligan and based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. In ...
company. The term was already in use — and is to this day — by hams when referring to the location of their stations. The company issued its first catalog in 1939 as it entered the high fidelity music market. In 1954, Radio Shack began selling its own private-label products under the brand name Realist, changing the brand name to Realistic after being sued by
Stereo Realist The Stereo Realist is a stereo camera that was manufactured by the David White Company from 1947 to 1971. It was the most popular 35 mm stereo camera ever manufactured ''Amazing 3-D'', pages 32 and 51. and started the era of popular stereo ph ...
. During the period the chain was based in Boston, it was commonly referred to by its customers as "Nagasaki Hardware", disparagingly, as much of the merchandise was sourced from Japan, then perceived as a source of low-quality, inexpensive parts. After expanding to nine stores plus an extensive mail-order business, the company fell on hard times in the 1960s. Radio Shack was essentially bankrupt, but
Charles D. Tandy Charles David Tandy (15 May 1918 – 4 November 1978) was the chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of the Tandy Corporation. Early life Charles Tandy was born in Brownsville, Texas to Dave L. Tandy, who ran the Hinckley- ...
saw the potential of Radio Shack and retail consumer electronics, purchasing the company in 1962 for US$300,000.


Tandy Corporation

Tandy Corporation, a
leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...
goods corporation, was looking for other hobbyist-related businesses into which it could expand. At the time of the ''Tandy Radio Shack & Leather'' 1962 acquisition, the Radio Shack chain was nearly bankrupt. Tandy's strategy was to appeal to hobbyists. It created small stores that were staffed by people who knew electronics, and sold mainly private brands. Tandy closed Radio Shack's unprofitable mail-order business, ended credit purchases and eliminated many top management positions, keeping the salespeople, merchandisers and advertisers. The number of items carried was cut from 40,000 to 2,500, as Tandy sought to "identify the 20% that represents 80% of the sales" and replace Radio Shack's handful of large stores with many "little holes in the wall", large numbers of rented locations which were easier to close and re-open elsewhere if one location didn't work out. Private-label brands from lower-cost manufacturers displaced name brands to raise Radio Shack profit margins; non-electronic lines from go-carts to musical instruments were abandoned entirely. Customer data from the former RadioShack mail-order business determined where Tandy would locate new stores. As an incentive for them to work long hours and remain profitable, store managers were required to take an ownership stake in their stores. In markets too small to support a company-owned Radio Shack store, the chain relied on independent dealers who carried the products as a sideline.
Charles D. Tandy Charles David Tandy (15 May 1918 – 4 November 1978) was the chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of the Tandy Corporation. Early life Charles Tandy was born in Brownsville, Texas to Dave L. Tandy, who ran the Hinckley- ...
said "We’re not looking for the guy who wants to spend his entire paycheck on a sound system", instead seeking customers "looking to save money by buying cheaper goods and improving them through modifications and accessorizing", making it common among "nerds" and "kids aiming to excel at their science fairs".
Charles D. Tandy Charles David Tandy (15 May 1918 – 4 November 1978) was the chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of the Tandy Corporation. Early life Charles Tandy was born in Brownsville, Texas to Dave L. Tandy, who ran the Hinckley- ...
, who had guided the firm through a period of growth in the 1960s and 1970s, died of a heart attack at age 60 in November 1978. In 1982, the breakup of the Bell System encouraged subscribers to own their own telephones instead of renting them from local phone companies; Radio Shack offered twenty models of home phones. Much of the Radio Shack line was manufactured in the company's own factories. By 1990/1991, Tandy was the world's biggest manufacturer of personal computers; its OEM manufacturing capacity was building hardware for Digital Equipment Corporation, GRiD, Olivetti, AST Computer, Panasonic, and others. The company manufactured everything from store fixtures to computer software to wire and cable, TV antennas, audio and videotape., 2015, Frank Durda IV, former Senior Project Software Engineer with the Tandy Electronics System Software division At one point, Radio Shack was the world's largest electronics chain. In June 1991, Tandy closed or restructured its 200 Radio Shack Computer Centers, acquired Computer City, and attempted to shift its emphasis away from components and cables, toward mainstream consumer electronics. Tandy sold its computer manufacturing to
AST Research AST Research, Inc., later doing business as AST Computer, was a personal computer manufacturer. It was founded in 1980 in Irvine, California by Albert Wong, Safi Qureshey, and Thomas Yuen, as an initialism of their first names. In the 1980s, AST ...
in 1993, including the laptop computer Grid Systems Corporation which it had purchased in 1988. It sold the
Memorex Memorex Corp. began as a computer tape producer and expanded to become both a consumer media supplier and a major IBM plug compatible peripheral supplier. It was broken up and ceased to exist after 1996 other than as a consumer electronics bran ...
consumer recording trademarks to a Hong Kong firm, and divested most of its manufacturing divisions. House-brand products, which Radio Shack had long marked up heavily, were replaced with third-party brands already readily available from competitors. This reduced profit margins. In 1992, Tandy attempted to launch big-box electronics retailer Incredible Universe; most of the seventeen stores never turned a profit. Its six profitable stores were sold to Fry's Electronics in 1996; the others were closed. Other rebranding attempts included the launch or acquisition of chains including McDuff, Video Concepts and the Edge in Electronics; these were larger stores which carried TVs, appliances and other lines. Tandy closed the McDuff stores and abandoned Incredible Universe in 1996, but continued to add new RadioShack stores. By 1996, industrial parts suppliers were deploying
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...
to sell a wide range of components online; it would be another decade before RadioShack would sell parts from its website, with a selection so limited that it was no rival to established industrial vendors with million-item specialised, centralised inventories. In 1994, the company introduced a service known as "The Repair Shop at Radio Shack", through which it provided inexpensive out-of-warranty repairs for more than 45 different brands of electronic equipment. The company already had over one million parts in its extensive parts warehouses and 128 service centers throughout the US and Canada; it hoped to leverage these to build customer relationships and increase store traffic. Len Roberts, president of the Radio Shack division since 1993, estimated that the new repair business could generate $500 million per year by 1999. "America's technology store" was abandoned for the "you've got questions, we've got answers" slogan in 1994. In early summer 1995, the company changed its logo; "Radio Shack" was spelled in
camel case Camel case (sometimes stylized as camelCase or CamelCase, also known as camel caps or more formally as medial capitals) is the practice of writing phrases without spaces or punctuation. The format indicates the separation of words with a single ...
as "RadioShack". In 1996, RadioShack successfully petitioned the US
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
to allocate frequencies for the Family Radio Service, a short-range
walkie-talkie A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver (HT), is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer Alfred J. Gross, ...
system that proved popular.


Battery of the Month

From the 1960s until the early 1990s, Radio Shack promoted a "battery of the month" club; a free
wallet A wallet is a flat case or pouch often used to carry small personal items such as paper currency, credit cards; identification documents such as driver's license, identification card, club card; photographs, transit pass, business cards and ...
-sized
cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light ...
card offered one free
Enercell Enercell is a battery brand that was sold exclusively by RadioShack at retail stores and online. In a "battery of the month club" promotion introduced in the 1960s and abandoned in the early 1990s, RadioShack customers were issued a free wallet ...
per month in-store. Like the free
tube testing Tube or tubes may refer to: * ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film * ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom * "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show * Tube (band), a ...
offered in-store in the early 1970s, this small loss leader drew foot traffic. The cards also served as generic
business cards Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company or business a ...
for the salespeople.


Allied Radio

In 1970, Tandy Corporation bought Allied Radio Corporation (both retail and industrial divisions), merging the brands into Allied Radio Shack and closing duplicate locations. After a 1973 federal government review, the company sold off the few remaining Allied retail stores and resumed using the Radio Shack name.
Allied Electronics Allied Electronics & Automation is a United States based authorized distributor of industrial automation products, electronic components and electromechanical products. Allied is a subsidiary of RS Group, and it is an ISO 9001:2008+AS9120A cert ...
, the firm's industrial component operation, continued as a Tandy division until it was sold to Spartan Manufacturing in 1981.


Flavoradio

The longest-running product for Radio Shack was the AM-only Realistic Flavoradio, sold from 1972 to 2000, 28 years in three designs. This also made the Flavoradio the longest production run in radio history. Originally released in 5 colors, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, avocado and plum from the 1972 catalog. For 1973, vanilla and chocolate were dropped (and thus are rare today) and replaced by lemon and orange. At some point two-tone models with white backs were offered but never appeared in catalogs. (Extremely rare today). The original design had 5 transistors (model 166). A sixth was added in 1980 (model 166a). The case was redesigned for 1987 taller and thinner and came in red, blue, and black.The final model 201a came in 1996 and was designed around an integrated circuit. They were first made in Korea then Hong Kong and finally the Philippines. The Flavoradio carried the Realistic name until about 1996 when it switched to "Radio Shack" then finally "Optimus". When the Flavoradio was dropped from the catalog in 2001, it was the last AM-only radio on the market.


CB radio

The chain profited from the mass popularity of
citizens band radio Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), used in many countries, is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two way radios operating on ...
in the mid-1970s which, at its peak, represented nearly 30% of the chain's revenue.


Home computers

In 1977, two years after the MITS Altair 8800, Radio Shack introduced the
TRS-80 The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of '' ...
, one of the first mass-produced
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
s. This was a complete pre-assembled system at a time when many microcomputers were built from kits, backed by a nationwide retail chain when computer stores were in their infancy. Sales of the initial, primitive US$600 TRS-80 exceeded all expectations despite its limited capabilities. This was followed by the
TRS-80 Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer and sometimes nicknamed the CoCo, is a line of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Com ...
in 1980, designed to attach to a television. Tandy also inspired the ''Tandy Computer Whiz Kids'' (1982-1991), a comic-book duo of teen calculator enthusiasts who teamed up with the likes of Archie and Superman. Radio Shack's computer stores offered lessons to pre-teens as "Radio Shack Computer Camp" in the early 1980s. By September 1982, the company had more than 4,300 stores, and more than 2,000 independent franchises in towns not large enough for a company-owned store. The latter also sold third-party hardware and software for Tandy computers, but company-owned stores did not sell or even acknowledge the existence of non-Tandy products. In the mid-1980s, Radio Shack began a transition from its proprietary 8-bit computers to its proprietary
IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM Personal Computer, IBM PC, IBM Personal Computer XT, XT, and IBM Personal Computer/AT, AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such ...
Tandy computers, removing the "Radio Shack" name from the product in an attempt to shake off the long-running nicknames "Radio Scrap" and "Trash 80" to make the product appeal to business users. Poor compatibility, shrinking margins and a lack of economies of scale led Radio Shack to exit the computer-manufacturing market in the 1990s after losing much of the desktop PC market to newer, price-competitive rivals like Dell. Tandy acquired the Computer City chain in 1991, and sold the stores to
CompUSA CompUSA was a retailer and reseller of personal computers, consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. Starting with one brick-and-mortar store in 1986 under the name Soft Warehouse, by the 1990s CompUSA had grown into a nati ...
in 1998. In 1994, RadioShack began selling IBM's
Aptiva The IBM Aptiva personal computer was introduced in September 1994 as the replacement for the IBM PS/1. The first Aptiva models were based on the Intel 80486 CPU with later models using the Pentium and AMD CPUs. All systems were developed in-hou ...
line of home computers. This partnership would last until 1998, when RadioShack partnered with
Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...
and created 'The Creative Learning Center' as a store-within-a-store to promote desktop PCs. Similar promotions were tried with 'The Sprint Store at RadioShack' (mobile telephones), '
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
Digital Entertainment Center' (home audio and video products), and 'PowerZone' (RadioShack's line of battery products, power supplies, and surge protectors).


RadioShack Corporation

In the mid-1990s, the company attempted to move out of small components and into more mainstream consumer markets, focusing on marketing wireless phones. This placed the chain, long accustomed to charging wide margins on specialized products not readily available from other local retailers, into direct competition against vendors such as Best Buy and
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
. In May 2000, the company dropped the Tandy name altogether, becoming RadioShack Corporation. The leather operating assets were sold to
The Leather Factory Tandy Leather Factory, Inc. is an American specialty retailer and wholesale distributor of leather and leatherwork related products. It operates more than 100 stores worldwide. Originally part of the Tandy Corporation, Tandy Leather has gone thro ...
on November 30, 2000; that business remains profitable. House brands Realistic and Optimus were discontinued. In 1999, the company agreed to carry
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
products in a five-year agreement for a "RCA Digital Entertainment Center" store-within-a-store. When the RCA contract ended, RadioShack introduced its own Presidian and Accurian brands, reviving the Optimus brand in 2005 for some low-end products.
Enercell Enercell is a battery brand that was sold exclusively by RadioShack at retail stores and online. In a "battery of the month club" promotion introduced in the 1960s and abandoned in the early 1990s, RadioShack customers were issued a free wallet ...
, a house brand for dry cell batteries, remained in use until approximately 2014. Most of the RadioShack house brands had been dropped when Tandy divested its manufacturing facilities in the early 1990s; the original list included: ''Realistic'' (stereo, hi-fi and radio), ''Archer'' (antenna rotors and boosters), ''Micronta'' (test equipment), ''Tandy'' (computers), ''TRS-80'' (proprietary computer), ''ScienceFair'' (kits), ''DuoFone'' (landline telephony), ''Concertmate'' (music synthesizer), ''Enercell'' (cells and batteries), ''Road Patrol'' (radar detectors, bicycle radios), ''Patrolman'' (Realistic
radio scanner A scanner (also referred to as a radio scanner) is a radio receiver that can automatically tune, or ''scan'', two or more discrete frequencies, stopping when it finds a signal on one of them and then continuing to scan other frequencies when the ...
), ''Deskmate'' (software), ''KitchenMate'', ''Stereo Shack'', ''Supertape'' (recording tape), ''Mach One'', ''Optimus'' (speakers and turntables), ''Flavoradio'' (pocket AM radios in various colours), ''Weatheradio'', ''Portavision'' (small televisions) and ''Minimus'' (speakers). In 2000, RadioShack was one of multiple backers of the
CueCat The CueCat, styled :CueCat with a leading colon, is a cat-shaped handheld barcode reader that was given away free * * * to Internet users starting in 2000 by the now-defunct Digital Convergence Corporation. The CueCat was named CUE for the uniqu ...
barcode reader, a marketing failure. It had invested US$35 million in the company, included the barcodes in its catalogs and distributed CueCat devices to customers at no charge. The last annual RadioShack printed catalogs were distributed to the public in 2003. Until 2004, RadioShack routinely asked for the name and address of purchasers so they could be added to mailing lists. Name and mailing address were requested for special orders (RadioShack Unlimited parts and accessories, Direc2U items not stocked locally), returns, check payments, RadioShack Answers Plus credit card applications, service plan purchases and carrier activations of cellular telephones. On December 20, 2005, RadioShack announced the sale of its newly built riverfront Fort Worth, Texas headquarters building to German-based KanAm Grund; the property was leased back to RadioShack for 20 years. In 2008, RadioShack assigned this lease to the Tarrant County College District (TCC), remaining in 400,000 square feet of the space as its headquarters. In 2005, RadioShack parted with Verizon for a 10-year agreement with
Cingular AT&T Mobility LLC, also known as AT&T Wireless and marketed as simply AT&T, is an American telecommunications company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. and provides wireless services in the United States. AT&T Mobility is the th ...
(later AT&T) and renegotiated its 11-year agreement with Sprint. In July 2011, RadioShack ended its wireless partnership with
T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...
, replacing it with the "Verizon Wireless Store" within a store. 2005 under the leadership of Jim Hamilton, marked a banner year for wireless. RadioShack sold more mobile phones than Walmart, Circuit City and Best Buy combined. RadioShack had not made products under the Realistic name since the early 1990s. Support for many of Radio Shack's traditional product lines, including amateur radio, had ended by 2006. A handful of small-town
franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
dealers used their ability to carry non-RadioShack merchandise to bring in parts from outside sources, but these represented a minority.


PointMobl and "The Shack"

In mid-December 2008, RadioShack opened three concept stores under the name "PointMobl" to sell wireless phones and service, netbooks, iPod and
GPS navigation device A satellite navigation device (satnav device) is a user equipment that uses one or more of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to calculate the device's geographical position and provide navigational advice. Depending on the ...
s. The three Texas stores (
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Highland Village and Allen) were furnished with white fixtures like those in the remodelled wireless departments of individual RadioShack stores, but there was no communicated relationship to RadioShack itself. Had the test proved successful, RadioShack could have moved to convert existing RadioShack locations into PointMobl stores in certain markets. While some PointMobl products, such as car power adapters and phone cases, were carried as store-brand products in RadioShack stores, the stand-alone PointMobl stores were closed and the concept abandoned in March 2011. In August 2009, RadioShack rebranded itself as "The Shack". The campaign increased sales of mobile products, but at the expense of its core components business. RadioShack aggressively promoted Dish Network subscriptions. In November 2012, RadioShack introduced
Amazon Locker Amazon Locker is a self-service package delivery service of parcel lockers offered by online retailer Amazon. Amazon customers can select any Locker location as their delivery address and retrieve their orders at that location by entering a uni ...
parcel pick-up services at its stores, only to dump the program in September 2013. In 2013, the chain made token attempts to regain the do it yourself market, including a new "Do It Together" slogan. Long-time staff observed a slow and gradual shift away from electronic parts and customer service and toward promotion of wireless sales and add-ons; the pressure to sell gradually increased, while the focus on training and product knowledge decreased. Morale was abysmal; longtime employees who were paid bonus and retirement in stock options saw the value of these instruments fade away.


Financial decline

In 1998, RadioShack called itself the single largest seller of consumer telecommunications products in the world; its stock reached its peak a year later.
InterTAN InterTAN was created by Tandy Corporation in 1986 to operate Radio Shack stores in Canada, Europe and Australia. After the UK locations, which were branded 'Tandy', were sold to Carphone Warehouse in 1999 and the Australian locations (which were a ...
, a former Tandy subsidiary, sold the Tandy UK stores in 1999 and the Australian stores in 2001. InterTAN was sold (with its
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
stores) to rival Circuit City in 2004. The RadioShack brand remained in use in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, but the 21st century proved a period of long decline for the chain, which was slow to respond to key trends— such as
e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...
, the entry of competitors like Best Buy and
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
, and the growth of the
maker movement The maker culture is a contemporary subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture that intersects with hardware-oriented parts of hacker culture and revels in the creation of new devices as well as tinkering with existing on ...
. By 2011, smartphone sales, rather than general electronics, accounted for half of the chain's revenue. The traditional RadioShack clientele of do-it-yourself tinkerers were increasingly sidelined. Electronic parts formerly stocked in stores were now mostly only available through on-line special order. Store employees concentrated efforts selling profitable mobile contracts, while other customers seeking assistance were neglected and left the stores in frustration. Demand for consumer electronics was also increasingly being weakened by consumers buying the items
online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...
.


2004: "Fix 1500" initiative

In early 2004, RadioShack introduced ''Fix 1500'', a sweeping program to "correct" inventory and profitability issues company-wide. The program put the 1,500 lowest-graded store managers, of over 5,000, on notice of the need to improve. Managers were graded not on tangible store and personnel data but on one-on-one interviews with district management. Typically, a 90-day period was given for the manager to improve (thus causing another manager to then be selected for ''Fix 1500''). A total of 1,734 store managers were reassigned as sales associates or terminated in a 6-month period. Also, during this period, RadioShack cancelled the
employee stock purchase plan In the United States, an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) is a means by which employees of a corporation can purchase the corporation's capital stock, often at a discount. Employees contribute to the plan through payroll deductions, which b ...
. By the first quarter of 2005, the metrics of skill assessment used during ''Fix 1500'' had already been discarded, and the corporate officer who created the program had resigned. In 2004, RadioShack was the target of a class-action lawsuit in which more than 3,300 current or former RadioShack managers alleged the company required them to work long hours without overtime pay. In an attempt to suppress the news, the company launched a successful strategic lawsuit against public participation against Bradley D. Jones, the webmaster of RadioShackSucks.com and a former RadioShack dealer for 17 years.


2006: Management problems

On February 20, 2006, CEO
David Edmondson David J. Edmondson (born June 10, 1959) is an American businessman, known for his career at RadioShack and his termination as CEO for falsifying his educational background. Early life and education David J. Edmondson was born June 10, 1959, in ...
admitted to "misstatements" on his curriculum vitae and resigned after the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter ...
debunked his claim to degrees in theology and psychology from Heartland Baptist Bible College. Chief operating officer Claire Babrowski briefly took over as CEO and president. A 31-year veteran of
McDonald's Corporation McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...
, where she had been vice president and Chief Restaurant Operations Officer, Babrowski had joined RadioShack several months prior. She left the company in August 2006, later becoming CEO and Executive Vice President of
Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...
. RadioShack's board of directors appointed Julian C. Day as chairman and chief executive officer on July 7, 2006. Day had financial experience and had played a key role in revitalizing such companies as Safeway,
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
and
Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...
but lacked any practical front-line sales experience needed to run a retail company. ''
The Consumerist ''Consumerist'' (also known as ''The Consumerist'') was a non-profit consumer affairs website owned by Consumer Media LLC, a subsidiary of '' Consumer Reports'', with content created by a team of full-time reporters and editors. The site's foc ...
'' named him one of the "10 Crappiest CEOs" of 2009 (among consumer-facing companies, according to their own employees). He resigned in May 2011. RadioShack Chief Financial Officer James Gooch succeeded Day as CEO in 2011, but "agreed to step down" 16 months later following a 73% plunge in the price of the stock. On February 11, 2013, RadioShack Corp. hired Joseph C. Magnacca from
Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...
, because he had experience in retail.


2006: Corporate layoffs and new strategy

In the spring of 2006, RadioShack announced a strategy to increase average unit volume, lower overhead costs, and grow profitable square footage. In early to mid-2006, RadioShack closed nearly 500 locations. It was determined that some stores were too close to each other, causing them to compete with one another for the same customers. Most of the stores closed in 2006 brought in less than US$350,000 in revenue each year. Despite these actions, stock prices plummeted within what was otherwise a booming market. On August 10, 2006, RadioShack announced plans to eliminate a fifth of its company headquarters workforce to reduce overhead expense, improving its long-term competitive position while supporting a significantly smaller number of stores. On Tuesday, August 29, the affected workers received an e-mail: "The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated." Four hundred and three workers were given 30 minutes to collect their personal effects, say their goodbyes to co-workers and then attend a meeting with their senior supervisors. Instead of issuing severance payments immediately, the company withheld them to ensure that company-issued BlackBerrys, laptops and cellphones were returned. This move drew immediate widespread public criticism for its lack of sensitivity.


2009: Customer relations problems

RadioShack and the
Better Business Bureau Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 97 independently incorporated local BBB organizations in the Unite ...
of
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...
met on April 23, 2009, to discuss unanswered and unresolved complaints. The company implemented a plan of action to address existing and future customer service issues. Stores were directed to post a sign with the district manager's name, the question "How Are We Doing?" and a direct toll-free number to the individual district office for their area. RadioShackHelp.com was created as another portal for customers to resolve their issues through the Internet. , the BBB had upgraded RadioShack from an "F" to an "A" rating; this was changed to "no rating" after the 2015 bankruptcy filing. According to an experience ratings report published by Temkin Group, an independent research firm, RadioShack was ranked as the retailer with the worst overall customer experience; it maintained this position for six consecutive years.


2012–2014: Financial distress

From 2000 to 2011, RadioShack spent US$2.6
billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...
repurchasing its own stock in an attempt to prop up a share price which fell from US$24.33 to US$2.53; the buyback and the stock dividend were suspended in 2012 to conserve cash and reduce debt as the company continued to lose money. Company stock had declined 81 percent since 2010 and was trading well below book value. The stock reached an all-time low on April 14, 2012. In September 2012, RadioShack's head office laid off 130 workers after a US$21 million quarterly loss. Layoffs continued in August 2013; headquarters employment dropped from more than 2,000 before the 2006 layoffs to slightly fewer than 1,000 in late 2013. At the end of 2013, the chain owned 4,297 US stores. The company had received a cash infusion in 2013 from Salus Capital Partners and
Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American private equity firm,Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Quayle, Chairman, Cerberus Global Investments, LLC". specializing in distressed investing. ...
. This debt carried onerous conditions, preventing RadioShack from gaining control over costs by limiting store closures to 200 per year and restricting the company's refinancing efforts. With too many underperforming stores remaining open, the chain continued to spiral toward bankruptcy. On March 4, 2014, the company announced a net trading loss for 2013 of US$400.2 million, well above the 2012 loss of US$139.4 million, and proposed a restructuring which would close 1,100 lower-performing stores, almost 20% of its US locations. On May 9, 2014, the company reported that creditors had prevented it from carrying out those closures, with one lender presuming fewer stores would mean fewer assets to secure the loan and reduce any recovery it would get in a bankruptcy reorganization. On June 10, 2014, RadioShack said that it had enough cash to last 12 months, but that lasting a year depended on sales growing. Sales had fallen for nine straight quarters, and by year's end the company realized a loss in "each of its 10 latest quarters". On June 20, 2014, RadioShack's stock price fell below US$1, triggering a July 25 warning from the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
that it could be
delisted In corporate finance, a listing refers to the company's shares being on the list (or board) of stock that are officially traded on a stock exchange. Some stock exchanges allow shares of a foreign company to be listed and may allow dual listing, su ...
for failure to maintain a stock price above $1. On July 28, 2014, Mergermarket's Debtwire reported RadioShack was discussing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as an option. On September 11, 2014, RadioShack admitted it might have to file for bankruptcy, and would be unable to finance its operations "beyond the very near term" unless the company was sold, restructured, or received a major cash infusion. On September 15, 2014, RadioShack replaced its
CFO The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
with a bankruptcy specialist. On October 3, RadioShack announced an out-of-court restructuring, a 4:1 dilution of shares, and a
rights issue A rights issue or rights offer is a dividend of subscription rights to buy additional securities in a company made to the company's existing security holders. When the rights are for equity securities, such as shares, in a public company, it can b ...
priced at 40 cents a share. RadioShack's stock () was halted on the New York exchange for the entire day. Despite the debt restructuring proposal, in December Salus and
Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the ...
informed RadioShack that it was in default of the they had provided as a cash infusion in 2013. At the end of October 2014, quarterly figures indicated RadioShack was losing US$1.1 million per day. A November 2014 attempt to keep the stores open from 8AM to midnight on
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
Day drew a sharp backlash from employees and a few resignations; comparable store sales for the three days (Thursday-Saturday) were 1% lower than the prior year, when the stores were open for two of the days. The company's problems maintaining inventories of big-ticket items, such as Apple's
iPhone 6 The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smartphones that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the eighth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and were announced on September 9, 2014, and rele ...
, further cut into sales. By December 2014, RadioShack was being sued by former employees for having encouraged them to invest 401(k) retirement savings in company stock, alleging a breach of fiduciary duties to "prudently" handle the retirement fund which caused "devastating losses" in the retirement plans as the stock dropped from US$13 in 2011 to 38 cents at the end of 2014. These claims were dismissed by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2018.


2015: Bankruptcy

On January 15, 2015, ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported RadioShack had delayed rent payments to some commercial landlords and was preparing a bankruptcy filing that could come as early as February. Officials of the company declined to comment on the report. A separate report by Bloomberg claimed the company might sell leases to as many as half its stores to Sprint. On February 2, 2015, the company was delisted from the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
after its average market capitalization remained below US$50 million for longer than thirty consecutive days. That same day, ''
Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...
'' reported RadioShack was in talks to sell half of its stores to Sprint and close the rest, which would effectively render RadioShack no longer a stand-alone retailer.
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
and
Brookstone Brookstone is a chain of retail stores in the United States and China. It was founded as a mail-order business in 1965, when it started selling items, such as dental clamps and other specialty tools. Its first physical location opened in 1973 ...
were also mentioned to be potential bidders, the former having at the time been wanting to establish a
brick and mortar Brick and mortar (also bricks and mortar or B&M) refers to a physical presence of an organization or business in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases r ...
presence. On February 3, RadioShack defaulted on its loan from Salus Capital. On the days following these reports, some employees were instructed to reduce prices and transfer inventory out of stores designated for closing to those that would remain open during the presumed upcoming bankruptcy proceedings, while the rest remained "in the dark" as to the company's future. Many stores had already closed abruptly on Sunday, February 1, 2015, the first day of the company's
fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
, with employees only given a few hours advance notice. Some had been open with a
skeleton crew A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...
, little inventory and reduced hours only because the Salus Capital loan terms limited the chain to 200 store closures a year. A creditor group alleged the chain had remained on life support instead of shutting down earlier and cutting its losses merely so that Standard General could avoid paying on
credit default swap A credit default swap (CDS) is a financial swap agreement that the seller of the CDS will compensate the buyer in the event of a debt default (by the debtor) or other credit event. That is, the seller of the CDS insures the buyer against som ...
s which expired on December 20, 2014. On February 5, 2015, RadioShack announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Using bankruptcy to end contractual restrictions that had required it keep unprofitable stores open, the company immediately published a list of 1784 stores which it intended to close, a process it wished to complete by the month's end to avoid an estimated US$7 million in March rent. Customers had initially been given until March 6, 2015, to return merchandise or redeem unused gift cards. However, after legal pressure from the Attorneys General of several states, RadioShack ultimately agreed to reimburse customers for the value of unused gift cards. On March 31, 2015, the bankruptcy court approved a US$160 million offer by the Standard General affiliate General Wireless, gaining ownership of 1,743 RadioShack locations. As part of the deal, the company entered into a partnership with Sprint, in which the company would become a co-tenant at 1,435 RadioShack locations and establish store within a store areas devoted to selling its wireless brands, including Sprint, Boost Mobile and
Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...
. The stores would collect commissions on the sale of Sprint products, and Sprint would assist in promotion. Sprint stated that this arrangement would increase the company's retail footprint by more than double; the company previously had around 1,100 company-owned retail outlets, in comparison to the over 2,000 run by AT&T Mobility. Although they would be treated as a co-tenant, the Sprint branding would be more prominent in promotion and exterior signage than that of RadioShack. The acquisition did not include rights to RadioShack's
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
(such as its
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
s), rights to RadioShack's franchised locations, and customer records, which were to be sold separately. RadioShack was criticized for including the
personally identifying information Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person. The abbreviation PII is widely accepted in the United States, but the phrase it abbreviates ha ...
of 67 million of its customers as part of its assets for sale during the proceedings, despite its long-standing policy and a promise to customers that data would never be sold for any reason at any time. The Federal Trade Commission and the
Attorneys General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exe ...
of 38 states fought against this proposal. The sale of this data was ultimately approved, albeit greatly reduced from what was initially proposed.


General Wireless Operations, Inc.

Standard General acquired the RadioShack brand after RadioShack Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 2015. It formed the affiliate, General Wireless Operations, to act as the new parent company for the brand. This new RadioShack focused on its partnership with Sprint in the hopes of carrying on the brand. Re-branded stores
soft launch A soft launch, also known as a soft opening, is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public. Soft-launching a product is sometimes used to gather data or customer feedback, prior to making it widely ...
ed on April 10, 2015, with a preliminary conversion of the stores' existing wireless departments to exclusively house Sprint brands, with all stores eventually to be renovated in waves to allocate larger spaces for Sprint. In May 2015, the acquisition of the "RadioShack" name and its assets by General Wireless for US$26.2 million was finalized.
Chief marketing officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a global marketing officer or marketing director, or chief brand officer, is a corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. Whilst historically these titles may ...
Michael Tatelman emphasized that the company that emerged from the 2015 proceedings is an entirely new company, and went on to affirm that the old RadioShack did not re-emerge from bankruptcy, calling it "defunct". Less than one year after the bankruptcy events of 2015, Ron Garriques and Marty Amschler stepped down from their respective
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
and chief financial officer positions; Garriques had held his position for nine months.


2017: Bankruptcy

It was speculated on March 2, 2017, that General Wireless was preparing to take RadioShack through its second bankruptcy in two years. This was evidenced when dozens of corporate office employees were laid off and two hundred stores were planned to be shuttered, and further evidenced when the RadioShack website began displaying "all sales final" banners for in-store purchases at all locations. RadioShack's Chapter 11 bankruptcy was formally filed on March 8, 2017. Of the then 1,300 remaining stores, several hundred were converted into Sprint-only locations. Despite declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy (typically reserved for reorganization of debt) instead of Chapter 7 (liquidation), the company engaged in liquidation of all inventory, supplies, and store fixtures, as well as auctioning off old memorabilia. On May 26, RadioShack announced plans to close all but 70 corporate stores and shift its business primarily to online. These stores closed after Memorial Day Weekend of 2017. Of the remaining stores, 50 more closed by the end of June 2017. One particular store closing in April 2017 garnered widespread media attention when a
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
account, calling itself "RadioShack -
Reynoldsburg, Ohio Reynoldsburg is a city in Fairfield, Franklin, and Licking counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is a suburban community in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. The population was 41,076 at the 2020 census. History Reynoldsburg was origina ...
", began lashing out at customers with messages such as "We closed. F—k all of you.", "Always hated all you pr—k customers anyway." RadioShack addressed these posts on their official Facebook page denying any involvement. On June 29, 2017, RadioShack's creditors sued Sprint, claiming that it sabotaged its co-branded locations with newly built Sprint retail stores—which were constructed near well-performing RadioShack locations as determined by confidential sales information. The suit argued that Sprint's actions "destroyed nearly 6,000 RadioShack jobs". General Wireless announced plans on June 12, 2017, to auction off the RadioShack name and IP, with bidding to begin on July 18. Bidding concluded on July 19, 2017, when one of RadioShack's creditors,
Kensington Capital Holdings Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, obtained the RadioShack brand and other intellectual properties for US$15 million. Kensington was the sole bidder. In October 2017, General Wireless officially exited bankruptcy and was allowed to retain the company's warehouse, e-commerce site, dealer network operations, and up to 28 stores.


Post-bankruptcy

RadioShack began shrinking its headquarters operation in 2017. By September of that year, it had a staff of 50 and moved to RadioShack's distribution center on Terminal Road just north of the Fort Worth Stockyards. In late July 2018, RadioShack partnered up with
HobbyTown USA HobbyTown or HobbyTown USA is an American retail hobby, collectibles, and toy store chain headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. There are more than 100 HobbyTown franchise stores located in 39 states in U.S. Beginning with the purchase of a local ...
to open up around 100 RadioShack "Express" stores. HobbyTown owners select which RadioShack products to carry. RadioShack dealerships had re-opened around 500 stores by October 2018. By November 2018, it had signed 77 of HobbyTown's 137 franchise stores.


Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV)

In November 2020, RadioShack's intellectual property and its remaining operations—about 400 independent authorized dealers, about 80 Hobbytown USA affiliate stores, and its online sales operation—were purchased by Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), a Florida-based company that had previously purchased defunct retailers
Pier 1 Imports Pier 1 Imports, Inc. is an online retailer and former Fort Worth, Texas-based retail chain specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories, and seasonal decor. It was publicl ...
, Dress Barn, Modell's Sporting Goods, and Linens 'n Things, along with
The Franklin Mint The Franklin Mint is a private mint founded by Joseph Segel in 1964 in Wawa, Pennsylvania. The building is in Middletown Township. The brand name was previously owned by Sequential Brands Group headquartered in New York City, New York. It is ...
. In December 2021, REV announced they will be using part of the brand name on a cryptocurrency platform called RadioShack DeFi (an abbreviation of
decentralized finance Decentralized finance (often stylized as DeFi) offers financial instruments without relying on intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks by using smart contracts on a blockchain. DeFi platforms allow people to lend or borrow funds ...
). The platform will allow customers to exchange and freely swap existing cryptocurrency tokens for a token called $''RADIO'' through the new platform. The Twitter account for RadioShack, which is run by chief marketing officer Ábel Czupor, has posted controversial humorous tweets, which some considered edgy and inappropriate for the retailer. These tweets usually included profanity and tagged other corporations such as Best Buy and
Applebee's Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads ...
. The account also tagged musician
Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...
, alongside taunting mentions of
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
content creators like Mutahar Anas (known as SomeOrdinaryGamers) and Stephen Findeisen (known as Coffeezilla) on their respective channels (both known for making videos calling out fraudulent cryptocurrency scams), referencing the latter on their official website for a listing of AA batteries specifically branded as " vibrator batteries". According to Czupor, he has a team of people running the account, one of them Twomad, a famous YouTuber known for controversial collaborations with
Belle Delphine Mary-Belle Kirschner (born 23 October 1999), professionally known as Belle Delphine, is a South African-born English Internet celebrity, pornographic actress, model, and YouTuber. Her social media accounts feature erotic and cosplay modelling, ...
. Twomad would later post a picture of him and actor,
Finn Wolfhard Finn Wolfhard (born December 23, 2002) is a Canadian actor and musician. He gained recognition for playing Mike Wheeler (Stranger Things character), Mike Wheeler in the Netflix series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present). His film roles include ...
and make a YouTube video of him posting tweets on the account.


Corporate headquarters

In the 1970s RadioShack had a new headquarters "Tandy Towers" built in downtown Fort Worth on Throckmorton Street. In 2001, RadioShack bought the former Ripley Arnold public housing complex in
Downtown Fort Worth Downtown Fort Worth is the central business district of Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Most of Fort Worth's tallest buildings and skyscrapers are located downtown. Attractions Sundance Square Sundance Square began as an effort by Sid Bass to ...
along the Trinity River for US$20 million. The company razed the complex and had a corporate headquarters campus built after the City of Fort Worth approved a 30-year economic agreement to ensure that the company stayed in Fort Worth. RadioShack moved into the campus in 2005. In 2009, with two years left on a rent-free lease of the building, the ''
Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter ...
'' reported that the company was considering a new site for its headquarters. The ''
Tampa Bay Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'' reported rumors among
Tampa Bay Area The Tampa Bay area is a major populated area surrounding Tampa Bay on the west coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th largest metropolitan area in the Unite ...
real estate brokers and developers that RadioShack might select Tampa as the site of its headquarters. In 2010, however, RadioShack announced efforts to remain at its current site. The headquarters was ultimately reduced to a small group after the second bankruptcy filing. In September 2017, what was left of RadioShack of about 50 people left the downtown location moving to a warehouse on Terminal Road just north of "The Stockyards". The campus was at first shared with the Tarrant County College as its Trinity River Campus, and has now been taken over by it in full.


International operations


Intertan Inc.

In 1986, Tandy Corp. announced it would create a spinoff of its international retail operations, called Intertan Inc. The new company would take over operations of over 2,000 international company-owned and franchised stores, while Tandy retained its 7,253 domestic outlets and 30 of its manufacturing facilities. Intertan had two main units, Tandy Electronics Ltd., which operated in Canada, the UK, France, Belgium, West Germany, and the Netherlands; and Tandy Australia Ltd., which operated in Australia. At the end of 1989, there were 1,417 stores operated by Intertan under the Tandy or Radio Shack names. Intertan operated Tandy or Radio Shack stores in the UK until 1999 and Australia until 2001. RadioShack branded merchandise accounted for 9.5% of InterTAN's inventory purchases in its 2002-2003 fiscal year, the last complete year before the Circuit City acquisition, and later disappeared from stores entirely.


Canada

Following the creation of Intertan, Tandy Electronics operated 873 stores in Canada, and owned the rights to the RadioShack name. In 2004, Circuit City, a competitor of Radio Shack purchased Intertan, which held the rights to use the RadioShack name in Canada until 2010. Radio Shack Corp., which operated Radio Shack stores in the U.S., sued Intertan in an attempt to end the contract for the company name early. On March 24, 2005, a U.S. district court judge ruled in favour of RadioShack, requiring InterTAN stop using the brand name in products, packaging or advertising by June 30, 2005. The Canadian stores were rebranded under the name
The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
by Circuit City. Radio Shack briefly re-entered the Canadian market, but eventually closed all stores to refocus attention on its core U.S. business. The Source was acquired by Bell Canada in 2009.


Asia

In March 2012, Malaysian company Berjaya Retail Berhad, entered into a franchising agreement with Radio Shack. Later that year, the company announced a second franchising deal with Chinese company, Cybermart. Berjaya had six stores in Malaysia before it quietly ceased operations in 2017.


Mexico

In 1986,
Grupo Gigante Grupo Gigante is a holding listed at Mexican Stock Exchange founded in 1962, enterprises includes: Office Depot, The Home Store, SuperPrecio and Toks. The namesake hypermarkets and supermarkets are sold in 2008 to Soriana. Until December 20 ...
signed a deal with Tandy Corporation to operate Radio Shack branded stores in Mexico. After growing their electronics chain within Mexico to 24 stores, Grupo Gigante signed a new deal with Tandy in 1992 to form a new joint ventured called Radio Shack de México in which both companies had an equal share. As part of the deal, Grupo Gigante transferred their electronics stores to Radio Shack de México. In 2008, Grupo Gigante separated from Radio Shack, (then renamed Radio Shack Corporation) and sold its share of the joint venture to Radio Shack Corp. for $42.3 million. In June 2015, Grupo Gigante repurchased 100 percent of RadioShack de Mexico, including stores, warehouses, and all related brand names and intellectual properties for use within Mexico, from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware for US$31.5 million. The chain had 247 stores in Mexico at the time of the sale. Following the sale, all Radio Shack stores, warehouses, brands, assets, and related trademarks in Mexico are currently owned by RadioShack de México S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of
Grupo Gigante Grupo Gigante is a holding listed at Mexican Stock Exchange founded in 1962, enterprises includes: Office Depot, The Home Store, SuperPrecio and Toks. The namesake hypermarkets and supermarkets are sold in 2008 to Soriana. Until December 20 ...
. A major Mexican news magazine had reported in March 2015 that Grupo Gigante actually purchased 100% of the stock in RadioShack de México from RadioShack Corporation for US$31.8 million, two months prior to the bankruptcy filing, but had only had to hand over US$11.8 million to RadioShack Corp. for also assuming approximately US$20 million in debt liabilities. While Radio Shack was facing a second bankruptcy in the United States, Grupo Gigante announced in October 2017 that they planned to expand the Radio Shack brand within Mexico by opening eight more stores.


Latin America

When Radio Shack Corporation filed for bankruptcy the first time in 2015, the Unicomer Group (Grupo Unicomer) purchased the Radio Shack brand from the bankruptcy court for its exclusive use in Latin America and the Caribbean, except Mexico. Unicomer, through its corporate parent
Regal Forest Holding Co. Ltd. Unicomer Group ( es, Grupo Unicomer), is a multinational retailing and consumer finance group headquartered in San Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador with regional offices in Miami, Trinidad, Jamaica, Costa Rica. It operates several chains of ret ...
, paid $5 million for the brand. The company's relationship with Radio Shack dated back to 1998, when Unicomer opened its first Radio Shack franchise store in El Salvador. It later expanded into Honduras, Guatemala, and
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
. By January 2015, Unicomer had 57 Radio Shack stores distributed throughout four countries within Central America. In April 2015, Unicomer began receiving franchise payments from franchises in several countries that Unicomer had not previously had a business presence in. It expanded into
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
in 2016,
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
in 2017,
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
in 2017, and Guyana in 2017. By the end of 2017, Unicomer had company-owned stores located in the countries of Barbados, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Trinidad while receiving franchise payments from independent franchised stores located in the countries of Antigua, Aruba, Costa Rica,
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
and
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
in which Unicomer did not have a business presence in. Since 2014, the independent company Coolbox is an authorized dealer for RadioShack products in Peru. In April 2018, the RadioShack brand returned to Bolivia when franchisee Cosworld Trading opened two franchised stores for Unicomer in the capital city of La Paz. The previous RadioShack stores had closed in 2015 as a result of RadioShack first bankruptcy filing.


Middle East

When Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy the first time in 2015, the
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
-based Delta RS for Trading purchased the Radio Shack brand from the bankruptcy court for its exclusive use in Middle East and North Africa for $US5 million. Delta RS for Trading, as Radio Shack Egypt, had opened its first Radio Shack franchised store in 1998 in
Nasr City Nasr City ( ar, مدينة نصر  ) is a district of Cairo, Egypt. It is located to the east of the Cairo Governorate and consists mostly of condominia. It was established in the 1960s as an extension to neighboring settlement of Heliop ...
. By March 2003, Radio Shack Egypt had 65 company-operated stores plus 15 sub-franchised stores. In 2017, the Egyptian government accused Radio Shack Egypt and its parent Delta RS in aiding the Muslim Brotherhood.


Other operations


Corporate citizenship

In 2006, RadioShack supported the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...
by providing store presence for the StreetSentz program, a child identification and educational kit offered to families without charge. RadioShack supported
United Way of America United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...
Charities to assist their Oklahoma and Texas relief efforts after the
2013 Moore tornado On the afternoon of May 20, 2013, a large and extremely violent EF5 tornado ravaged through Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas, with peak winds estimated at , killing 24 people (plus two indirect fatalities) and injuring 212 others. The to ...
. RadioShack's green initiative promotes the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, which accepts end-of-life rechargeable batteries and wireless phones dropped off in-store to be safely recycled.


Other retailer partnerships

In August 2001, RadioShack opened kiosk-style stores inside
Blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...
outlets, only to abandon the project in February 2002; CEO Len Roberts announced that the stores did not meet expectations. RadioShack operated wireless kiosks within 417
Sam's Club Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...
discount warehouses from 2004 to 2011. The kiosk operations, purchased from Arizona-based Wireless Retail Inc, operated as a subsidiary, SC Kiosks Inc., with employees contracted through RadioShack Corporation. No RadioShack-branded merchandise was sold. The kiosks closed in 2011, costing RadioShack an estimated US$10–15 million in 2011 operating income. RadioShack then attempted a joint venture with
Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
to deploy mobile telephone kiosks in 1,490 Target stores by April 2011. In April 2013, RadioShack's partnership with Target ended and the Target Mobile in-store kiosks were turned over to a new partnership with Brightstar and MarketSource.


No-contract wireless

On September 5, 2012, RadioShack in a partnership with
Cricket Wireless Cricket Wireless is an American prepaid wireless service provider, owned by AT&T. It provides wireless services to ten million subscribers in the United States. Cricket Wireless was founded in March 1999 by Leap Wireless International. AT&T ac ...
, began offering its own branded no-contract wireless services using Cricket and Sprint's nationwide networks. The service was discontinued on August 7, 2014; clients who had already purchased the service from RadioShack continue to receive service from Cricket Wireless.


Cycling team sponsorship

In 2009, the company became the main sponsor of a new cycling team, Team RadioShack, with
Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...
and Johan Bruyneel. RadioShack featured Armstrong in a number of television commercials and advertising campaigns. RadioShack came under fire for having Armstrong as a spokesperson in 2011, when allegations that the cyclist had used performance-enhancing drugs surfaced.


Lawsuits and litigation

In April 2004,
AutoZone AutoZone, Inc. is an American retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories, the largest in the United States. Founded in 1979, AutoZone has over 6,400 stores across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and the US Virgin Is ...
brought suit against RadioShack for using the name PowerZone to promote a section of its retail stores, citing trademark infringement. The lawsuit was dropped in June the same year due to lack of evidence. In June 2011, a customer sued Sprint and RadioShack after finding pornography on their newly purchased cell phones. In 2012, a Denver jury awarded $674,938 to David Nelson, age 55 (), a 25-year RadioShack employee who had been fired by his supervisor in retaliation after complaining about age discrimination. In 2013, a federal jury awarded over $1 million in an age discrimination suit to a 54-year-old, longtime RadioShack store manager who was fired in 2010 from the San Francisco store he had managed since 1998. A 2013 class action judgement found that RadioShack had violated privacy requirements between August 24, 2010, and November 21, 2011, by printing the expiration date of clients' credit or debit cards on store receipts. A July 2014 ruling in ''Verderame v. RadioShack Corp., 13-02539'' in the US District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) found that RadioShack owed its store managers a possible US$5.8 million for unpaid overtime in the state.


In popular culture

A "Radio Shock" store (owned by the "Dandy Corporation") appeared in the original 1991 release of '' Space Quest IV'', displaced by " Hz. So Good" in later editions because of threats of legal action by Tandy. Radio Shack is featured prominently in ''
Short Circuit 2 ''Short Circuit 2'' is a 1988 American science fiction comedy film, the sequel to the 1986 film ''Short Circuit''. It was directed by Kenneth Johnson and starred Fisher Stevens as Ben Jahveri, Michael McKean as Fred Ritter, Cynthia Gibb as Sandy ...
'', which serves as a "clinic" for Johnny 5 while he repairs himself after being assaulted by thieves. Radio Shack is mentioned and briefly featured on the pilot episode of ''
Young Sheldon ''Young Sheldon'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro for CBS. The series, set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a spin-off prequel to ''The Big Bang Theory'' and begins with the ...
''. Visits to RadioShack are a frequent plot point in the ''Young Sheldon'' series, building off allusions to childhood visits made by the character
Sheldon Cooper Sheldon Lee Cooper, Ph.D., Sc.D., is a fictional character in the CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'' and its spinoff series ''Young Sheldon'', portrayed by actors Jim Parsons and Iain Armitage respectively (with Parsons as the latter ...
in its parent series, ''
The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on C ...
''. The family returns to the Radio Shack store in a later episode, where his mother purchases him a
Tandy 1000 The Tandy 1000 is the first in a line of IBM PC workalike home computer systems produced by the Tandy Corporation for sale in its Radio Shack and Radio Shack Computer Center chains of stores. Overview In December 1983, an executive with Tandy ...
. RadioShack appears in the second season of the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
series '' Stranger Things'' as the workplace of Bob Newby. In one scene, an Armatron (a product actually sold at Radio Shack during that period) can be seen on a shelf above his head. In the movie ''
Ocean's Eleven ''Ocean's Eleven'' is a 2001 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Ted Griffin. The first installment in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy, it is a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film of the same name. The ...
'', after Livingston asks an FBI agent to not touch his equipment by asking, "Do you see me grabbing the gun out of your holster and waving it around?", the agent retorts with "Hey 'Radio Shack', relax". In '' Kung Pow! Enter the Fist'', Ling's mortally wounded father randomly asks The Chosen One to "let me know if you see a Radio Shack" as The Chosen One leads him in to a town in search of help. In the movie ''
Die Hard 2 ''Die Hard 2'' (also known by its tagline ''Die Harder'')The film's onscreen title is ''Die Hard 2'', as also given at the initial home-video release'official website The film's original advertising used "Die Harder" as a tagline, and many rele ...
'', An air traffic control engineer says "Yeah right, somebody wanna run down to Radio Shack and get a transmitter?" In the television series ''
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...
'', Tony breaks a phone and tells his son "Forgot to tell you I got a job at Radio Shack. Product testing. Giving that phone an F for durability."


References


Further reading

* * Hayden, Andrew
"Radio Shack: A Humble Beginning for an Electronics Giant"
''antiqueradio.com'', February 2007


External links

* *
Radio Shack Records
in Fort Worth Library Archives
Radioshackcatalogs.com
an 80-year archive of RadioShack catalogs {{Authority control 1921 establishments in Massachusetts Companies based in Fort Worth, Texas Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 Consumer electronics retailers in the United States Electronic kit manufacturers Home computer hardware companies Loudspeaker manufacturers American companies established in 1921 Retail companies established in 1921 2015 mergers and acquisitions Radio manufacturers