I'm into hobby electronics and I've reluctantly shopped at Radio Shack pretty frequently over the past couple of decades.
I say reluctantly because I just hate going in there. The employees are never trained on anything yet are unbearably insistent on helping. They used to ask your phone number and address for any purchase, any at all. I just returned a $10 item the other day and they would only go through with the return if I gave them an address, phone number and email address.
I shop there to pick up a quick part I need and don't feel like waiting for it to be shipped to me and they are the only game in town. I can't even imagine shopping there for a cell phone, tablet, batteries, anything mainstream. It doesn't surprise me at all that they are going out of business.
I'm old enough to remember some of the expansions they tried in the 90's (a battery store, seriously?), but not old enough to remember the cb days.
To me, going to the local RadioShack was almost always a means of last resort or a lack of patience. The store was dirty, staff was consistently rude, and the merchandise was wildly overpriced.
Slowly, the phones and other even more overpriced consumer electronics started taking over the stores and the DIY sections became nearly non-existent. Now, I shop at actual hobby DIY stores which have much better selections, pricing and customer service than RadioShack ever had and probably ever will.
RadioShack itself is dead -- management is trying to force a big box concept into a small store and just doesn't get it.
I say reluctantly because I just hate going in there. The employees are never trained on anything yet are unbearably insistent on helping. They used to ask your phone number and address for any purchase, any at all. I just returned a $10 item the other day and they would only go through with the return if I gave them an address, phone number and email address.
I shop there to pick up a quick part I need and don't feel like waiting for it to be shipped to me and they are the only game in town. I can't even imagine shopping there for a cell phone, tablet, batteries, anything mainstream. It doesn't surprise me at all that they are going out of business.