An Article About Radio Shack By My Own Nephew Should Upset Geeks Everywhere

There is a business news website out of New York City called Quartz.com.  One of the top journalists on staff is my very own nephew, Matt Phillips.  He is doing a great job down there, and we are all extremely proud of him.  However, his latest article was very disturbing to his geeky uncle and I'm sure like minded folks are wincing as well

Your local Radio Shack is not doing well financially.  It is an iconic brand in the electronics biz and has been suffering tremendously over the years.  I remember when they tried to shorten it's  name  to "The Shack" to modernize their image.  No dice.

Quoting from the  impressive in- depth analysis by Matt Phillips:

RadioShack had a remarkable run of sales growth in the early 1980s. But sales essentially have been flat for two decades. Today, nominal sales are back to 1987 levels.

 

Please feel free to read the rest of the article to get a really comprehensive snapshot of yet another failing retail giant.   It 's quite painful to witness their demise graphically.

I thoroughly agree with the title of his article.   It was a great brand of the 80's (although people my age, especially those with a keen interest for electronics and gadgetry  will also tell you it was  a huge brand way before that !)   I remember buying a receiver there when I was maybe 12, and I had that thing  it all the way through college and beyond.  That was my toy store.  In fact, I wrote a song about it

Thinking about this company further, I actually can  give them at least some of the credit for fueling my deep interest in electronics and radio in general.

In fact, to this day when I set up to DJ a party, one of my favorite parts of the gig is connecting all the equipment up (a sure sign of "geekdom".    I really think I learned the ins and outs (literally) by asking questions as a kid and making purchases at their stores.

I'm sorry to see it struggle, and I sincerely hope they can recover.

They really do need to update the very name of the business.    If you notice, radio companies (including our very own) are deemphasizing the word "radio". Radio is only one part of what we do now and, thinking about it, it's only a part of what this company sells in their stores!   Here's an idea….MEDIA SHACK!