RadioShack Trying To Return To Its DIY Roots 413
An anonymous reader writes "In what seems to be a desperate attempt to keep the company afloat, RadioShack has made a video appeal to the DIY community that helped the retail chain grow into what it is today. The days of amateur radio operators and tinkerers flocking to the store are long gone, but it seems that the company wants to issue a mea culpa and move forward."
Re:I don't think the problem is that they didn't.. (Score:5, Interesting)
There was plenty of DIYs around. Well at least in Canada anyway. But, radioshack got shoved to the dirt when their competitors(usually smaller places with better stock, and cheaper prices) out did them. About 30mins from my hometown there's a major DIY shop that carries just about every thing electrical you need. And what they don't have, they can get within 24-48hrs for you.
Price is another example. Simple 10 pack of 10ohm resistors were $8 at the shack, and $2.49 at another shop. Most of the time, even if you were driving 30mins you saved money. This is all 4-6 years past of course, but radioshack killed itself, by overcharging on everything. I mean really $4 for a red LED? What? I can by them for $0.18/c elsewhere.
Last time I went to Radio Shack regularly... (Score:5, Interesting)
I admit that was years ago. But the funny thing was, not very long after that I applied for a job at one of the local Radio Shacks, and a little while later received a letter in the mail telling me I was not qualified for the job. I was not sure whether to be upset over the unjust insult, or laugh at the hypocrisy of it all.
But I think that was one of the big things that killed the store. They had a policy of hiring people who didn't know squat about DIY stuff. Instead they tried to sell stereo equipment and cell phones and Christmas toys. But that's really not what they wanted -- or needed -- to do. Everybody else was already doing that stuff.
I would love to see Radio Shack get back to its DIY roots. This time around maybe they can sell Arduinos and 3D printers. Heck... people are already selling machines that are 3D printers and CNC milling machines put together. It doesn't get much better than that. I want one.
Too late; dead to me (Score:5, Interesting)
First, SparkFun [sparkfun.com] has a hugely better selection than the local Rat Shack ever did. Second, OK, so you decide to shift focus. Where are you going to get the people to staff these places? You can't throw a few ICs on a wall display and expect the mouthbreather at the front desk to be able to help with it. I'd honestly rather buy from a vending machine than deal with the kid who's trying to upsell me to a gold-plated breadboard, and would I like an iPod case with that? Finally, prices, prices, prices! The cat ate the charger to my wife's laptop. I found a replacement through the manufacturer's website for $50, and from eBay for $16. Rat Shack only stocked a universal (read: Soviet styling with crap specs) unit for $80.
So how's this supposed to work? They're not going to outstock online stores or other established local specialty shops. They don't have a competent sales force (and probably can't get one, because people worth having probably wouldn't be caught dead working there). I can't imagine that they'll ever set reasonable price points. Nah, they're dead to me - and apparently to almost everyone else. The "Radio Shack" brand is crap, and I don't think they can salvage it. I think their best best is to throw it away and launch a giant rebranding and "we used to suck and we're honest about that but we're better now" blitz.
Grow their market with Arduino (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder if they will partner with Arduino (and Open source) to not only sell parts but sell potential DIYers on the CONCEPT, by making available cool and low barrier to entry projects. Sort of like Heathkit used to do way back when.
Re:You mean that cell phone store? (Score:4, Interesting)
Radio Shacks have been hit or miss. One thing you can do is check the RS web site, do a search and it can usually tell you whether any of the local stores stock something you can use. That way, you're leveraging their local inventory with the internet, you go to the store that has it and get it locally much sooner.
While Radio Shack will never really compete with online warehouses, it does seem like they could do better. I think part of the problem is being a retailer of limited space competing against "long tail" internet sellers. The increasingly high cost of retail frontage isn't helping either, every peg and every tray needs to turn over a certain amount of money per year. $20 cell phone holsters and chargers probably do a better job of that for them than odd $1 electronic components. It does look pretty sad to see a drawer tray with components in old style and, yellowing packages. I find that the local stores are unlikely to have what I need. In some ways, I felt like I was ending up like my own small parts retailer, whenever I order, I'd often buy extras and variations so I'd have them on hand in case I ever needed them.
Re:Last time I went to Radio Shack regularly... (Score:5, Interesting)
I would love to see Radio Shack get back to its DIY roots. This time around maybe they can sell Arduinos and 3D printers. Heck... people are already selling machines that are 3D printers and CNC milling machines put together. It doesn't get much better than that. I want one.
PCBs would be awesome. Upload the design and go pick up the boards a week later. They could get enough volume to bring prototype-run prices way down.
And sell essential tools, which includes things like reflow stations these days. And ribbon cable kits, tools and all.
Re:You mean that cell phone store? (Score:4, Interesting)
If they're smart, they'll look into new personal hacking systems like Arduino, they'll get back into home automation, and they'll position themselves as the place to get all of the stuff needed to tie differing systems together. They also need to keep later hours Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, when the hobbyist has screwed something up and needs some replacement parts.
Ideally Radio Shack, in my opinion, should be the convenience store of electronics. One needs something at odd hours, or needs one or two of something, or needs to make the shopping trip quick and fairly painless, go to Radio Shack.
I've had really odd finds in there. I have an old Realistic HTX-100 that was given to me without a handmic, they still had the connector for me to add to another that I have, as well as the power harness stub. In a fairly new store. They need to carry truly geeky toys, the kinds of things carried at Harbor Freight but better quality, and the kinds of things sold at Fry's Electronics, but without the hassle and bad employee morale. They should carry model rocketry launch stuff (though not really the rockets themselves) like launchers, controllers, altitude and GPS trackers, homing beacons, and that sort. They should carry the electronics for entry level to mid level RC, but not the car or plane body kits. They should carry the most common bulbs for projectors and televisions, even if only one or two in a store, and they should have a nice thick, Grainger-style catalog for ordering all kinds of other things that's actually easy to use and peruse. They should carry basic electronics how-to books, so geeklings can learn how to do what they will.
They should carry a lot less in the line of cell phones.
Funny enough, they used to have this store, it was called "Tech America". They created it after they lost their Incredible Universe business (ingloriously bought out by Fry's here in the Phoenix area) and then they failed at that. In that case they had a little too much in-store, so their inventory overhead was way too high, but pick something half-way. Carry enough of the components to make geeks have a reason to come in, but not so much that one closes. If we need EVERYTHING then we'll order it. If we need one of something small and cheap we'll probably be willing to pay a lot more for that one thing if we can get it immediately and at late hours.
Some ideas for Radio Shack (Score:5, Interesting)
Before my time, but I'm assuming Radio Shack got its start servicing radio amateurs.
During my time (80's), radios were a "solved problem," but there were at least three new markets. First, in the pre-IBM PC days, everyone had to make their own RS-232 and printer cables because every computer had a different pin-out. Even if a commercial one was available, it was often more expensive (like $30) compared to the parts (like $10). Remember, this was the 80's, so multiply those prices by 3. ($90 for a pre-made cable vs. $30 for making it yourself). Second, terrestrial TV was still huge and Radio Shack was the most convenient place to get TV antennas, both indoor and out, and all the associated cabling and accessories, including rotators, bulk cable and crimpers. Third, for those of us early early adopters of home theater, Radio Shack was the place to get A/V patch cables.
So what should Radio Shack be selling now?
Well, computer and A/V cables are "solved problems" and available at Wal-Mart. Radio Shack should be focusing on the next bleeding edge consumer technologies -- the ones that are still sold in pieces and parts instead of all-in-one solutions. They could catch the tail end of home video security. There are a lot of cheap turn-key solutions, but there's still some special applications that call for pieces & parts: wide-angle, night-vision, motion detection, high-end PC capture cards, etc.
They could serve the homebrew robotics market. Right now, Asia is dominating advances in robotics -- we need some robot tinkerers in the U.S. just as the U.S. had for automobiles a century ago.
Finally, Radio Shack desperately needs to update its inventory for electronics tinkerers rather than using SKUs from 1980. Over the past 30 years, oscilloscope prices have fallen through the floor and are now well within Radio Shack price ranges. The world has moved beyond hex-AND chips. Radio Shack should be selling FPGA starter kits.
It may be that a metropolitan area can't support more than one or two such Radio Shacks that serve tinkerers. Perhaps Radio Shack needs to have a limited number of "Super Radio Shacks". But as with Micro Center, there are times where same-day pick-up is needed and even overnight delivery from the Internet is not fast enough.
Re:You mean that cell phone store? (Score:5, Interesting)
One sensible inventory compromise: instead of spreading out a thin inventory across hundreds of stores, designate a few stores per metro area as regional parts superstores that stock "everything" a hardcore Arduino enthusiast or bot-builder would be likely to need on short notice over the course of a weekend. Using South Florida as an example, I'd start with store #1 at Sawgrass Mills (less than an hour away from ~90% of Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties as long as it's not rush hour). I'd put stores #2 and #3 at Dolphin Mall (~6 miles west of Miami International Airport, roughly 20-30 minutes from most of Dade County) and near I-95 & Palm Beach International Airport. (ok, those are actually the locations where I'd put hypothetical Fry's stores, but it's the same market). Later, if I could add one or two more stores, I'd put #4 at Aventura, and #5 somewhere off I-95 between Pompano Beach and Oakland Park (at which point most of South Florida would have a store within a 15-20 minute drive).
Of course, there's my wet-dream fantasy: a PC board milling machine at those stores where you could swipe your credit card, plug in a USB drive, select the Eagle CAD files, and watch it mill your board (say, $10 for a 2" x 4" board, $20 for a 3" x 5" board, and $25 for a 4" x 6" board) on the spot.
One thing Radio shack needs to do, and do NOW: start selling Circuit Cellar, Nuts & Volts, Servo, and every magazine like them that it can get its hands on... and work closely with all of them to get them to publish projects built from parts available at the local Radio Shack store (working both ways... adding inventory to accommodate upcoming projects likely to be popular, and encouraging them to use the parts they already sell when possible). Then, hire Joe Pardue to walk in the footsteps of Forrest Mims, and write his own series of books full of projects that can be built entirely from parts available at Radio Shack.
The truth is, the group that used to be into ham radio never really went away... it's just that Radio Shack didn't notice that TODAY, that group builds robots and projects based on microcontrollers & FPGAs. Robots, in particular, are a goldmine for store like Radio Shack. I can't think of any single hobby that gives 20/30/40-something guys more of an excuse to burn through cash like there's no tomorrow. PC components might be cutthroat, with negative retail profit margins, but check out the markup on something like a Robotis AX-12 digital servo... ~$45 mail order. For each one. A decent 'bot is going to have at least a half dozen. A biped? About a dozen. A stair-climbing hexapod? Good god, I think the credit card machine just melted ;-)
Re:You mean that cell phone store? (Score:4, Interesting)
>"$20 cell phone holsters and chargers probably do a better job of that for them than odd $1 electronic components"
Yeah, but RS doesn't SELL any "$1 components". They sell $3+ components. So not only is the selection of components poor (which has been my chief complaint over the last 20 years) but they charge a huge premium for everything.
One strategy they should use would be to have at least ONE store in each market zone that is dedicated to nothing but components and located in a lower-rent (non-mall/strip) area. There are probably 20 RS stores here, within reasonable driving distance...