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RadioShack

(Redirected from Radio Shack)

RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=NaodW29-item23c8234837ea30a
e
) runs a chain of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe. As of 2003, it has more than 7,000 stores in the USA, and reported net sales and operating revenues of $4.6 billion. The head office of RadioShack is located in Fort Worth, Texas. The Canadian counterpart, which is owned by Circuit City and running under a corporation called Intertan, is located in Barrie, Ontario. Its proprietary brands include Optimus (video equipment—discontinued), Realistic (sound equipment—discontinued), Archer (wiring and antennas), and Enercell (batteries and power accessories).

Contents

The first 40 years

The company was started as Radio Shack in 1921 in Boston, Massachusetts, by two brothers, Theodore and Milton Deutschmann, who wanted to provide equipment for the cutting-edge field of amateur, or "ham," radio. The store's name was taken from the name of the small structure that housed a ship's radio equipment at the time.

The company issued its first catalog in the early 1940s and then entered the high-fidelity music market. In 1954, Radio Shack began selling its own private-label products under the brand name Realistic. After expanding to nine stores plus an extensive mail-order business, the company fell on hard times in the 1960s.

The Tandy years

In 1963 it was bought by the Tandy Corporation (which was originally a leather-goods corporation) and renamed Tandy Radio Shack. Tandy eventually got rid of everything but electronics. Tandy also operated a chain similar to Radio Shack in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s, but under the Tandy name.

In 1977, Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80, one of the first mass-produced personal computers. Affectionately known as the Trash-80, the machine became a big hit. In the late 1980s, Radio Shack made the transition between its proprietary lines of 8-bit computers to its line of more-or-less IBM-compatible Tandy series of computers. However, shrinking margins and lack of economies of scale led Radio Shack to exit the computer manufacturing market by the mid-1990s.

Radio Shack had another big hit with products designed to take advantage of the Family Radio Service, a short-range walkie-talkie system. Since the mid-1990s, the company has attempted to move into the consumer small components markets, focusing on marketing wireless phones.

RadioShack Corp.

In May 2000 the company dropped the Tandy name altogether, instead opting for RadioShack contracted into one CamelCase word. The logo was also changed to the current stylized "R."

Also in 2000, the company-owned Realistic and Optimus brands were discontinued when the company entered into an agreement to carry RCA products. The stores still carry their own Archer brand antenna and wiring products and their own brand of batteries.

Until 2001, RadioShack was notorious for asking for the names and addresses of all customers who made even minor purchases so they could be added to the mailing list. Theories regarding the discontinuation of this practice include:

  • CEO Len Roberts making a purchase at a RadioShack store and realizing how annoying it was. This is a stretch, as at least once a year, every member of management up to and including the CEO, has to work a full shift on the sales floor of a randomly selected store—he would have known far before then.
  • Concern over identity theft. The name, address, phone number, and banking information of people would have been available to anyone accessing the system.

Diversity

RadioShack received a 29% rating on the 2004 Corporate Equality Index published by the Human Rights Campaign.

References

  • Farman, Irvin (1992). Tandy's Money Machine: How Charles Tandy Built Radio Shack into the World's Largest Electronics Chain. Chicago: The Mobium Press.

External links

  • RadioShack.com http://www.radioshack.com/
    • Official history page http://www.radioshackcorporation.com/about/history.html



Last updated: 02-10-2005 15:49:43
Last updated: 02-20-2005 19:59:56