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Tandy... when did they go wrong?

F

facattack

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Joined
Mar 7, 2007
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960
Location
Bucks County, PA
Radioshack used to be my go-to place when I was a kid for things. It wasn't just stuff for the Tandy, it was video equipment like cables and stuff...

Well anyway, Tandy 1000 I've heard was based off IBM PCjr tech. With different changes of course. I had the Tandy 1000 EX and sorta wished for awhile I'd gotten one with a hard drive....

Anyhow Radioshack in my neighborhood closed my local shop sometime after they had Aptivas in the store. These things could do home maintenance tasks. It was replaced with a nail salon.

Years later, my mother brought home a used Tandy 4000 something or other. It had floppies and a hard drive and a CD-ROM drive. I've heard in places here and there that Tandy started to make their machines from standard stuff rather than proprietary. I'm not sure the exact specs.

I stupidly donated it somewhere and this guy took it so he could put Windows '95 on it and sell it. It wasn't his to sell... I shoulda kept it.

Anyhow I heard that one of the laptops prior to my 2820 HD was copied by Panasonic or Tandy copied them...

Why in the hell did Radioshack get Aptivas???? Why'd it close? Well anyway, they re-opened across the street from where they used to be after years of absence and I was dupped into buying an expensive smart phone...
 
Perhaps contrary to others, I think that Radio Shack (was Tandy before 2000) did a remarkable job hanging on. However, with their bonds rated at junk status and their stock at $4 and falling (after a high this year of $16), their stock price looks like something from the Winter Olympics.

For another take, this is good

Still, consider all of the old RS-like retail operations that have gone: Olson, Lafayette, B-A, Allied (still a wholesaler). RS had kits to compete with Heathkit at one time.

It's too bad, really.
 
I was surprised and excited to see a full line of retail products from Maker, Parallax, and Sparkfun at a Microcenter yesterday. If RadioShack not only latched on to the maker space (especially in robotics) but took a lead in creating innovative products to sell to enthusiasts, they could definitely hold on another decade or longer.

I've ordered lots from SparkFun in the past. Certainly their online selection will always be better, but there is definate value to me in being able to immediately buy something ad-hoc on a Saturday afternoon one block from my house.
 
I was a Radio Shack junkie from the mid 70's as a kid and purchased a Model 1 in 78 or 79.
It was a place to buy many components if you were into doing your own circuits
or projects. In the mid 80's I became a RS manager and that lasted for 11 years.

The EX,HX and 1000's were similar to the PCjr's. The 2000 stood alone and 3000/4000
series were considered Business Class PC's. One has to remember this was an age
where the "PC Standard" was just starting to define itself.

Back then, there were very few retail outlets where you could buy a home computer
and have local support & accessories. In my area there were none except for the
Apple store. We sold ton's of computers and it was profitable.

Tandy had the edge back then... they made their own PCB's, in house stuffing of the boards
and even made the cases. (I took a tour of the facility once) They even had their own
transportation distribution network.

Once the PC standard was defined, the market got flooded, everyone was selling computers
and mail order warehouses took over. Overseas component's didn't help. Tandy lost the edge.

I wasn't around when they started selling other peoples PC's, but I imagine it was more profitable.

Today Radio Shack is quite different today... you can't buy IC's, resistors, caps.... etc like you could before.
If you want a cell phone or MP3 player or other gadgets, then yes it's the place to go.
 
Radioshack dumped the electronics parts business to sell cell phones, radio controlled toys, and satellite dishes which were more profitable at the time (super saturated now). We had a few RS stores around here, most closed but there is still one up the street that has been there since I can remember. They still stocked plastic TV screen adjustment gear for $1.50 that I needed to adjust an old Mac SE with a few years ago.

In the 1970's when the tandy Model I,II,IIIs etc were out there were few computer stores around to sell to the public, and RS made it easy to get in store credit which the other superstores didn't have (catered to businesses not individuals). The color computer line was designed for homes and sold very well in the beginning. Once people got easy credit in the 90's they started to order machines using mail order catalogs (which RS also had) and were cheaper then what a brick and mortar store could price them for (same thing killed most electronics stores and mega chains, people went to the store to look around and then went home to mail order the product).
 
litterbox99 said:
Today Radio Shack is quite different today... you can't buy IC's, resistors, caps.... etc like you could before.
Click to expand...
Au contraire... I was just in a RS on Friday and was talking to the manager about what the good old days were like when they had a good supply of those goodies. He chuckled and directed me to the back of the store where much to my suprise there was a huge display of exactly that! All the stuff I was getting ready to order online/eBay was right in front of me. Now, that was a pleasant suprise, for sure. :)
 
Stone said:
Au contraire... I was just in a RS on Friday and was talking to the manager about what the good old days were like when they had a good supply of those goodies. He chuckled and directed me to the back of the store where much to my suprise there was a huge display of exactly that! All the stuff I was getting ready to order online/eBay was right in front of me. Now, that was a pleasant suprise, for sure. :)
Click to expand...

Some stores never ditched that stuff (old locations) and RS has been trying to get back into that market in the last couple of years.
 
Unknown_K said:
Some stores never ditched that stuff (old locations) and RS has been trying to get back into that market in the last couple of years.
Click to expand...
This isn't one of the older locations. The manager indicated the display had been just added within the last year and that this was now a trend at RS. So, look for something similar at your favorite RS, soon.
 
Radio Shack's decline started in the late 90's. The first 3rd party PC they sold were ASTs, and they appeared in the 1995 catalog. At the time Tandy Corporation expanded with their Incredible Universe electronics stores, and Computer City big box computer stores. Naturally with the new supply chains, Radio Shack took on 3rd party branded products since it simplifies inventory. Incredible Universe flopped big time, and Tandy Corp. lost a bit of money on it. Computer City lasted until 1998 when CompUSA bought the division.

By 2000 cell phones started to become the primary focus of the stores and the last vestiges of RadioShack's house brands (Optimus, Realistic, etc.) finally died off. The famous catalogs died off in 2002, along with a ton of Cuecats filling landfills. It was also around this time that the CEO had this bright idea to put a Radio Shack within 5 miles of the entire US population (or something). A lot of new stores opened, many were empty because they were too close to each other, and more money was lost closing them.

Cell phones (and batteries!) surprisingly kept them going since then, although with a big push by carriers to get people in their branded stores, who knows how long that's going to last. If they are going to survive, they need to get people in the store and focus on the niche they did best, accessories and "need that part now" folks. Despite being on life support, my local store saved me a few times with oddball batteries and AC adapters. They have a vast network of stores, which was great in the past before Best Buy and other chains existed (see comments above about computer stores), but today its an unneeded expense. The high margin electronics and computer sales are no longer there to support that business model.
 
Actually, I was ecstatic and surprised when asking for a pin removal tool that the kid actually knew what they hell it was and went over to their components box and found it. Yeah they certainly don't carry MANY components anymore (even Frys gives them a run for their money there now) which is a shame but it'd be fun as hell if they'd start carrying more arduino boards or other sbc like projects. If they were a storefront for Make, etc I'd waste lots of money on impulse buys lol.
 
My story is this...

I'm 10 or so in the mid 70's....just got done watching
Saturday morning cartoons on the BW TV. My Grandmother
would give me a fist full of change and I would walk by myself, 13
or so blocks to the movie theater downtown.

They had matinée movies for 50 cents. This
was the cheapest time to see a movie. It was usually a
Godzilla -vs- whatever movie and I had some money left
over to buy a few 20 cent hamburgers, two blocks down
the road on the way home...

The bad news....

The original RS store was right next door to the movie theater.

It got so bad that the store manager would lock the doors before
and after the movie got out. Could you imagine a bunch of curious
boys driving the store manager crazy asking questions and touching
and twirling every dial in the store !!!!

For some reason he would let me in, and thats where it all started.
I was hooked and would twirl dials for the rest of my life.

The store moved 5 times to various locations and the original manager
is still working after 30+ years.
 
njroadfan said:
Radio Shack's decline started in the late 90's. The first 3rd party PC they sold were ASTs, and they appeared in the 1995 catalog. At the time Tandy Corporation expanded with their Incredible Universe electronics stores, and Computer City big box computer stores. Naturally with the new supply chains, Radio Shack took on 3rd party branded products since it simplifies inventory. Incredible Universe flopped big time, and Tandy Corp. lost a bit of money on it.
Click to expand...


The Incredible Universe.... I remember it well. The last store I managed, Brian Leavey (spelling may
be incorrect) was the Regional Manager of our area. He was very energetic and improved many of
our stores and districts. He climbed his way to the top very quickly (he never slept and had energy)

Corporate gave him the Incredible Universe...

I don't know why it failed.
 
So, I noticed the 2820 HD has a serial connector and a parallel port connector.

The ppc is for hooking up an external floppy. Funny how they didn't bother putting Tandy connectors on it... :D

I have a double USB cable.. I got it from Dell for "Intellimover"... I'm wondering if there's a way to transfer files from a "tweener" I'm building outta the Antec. I'm gonna have Ubunutu or Corel Linux on the Antec and my standard computer has Windows XP. Would I put the Intellimover software on WINE?
 
Hey, I'm still pissed about RS setting up shop and closing down my local Heathkit.
Most of the guys from HK ended up working at the RS store anyway, so I drank the kool-aid.

What is my idea of a cool, vintage, computer? Anything that says "Made in USA". I get goosebumps when I see that on any of my vintage gear!
So does that mean I will be ordering a Google Nexus Tab, hell yeah! I know half the parts will still come from China, since Asus will be building them, still, props to Google.
 
Radio Shack hasn't been in canada for almost ten years now. They all got renamed The Source and dumped all their useful merch. Now The Source only sells phones, TV's, games, tacky computer items and A/V cables.
 
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