Eh? While they do offer connectors, wire, solding equipment and the like (as does Lowes & HD) they do not seem to offer (certainly not in the local stores, and I couldn’t find it on the website either) small components like resistors, caps, 8 segment LED read-outs, and of course the glorious 555 Timer IC - stuff that pre turn-of-the-century Radio Shack did offer.
There was a long period of decline as electronic hobyists became increasingly rare. One by one, electronic specialty stores disappeared. The very things you complained about are the changes that enabled the Shack to last longer than their competitors. It is, however, now a mail order world for items that cost pennies.
Not really.
I do have a “same-day” source for electronics components, should I need them (Micro Center). But…I can drive across down to spend $1 for a pair of resistors or get them online…and get 20 of them for a buck. I can be patient for a week’s delivery. Same with specialty hardware. The eyebolts on the ends of my module legs are $3 at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and the local hardware store. Bolt Depot has them for $1.50 a piece.
Radio Shack was good if I needed “one of” something in a hurry since they were 2 blocks from my office.
These days I mostly order parts online.
In the early days, the Radio Shack guys were mostly electronic geeks. Back in the 60s, I was a volunteer firefighter. And several of us were in Radio Shack frequently for VHF radios, crystals for various frequencies, before the programable radios came out. Also bought a lot of CB stuff, antennas, booster amps, cables, etc. Then the scanners came out and I had several of those. And the Radio Shack guys mostly knew their stuff. Gradually Radio Shack began stocking a lot of skin pak stuff on pegs, and then phones, and as mentioned, upselling. Gradually, their component drawers became empty, and were not restocked. When I did go there looking for something, they were out of it. The people working there had no clue about much of anything. I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did.
The only thing that I can safely say that I miss about Radio Shack is the fact that no other place in my little town carried (or carries even today) 2-56 screws. I don’t have a LHS where I can go in and get those screws same day. (Yes, I do get almost all my hobby stuff online.)
However, I did get most of the wire for my new layout from a slightly unlikely place - my local NAPA store! The thickness of the wire did cause problems in one spot. As a result, I did have to order a spool of Atlas wire online to get that part accomplished.
I do. Radio Shack was very close to home. Yes, I could see the end coming, but if I needed a tiny part it was easy to get.
My next choice was You-Do-It Electronics, a retail store that I recognized as the old Heathkit building.
A lot of Hobbytowns now carry Radio Shack components. I was in one in Richmond VA and they had quite a bit- not what it used to be but comparable to the selections of components that they had not too long before they shut down.
Don’t miss them at all. A local Micro Center has an assortment of electronics parts equal to, if not better than, what Radio Shack offered in their stores.
Tom
Micro Center is the Home Depot for computer stuff. You are lucky to have one close by.
Yep - Great place, Henry. I get all of my computers and most of my computer-related items from them. And only a 10-12 min. drive from my house. [Y]
Tom
Actually, I kinda do miss Radio Shack. Back when I was living in CT, there was one located a short drive from my home. It had the basics for what I needed, but I had to order stuff like headlight LEDs, from online electronics stores. RS had most all the wiring that I needed, hardware like power distribution blocks, wire connectors, etc. It’s a real shame they couldn’t figure out what business they were in. They had some good audio stuff at one time, too. Of course, now we can get everything online. Not that I mind because I buy the stuff I need in bulk online in order to have enough on-hand. That said, I sure do miss having the convenience of running down to a local RS if I needed more wire, connectors, etc.
I miss the convenience but I don’t miss the price. Recently I needed a large capacitor for a project and drove a 30 mile round trip to the nearest Radio Shack store. They wanted $5.99 for this single capacitor, I declined, went home and ordered 10 of the same for $9.99 from allelectronics.com. I hade to wait a week for them to arrive but at least I didn’t feel I was being vastly over-charged. Swings and roundabouts [:D]
Gee, dead stores, radio shack is like a thousand other store that could no compeat. Some made wrong moves and others did leveraged things. Had a faviorite hardware chain out here that desided to expand and the chain they bought brought the whole thing down. It can be hard to keep up with today without alianating those that already buy there, that is radio shack in a nutshell and toys-r-us also.
I live not too far from microcenter and it is pretty awesome. But come on…I needed a rectifier to finish a project and MC didnt have any useful ones. NTE is in NJ for goodness sake but doesnt do walk up retail, so I kept thinking Radio Shack probably has one: oh wait. Not anymore. Now at my other place there is nowhere within many hours drive to get spare parts like this. So I wait a few days for them to come from adafruit or something similar.
The issue, I think, is how Radio Shack became a cell phone store. Who are these people who go to cell phone stores? [:D]
I guess that would be fine if they were truly a cell phone store that offered all carriers but I havnt seen one like that.
Weren’t they teamed up with Tandy Leather back in the day?
Then Tandy split off and went with computers, but picked the wrong OS to go with, CP/M as I recall. MSDOS took over and CP/M fell to the wayside. I think Wang in Lincoln, Massachusetts was considered the richest man in the world before Bill and the Berkshire-Hathaway guy took over.
I used to get leather kits from Tandy. I might have a holster I made from a Tandy kit.
But yes, I miss the convenience of Radio Shack…
Oops, old thread, didn’t look…
And I STILL miss Radio Shack. I never bought much, just an occasional resistor. But, they were there. I fully understand that their old business model was a dinosaur.
Radio Shack used to be part of the Tandy Corporation.
We used to have a store called Baynesville Electronics. It was bigger than your average Ace or True Value hardaware store. It had everything Radio Shack had and more.
Across the street was a restaurant my father had 1/2 interest in. Last time I was there, it was a Hooters. Imagine, if only I had inherited a Hooters restaurant. [}:)][:D]
I live in the UK and I was on a business trip to Cupertino. I broke my glasses so I needed some super glue. I went to the Radio Shack in Sunnyvale CA. After purchase, they insisted on having my address (if you remember this was an annoying trait). I explained that I was from the UK but no - I need your address - so I gave hime the hotel. I guess that, for many years, the hotel got Radio Shack mailings addressed to me!