[Coco] At RadioShack, a history of hits and missed chances

[David Gettle]

Most of that article reads as though it was taken from a letter I sent as
an employee/shareholder to then CEO John Roach in the early 1990's. I told
him it was a mistake to drop the core products that put RadioShack on the
map, but you see where they are now, he didn't listen, and the board of
directors still won't listen. they are too content to collect their hugh
paychecks for attending 4 meetings a year, and sit on their duffs the rest
of the time, waiting for a phone call. I told John Roach that the board of
directors (and every other corporate exec in the company needed to have
sales floor experiance in a RadioShack store at least two weeks out of the
year to see first hand what customers want. they didn't do it, they won't
do it, and it will be the downfall of the company, just as I told John
Roach it would be nearly twenty years ago.

On Sun, Oct 5, 2014 at 12:18 PM, Gustavo Ranaur Schoenaker <
ranaur at ranaur.net> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Here is my 2 cents tough. I live in a country with no Radio Shack, nor
> similar, since 1990s. I understand that the do-it-yourself market has
> changed a lot since the advent of internet. Nowadays you can buy anything
> you want on amazon, adafruit, or worse directly from China (DX, Alibaba,
> and so on). With this competition, the profit margins would lower a lot.
>
> However, the DIY market can be made different. When you start a DIY project
> you normally want the pieces as soon as possible. If you wait for three
> week to receive your chip, you probably will loose interest in the project,
> or, worse, will have other things to do. So, it is important to have
> somewhere you can just go and buy the thing you need. It would be ever
> better if this place started to gather other hobbysts with the same
> interest, so you can find help and support for your own projects.
>
> It was not on this direction Radio Shack took on last decade. If they want
> to be another cellphone seller, they'll certainly loose their differential
> on the market and will be "just another one" as fast as you can spell
> Tandy.
>
> If RS want to get back into business, they should stop selling cellphone
> crap and start investing back in the DIY market. Imagine if they have a #d
> printer that you can hire to "print" your stuff? And how about having a
> service to make circuit boards? And about helping people to develop
> projects that need different skills (electronics, woodworking, robotics,
> programming ...)
>
> It will be a pity if nobody gets on this market.
>
> But this is just my opinion,
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 5, 2014 at 12:25 PM, Chris Osborn <fozztexx at fozztexx.com>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > On Oct 5, 2014, at 8:01 AM, <davidlinsley at gmail.com> <
> > davidlinsley at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > >
> >
> http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2024676003_radioshackanalysisxml.html
> > >
> > > This article was in today's Settle Times and is a reprint from a Fort
> > Worth Star-Telegram article. No mention of the CoCo directly, and mostly
> > mainstream press fluff, but some mainstream coverage of Radio Shacks woes
> > none the less.
> >
> >     "And the market for hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers has evaporated"
> >
> > Not even close! It has grown a lot, and has a whole new culture
> associated
> > with it, known as "maker." And Radio Shack knows it. That same culture is
> > the one that made them huge, their problem is that they have largely
> > abandoned that market and think they need to sell things that appeal to
> > everyone. Yes, I know mail order can undercut Radio Shack, but there's a
> > lot of times when you gotta have something right now or you want to
> inspect
> > something in person to make sure the part is going to fit.
> >
> > Someone at Radio Shack has been trying to get in on the maker movement,
> > they tie in with Make magazine a lot. Heck, they even sent me free
> tickets
> > to Maker Faire last year because I posted some silly things I made on
> > twitter! I think though it must be a very small team that's trying to get
> > back into the hobbyist/diy/maker market because in-store they are
> > constantly clearancing parts & tools.
> >
> > The hobbyist & DIY market is bigger than it ever was, they just need to
> > stop turning those people away.
> >
> > --
> > Follow me on twitter: @FozzTexx
> > Check out my blog: http://insentricity.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Coco mailing list
> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
> > https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> >
>
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