The Return of Radio Shack?

[David]

Good news for those who live in the Provo/Orem area: RadioShack Express is now open inside the HobbyTown store in Orem. It's one of 100 RadioShack Express stores opening in HobbyTown stores across the U.S. I just hope the corporate clowns don't sink this venture into the third bankruptcy of the RadioShack brand. Full story here:

www.cnbc.com/2018/07/26/radioshack-partners-with-hobbytown-to-sell-its-electronics-post-bankru.html

[CAwasinNJ]

This makes sense to me. I think one of the problems the original Radio Shack ran into was that they tried to go too mainstream and got away from the parts and gizmos that made them a hobbyists dream. I went into one about 15 years ago looking for thermal grease and the sales drone had no idea what I was even talking about. I ended up finding it myself. They had it, but the guy didn't know it. That's a problem.

With the increasing interest in makerspaces (and to some extent STEM in general) I think it makes a ton of sense to target those groups. Working on a project and find you need a 1KV resistor? Come on in, we've got it. I'm not sure if that's what they're looking at with Hobbytown, but it's in the right ballpark.

[David]

FWIW, the site of the former RadioShack in Layton on N Woodland Park Drive is now known as "RadioShop", and is an authorized RadioShack dealer. The stores in Layton and Orem might be a good source for electronic parts and supplies now that Ra-Elco is gone.