The bankruptcy of RadioShack at the beginning of 2015 probably seems like a distant event to you now, but the business entity that used to be the massive electronics chain is still wrapping up its affairs. One of those last pieces of business is the end of gift card redemptions. The Shack’s estate will stop accepting requests on Friday, Dec. 2, 2016. [More]
radioshack afterlife
RadioShack Names Second CEO Since Bankruptcy, 10th In Last 10 Years
By 4.26.16
RadioShack is importing its new CEO from Australia. Their original post-bankruptcy leader quit back in January, and the new president and chief executive officer will take over at the beginning of May. He previously worked at Target Australia (which, confusingly, is not affiliated with the U.S. retailer Target) and was in charge of e-commerce at Sears Canada. [Press Release] [Fortune] [More]
RadioShack’s VP Of Stores Keeps Reminding People That It Still Exists
By 4.1.16
RadioShack declared bankruptcy last February and closed around 2,300 of its stores. Around 1,700 of the company’s stores didn’t close, though, and the Shack’s leaders want you to know that not only are they still around, but they’re making progress toward their goal of becoming a neighborhood electronics store. [More]
Radioshack Franchisee On Martha’s Vineyard To Close, Store Dog Will Also Retire
By 1.7.16
Radioshack’s bankruptcy last year led to the closure of more than half of its stores, and the sale of others to one of the company’s major secured creditors. Yet the bankruptcy also affected the 700 or so remaining RadioShack dealers and franchisees, including Vineyard Electronics, a franchisee that has kept the island supplied with gadgets since 1981, and is now closing. [More]
RadioShack Executive Wants You To Know That RadioShack Is No Longer RadioShack
By 12.10.15
When I mention RadioShack, which I occasionally do for some reason, people often express surprise that the electronics chain still exists. That’s because they either assume it had shut down years ago, or didn’t know that some of the chain’s stores survived its recent bankruptcy. Only that’s what the people running this new RadioShack want us all to know: the new RadioShack isn’t the continuation of the old RadioShack. Maybe they shouldn’t have kept the name after all. [More]
People Holding Onto RadioShack Gift Cards Can Now File Refund Claims
By 12.4.15
If you’re one of millions of consumers holding on to an older RadioShack gift card, listen up: the retailer has begun the process of issuing refunds for the balance of those cards — totaling $46 million. [More]
Radioshack Creditors Claim Pre-Bankruptcy Shenanigans Go Back To Early 2014
By 9.1.15
The electronics retailer RadioShack had been obviously doomed for a while, finally declaring bankruptcy in February of 2015. Yet lenders kept giving the company money to keep the lights on and keep paying employees to ask for phone numbers and buy extended warranties. Now a group of junior creditors have filed a lawsuit against former Radioshack leaders and the hedge fund Standard General, alleging that this whole bankruptcy was deliberately planned to deliver RadioShack to Standard General at a fire-sale price. [More]
RadioShack Agrees To Pay Outstanding Gift Card Balances Before Paying Other Debts
By 8.26.15
The state attorney general of Texas, home state of the company formerly known as RadioShack, wasn’t pleased that the electronics retailer went out of business with an estimated $46 million in gift cards outstanding. Normal bankruptcy procedure is that gift card holders who don’t cash in their cards before the deadline–usually 30 days after the company files for bankruptcy status — are out of luck. Thanks to the TX AG, the American public won’t have to shrug off the loss of that money… unless they lost their gift card. [More]
Texas Attorney General Says RadioShack Knowingly Sold Gift Cards That Would Soon Expire
By 7.30.15
If the leadership of a company knows that they’re about to file for bankruptcy, should they stop selling gift cards? That’s what the Attorney General in Texas contends: that RadioShack knew after the 2014 holiday season ended that it would be declaring bankruptcy soon, and that gift cards they had issued would lose their value at the time of the bankruptcy or shortly afterward. Yet they sold ’em anyway. [More]
Former RadioShack’s Lawyers And Lenders Agree To Keep Talking About Settling
By 6.26.15
Since the beginning of RadioShack’s bankruptcy proceedings back in February, the lower-ranking or “junior” lenders in the company’s debt pile have claimed that the entire proceedings were full of shenanigans. As the proceedings wind down and lenders and lawyers sort out the final disposition of everything, everyone at least agrees on one thing: the bankruptcy will not convert from a Chapter 11 to a Chapter 7 to save money on lawyers. [More]
Here’s Your Last Chance To Do Anything With A RadioShack Gift Card
By 6.16.15
If you’re a person interested in retail bankruptcy, you’ll want to learn about how unsecured creditors hope to extract money from the smoldering remains of RadioShack. If you’re someone who recently discovered that they’re stuck with a RadioShack gift card, you’ll want to learn about how you can file your own claim against this trust and maybe get a tiny bit of money back. [More]
RadioShack, AT&T, And Verizon Come To Agreement Over Customer Data
By 6.10.15
When quasi-relevant electronics retailer RadioShack declared bankruptcy earlier this year, one worry for consumer advocates was that the company would sell the bushels of consumer data that it has collected on people while selling them batteries. The new owners of the RadioShack brand, General Wireless, agreed to strict terms for consumer data, which now includes segregating data from purchases of AT&T and Verizon Wireless merchandise. [More]
RadioShack Will Not Be Selling Your Phone Number To New Owners
By 5.20.15
If you’re part of the 117 million or so names on RadioShack’s mailing list, we have good and bad news for you. Today, the Shack and various states’ attorneys general came to an agreement about what customer data may be sold to RadioShack’s new owners, and under what circumstances. Everyone has agreed that the Shack won’t be handing over customer phone numbers, but they also will be giving people on the mailing list only a week to opt out. [More]
SprintShack Stores Will Be Fully Staffed And Stocked In June
By 5.19.15
The deal that Sprint made with the new owners of RadioShack means that the mobile carrier gets to effectively double the number of retail stores that it runs. That’s great for Sprint, but means that they need to hire people or move existing employees to the new stores. Don’t worry: Sprint will be ready and even have their signage out front by July. [More]
The RadioShack Bankruptcy Consumer Privacy Report Is Out
By 5.18.15
The most controversial part of the RadioShack bankruptcy auction has been the proposed sale of the company’s extensive collection of e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses. Everyone from Apple to most states’ attorneys general objects to this sale, which goes against the company’s privacy policy. That’s why the bankruptcy court appointed a privacy ombudsman to evaluate the situation and lay out some rules for how that information will be passed to the new owners of the RadioShack brand…or not. [More]
RadioShack Bankruptcy Trustee Wants Customer Mailing Lists Removed From Auction
By 4.24.15
Bankrupt RadioShack doesn’t have a lot of assets left that anyone might want, but one very marketable asset is its mailing lists. Specifically, 65 million names and addresses and 13 million e-mail addresses. In March, RadioShack said that it wouldn’t be selling that information…yet. Now that it’s time to sell off the former company’s intellectual property, all of that contact inforamtion is potentially for sale again. [More]
RadioShack Consumer Data Might Be Back Up For Auction
By 4.14.15
When the venerable electronics retailer RadioShack declared bankruptcy earlier this year and prepared to sell off its assets and its business, they quietly announced one item that was legally problematic but potentially lucrative: tens of millions of pieces of customer contact information that it has collected over the years. After the Attorney General of Texas objected to such a sale, the court was told that selling that information was off the table. Now it could be back on. [More]
RadioShack’s New Owners Don’t Really Care About Buying The RadioShack Name
By 4.13.15
RadioShack still exists. Well, stores that say “RadioShack” on them still exist, but those are a joint venture between the Shack’s new owners and Sprint. While the stores have kept their doors open, there’s one thing missing from the business plan: this new venture doesn’t own the RadioShack trademark yet. They aren’t too worried about it, though. [More]
