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How RadioShack DESTROYED Itself

The Infographics Show

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From floppy disks to flatlines, Radio Shack had it all, until it didn’t. On today’s episode of The Infographics Show, we uncover how one of America’s nerdiest empires short-circuited its way into retail ruin.

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20 Comments

@TheInfographicsShow Creator 1 year ago Pinned

At its peak, Radio Shack opened a new store every three days. Think they saw the collapse coming?

@missamanda2703 1 year ago

My husband is an engineer. In 2000- 2006/2007ish. He would walk and look in that store next to my nail salon. He loved that place. It was like a husband day care.

@notsparks 1 year ago

I worked at Radio Shack in high school in the 90s. I miss that place. They were small enough that you didn't have to walk through unnecessary isles to get what you wanted, but big enough to have most of the DIY electronic stuff you might need. It was shopping heaven for early tech bros.

@Tie509 1 year ago

RadioShack was a staple for students with science experiment projects for school in the 90s.

@AZFlyingCook 1 year ago

Electronics really became harder and harder to repair by yourself, Radio Shack could've been an early advocate for Right to Repair but I guess their leadership was just entrenched in old-school thinking. BTW as an older person I find myself helping younger folks with troubleshooting and repairs because they've become so used to a disposable economy. It's kind of sad honestly

@LoKi-oc8ks 1 year ago

I was a manager at radioshack, the thing they missed was corporate telling us to sell high dollar, low profit items. We were told to focus on dollar per ticket instead of profit. Because dollar per ticket pays the bills, right? They died because their ceo was so focused on investors that he drove the company into the ground.

@Steve-tl7zo 1 year ago

I applied to work at a RS back in the 90s and the boss spent more time talking about how important it was to follow their dress code than anything else. The last time I was in a RS was in the late 90s and had a clerk refuse to sell to me because I refused to give up my phone number, said the register wouldn't let him.

@cofoppyplop 1 year ago

My main gripes with Radio Shack were that 1) They were one of the primary privacy killers. I couldn't buy anything there without their badgering me for personal information. 2) They always wanted you to buy into their warranty scam. I argued with one of the workers over a hypothetical diode that went bad.

@username82765 1 year ago

Actually as a former frequent radio shack shopper. I can say a big problem was they didn't know what they wanted to be. They started offering less and less in the way of DIY products (because DIY electronics is still a thing) and their general electronics were knock offs and/or overpriced compared to stores like Best buy. So in the end it didn't really offer anything to anyone worthwhile.

@MrUranium238 1 year ago

I miss the good old days of going to RadioShack and buying vacuum tubes. 🙁

@owtkast023 1 year ago

The last time I had the chance to go to one, I asked the clerk for some resistors and capacitors and whatnot. His confusion made me think the end was soon.

@thrashtrash2v944 1 year ago

Can’t forget Fry’s electronics

@dangerzone24 1 year ago

I loved that place. It was a store you didn't need, until you needed it.

@awesomejacketdude 1 year ago (edited)

Despite it all, I still miss "Radio Shack."

@ll_perk 1 year ago (edited)

I used to work for Radio Shack when they died. The way our pay and incentives were set up, they deserved it! No raises, just told sell more, but in 2011-12 who tf was going to Radio Shack for anything?!

@MazterP28 1 year ago

My go to electronic store when it was open

@draskuul 1 year ago

The failure to build a major online presence was the initial fatal wound to Radio Shack. Becoming effectively just a cellphone store was the coup de grace.

@Dr_Mario2007 1 year ago (edited)

Radio Shack was like a candy store to me, I loved going there and grabbing what I desperately needed. Nowadays, since Radio Shack sadly faded mostly into oblivion, Mouser and Digi-Key pretty much replaced it - you just can't beat going there in person though. I still pretty much enjoy DIY electronics - too bad what they physically had was limited.

@bro589 1 year ago

I still remember, and very much appreciate the radio shack employee who gave me his employee discount (that I didn’t ask for) on purchasing my first tester. I was 12. Now 31 and that tester is sitting on my desk as I write this comment. Still has the original radio shack logo. Thank you brother.

@matttheknife8293 1 year ago

I used to work for Radio Shack in the 90s. It was starting to fail then. Even if they started to sell cigarettes, their business was going to fail.

The point about not focusing on the user/buyer-experience is quite accurate.