RadioShack has declared bankruptcy and plans to liquidate, closing or maybe continuing to exist in a co-branded venture with Sprint. However, there are about 700 RadioShack stores that are doing okay. These stores are dealers and franchisees, stores that carry RadioShack merchandise and perhaps their brand, but might sell other merchandise too. The bankruptcy of RadioShack has some terrible effects on these merchants, and they’re working together to make sure that they aren’t hurt as parts of RadioShack are sold off. [More]
The Shack
RadioShack Selling Name Separately From Stores: Bids Start At $20 Million
By 2.25.15
In a bankruptcy auction, creditors want to extract as much money as they can from the company’s remaining assets that have any value. Recognizing that “Radio Shack” is a brand that people at least recognize, the company’s lawyers announced today in court that its name and intellectual property will sell separately from the store leases. [More]
Sale Of 1,100 Radio Shack Leases Approved
By 2.20.15
Hey, buddy. Want to rent an abandoned Radio Shack? The quasi-relevant electronics chain received approval from the bankruptcy court today to sell off 1,100 store leases. These stores are open for bidding by anyone interested in taking over the lease––in some locations, Radio Shack has already held store-closing sales and taken off so they won’t have to pay rent in March. [More]
RadioShack Creditors Question Bankruptcy Timing
By 2.18.15
Experts and ordinary shoppers alike have been predicting the demise of RadioShack for some time now. The only question was when it would happen. A rescue financing package kept the company going for a while longer, but the company’s creditors allege that there was a very important reason for that: to line the pockets of lenders and distressed debt traders. [More]
There Are Some RadioShack Stores That Are Very Successful
By 2.6.15
The last week has been full of RadioShack-related doom, from the New York Stock Exchange starting to delist the company to rumors of its inevitable bankruptcy and its actual bankruptcy. What most people don’t realize when joking about the doomed nature of Radio Shack, though, is that there are about a thousand Radio Shack-branded stores that are doing quite well, and will continue to do so even if the Shack brand disappears. They’re small-town retailers that serve as Radio Shack dealers. [More]
Yep, RadioShack Declared Bankruptcy Today
By 2.5.15
In a completely unsurprising piece of news, RadioShack, a retailer that used to periodically sell some electronics, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as predicted. Negotiations earlier this week resulted in an agreement where wireless carrier Sprint will take over about half of the chain’s stores, and the other half will close. [More]
Mall Owners Will Really Miss RadioShack
By 2.5.15
RadioShack no longer serves an important role in most American consumers’ everyday lives. Yet one group will miss the chain quite a bit: mall developers, who will need to find replacement tenants for about 2,000 current Shacks that are expected to close. [More]
NYSE Will Delist Radio Shack Even Sooner Than Anticipated
By 2.2.15
Earlier today, Bloomberg News cited two unnamed sources who said that doomed electronics retailer RadioShack was in talks with Sprint to sell about half of its 4,300 retail locations to the mobile phone company and close the rest. After sending the company a letter warning that it could be delisted, the New York Stock Exchange has now started the process to kick the company off the exchange. [More]
RadioShack Negotiating To Close Half Of Its Stores, Sell The Rest To Sprint
By 2.2.15
Is it possible for RadioShack to survive? Experts believe that the 94-year-old company is going to declare bankruptcy in the coming weeks, but what are its plans after that? One report from inside the pre-bankruptcy negotiations is that the retailer plans to sell about half of its store leases to Sprint, turning them into Sprint stores, and shut down the rest. [More]
New York Stock Exchange Sends Warning Letter To Radio Shack
By 1.23.15
The New York Stock Exchange has standards for the stocks that it lists, including minimum corporate income or how much all shares of a company can be worth. As RadioShack slides toward bankruptcy, the NYSE has warned the company that it’s about to slide off the stock exchange, too. [More]
RadioShack Even More Doomed Than Previously Thought
By 12.29.14
It was once incredibly valuable for RadioShack to have a dense network of small stores in communities across the country. Now that the company is in financial trouble and struggling to find a business model and an identity, having more than 5,000 stores is a huge burden. The company can’t afford to keep all of the stores open, but it can’t afford to close them, either. [More]
Radio Shack May Run Out Of Cash, Fail To Turn Itself Around
By 7.30.14
Back in June, we learned that part of Radio Shack’s turnaround plan is to start in-store repair counters for mobile devices as a bid for relevance and an attempt to offer at least one thing that no other retailer does. However, the credit-rating agency Moody’s doesn’t think that Radio Shack has enough cash to make it through 2015, let alone turn itself around by then. [More]
Radio Shack Wants To Fix Your Phone, Its Business Model
By 6.11.14
We’ve followed Radio Shack’s ongoing quest for relevance here at Consumerist for most of the last decade. A focus on mobile gadgets hasn’t helped, since mobile phones and plans are sold almost everywhere. The company’s second-quarter results show that its funny Super Bowl ads didn’t help, either. What can Radio Shack offer that no one else has? [More]
RadioShack Closing Up To 1,100 Stores Across The Country
By 3.4.14
UPDATE: RadioShack tells Consumerist there’s no list for now — but stay tuned: “We are not releasing a store closing list at this time. However, RadioShack will maintain market coverage as part of this plan, with more than 4,000 U.S. stores in the RadioShack footprint. We will have information to share in the future.” [More]
Radio Shack Issues Vouchers After Class Action Settlement, Won’t Let Me Use Them
By 4.24.13
Diane received a merchandise voucher from Radio Shack as part of a class action settlement. It has the very nice feature of being usable on “any merchandise” in the store, but in this case “any merchandise” means “anything in the store except for that thing you wanted to buy.” [More]
Protection Plan Protects Radio Shack From Replacing Your Keyboard
By 5.14.12
Thomas got a good deal on a wireless keyboard and mouse at Radio Shack, and also went ahead and bought the warranty and replacement plan. The plan that lasts for one year. Six months later, the item wouldn’t work. So just drop it in the mail or take it back to the store where it was purchased for a replacement, right? Not so fast. The Shack was determined that he wasn’t going to bring home a replacement keyboard on their dime. [More]
Please, Please, Don't Buy Mobile Phone Minutes From Radio Shack
By 2.10.11
Sure, you can buy minutes for your prepaid mobile phone at Radio Shack. But that doesn’t mean that you should. Reader Adam’s source for this information: a Shack employee, who told Adam that he should get his minutes elsewhere, claiming that employees get in trouble for selling them. Wha? [More]
Call This Radio Shack Salesman On His Crap, And He'll Call Security On You
By 12.22.10
Eric writes that he wanted to upgrade the phone that he uses on his T-Mobile prepaid plan. He decided on a T-Mobile Comet, and found a great price on it at Radio Shack. The crack sales team at The Shack had the phone in stock, and would be very happy to sell it to him along with a two-year contract. This being the reason why Eric has a prepaid plan, he declined.
The salesman insisted that this was a policy that came straight from the district manager, and “called” to confirm it. When Eric asked for the manager’s number so he could discuss the problem himself, the manager turned out to be a fax machine. When Eric insisted on being given the real number, that’s when the salesman threatened to call mall security.
