50 Facts About RadioShack

RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921.

At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8, 000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

In February 2015, RadioShack Corporation filed for Chapter 11 protection under United States bankruptcy law after 11 consecutive quarterly losses.

RadioShack operates primarily as an e-commerce website, a network of independently owned, franchised RadioShack stores, and a supplier of parts for HobbyTown USA.

RadioShack manufactured everything from store fixtures to computer software to wire and cable, TV antennas, audio and videotape.

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RadioShack already had over one million parts in its extensive parts warehouses and 128 service centers throughout the US and Canada; it hoped to leverage these to build customer relationships and increase store traffic.

In 1996, RadioShack successfully petitioned the US Federal Communications Commission to allocate frequencies for the Family Radio Service, a short-range walkie-talkie system that proved popular.

In 2000, RadioShack was one of multiple backers of the CueCat barcode reader, a marketing failure.

Until 2004, RadioShack routinely asked for the name and address of purchasers so they could be added to mailing lists.

On December 20, 2005, RadioShack announced the sale of its newly built riverfront Fort Worth, Texas headquarters building to German-based KanAm Grund; the property was leased back to RadioShack for 20 years.

In 2008, RadioShack assigned this lease to the Tarrant County College District, remaining in 400, 000 square feet of the space as its headquarters.

In 2005, RadioShack parted with Verizon for a 10-year agreement with Cingular and renegotiated its 11-year agreement with Sprint.

In July 2011, RadioShack ended its wireless partnership with T-Mobile, replacing it with the "Verizon Wireless Store" within a store.

RadioShack sold more mobile phones than Walmart, Circuit City and Best Buy combined.

RadioShack had not made products under the Realistic name since the early 1990s.

In mid-December 2008, RadioShack opened three concept stores under the name "PointMobl" to sell wireless phones and service, netbooks, iPod and GPS navigation devices.

In November 2012, RadioShack introduced Amazon Locker parcel pick-up services at its stores, only to dump the program in September 2013.

In 1998, RadioShack called itself the single largest seller of consumer telecommunications products in the world; its stock reached its peak a year later.

The RadioShack brand remained in use in the United States, but the 21st century proved a period of long decline for the chain, which was slow to respond to key trends— such as e-commerce, the entry of competitors like Best Buy and Amazon.

In early 2004, RadioShack introduced Fix 1500, a sweeping program to "correct" inventory and profitability issues company-wide.

In 2004, RadioShack was the target of a class-action lawsuit in which more than 3, 300 current or former RadioShack managers alleged the company required them to work long hours without overtime pay.

RadioShack's left the company in August 2006, later becoming CEO and Executive Vice President of Toys "R" Us.

RadioShack implemented a plan of action to address existing and future customer service issues.

On June 10, 2014, RadioShack said that it had enough cash to last 12 months, but that lasting a year depended on sales growing.

On July 28, 2014, Mergermarket's Debtwire reported RadioShack was discussing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as an option.

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On September 11, 2014, RadioShack admitted it might have to file for bankruptcy, and would be unable to finance its operations "beyond the very near term" unless the company was sold, restructured, or received a major cash infusion.

RadioShack's stock was halted on the New York exchange for the entire day.

RadioShack's problems maintaining inventories of big-ticket items, such as Apple's iPhone 6, further cut into sales.

On January 15, 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported RadioShack had delayed rent payments to some commercial landlords and was preparing a bankruptcy filing that could come as early as February.

That same day, Bloomberg News reported RadioShack was in talks to sell half of its stores to Sprint and close the rest, which would effectively render RadioShack no longer a stand-alone retailer.

On February 5, 2015, RadioShack announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

However, after legal pressure from the Attorneys General of several states, RadioShack ultimately agreed to reimburse customers for the value of unused gift cards.

RadioShack was criticized for including the personally identifying information of 67 million of its customers as part of its assets for sale during the proceedings, despite its long-standing policy and a promise to customers that data would never be sold for any reason at any time.

Chief marketing officer Michael Tatelman emphasized that the company that emerged from the 2015 proceedings is an entirely new company, and went on to affirm that the old RadioShack did not re-emerge from bankruptcy, calling it "defunct".

On June 29, 2017, RadioShack's creditors sued Sprint, claiming that it sabotaged its co-branded locations with newly built Sprint retail stores—which were constructed near well-performing RadioShack locations as determined by confidential sales information.

In late July 2018, RadioShack partnered up with HobbyTown USA to open up around 100 RadioShack "Express" stores.

RadioShack dealerships had re-opened around 500 stores by October 2018.

Twitter account for RadioShack, which is run by chief marketing officer Abel Czupor, posted some comedic tweets, which some considered edgy and inappropriate for the retailer.

In 2001, RadioShack bought the former Ripley Arnold public housing complex in Downtown Fort Worth along the Trinity River for US$20 million.

RadioShack razed the complex and had a 900, 000 square feet corporate headquarters campus built after the City of Fort Worth approved a 30-year economic agreement to ensure that the company stayed in Fort Worth.

On March 24, 2005, a U S district court judge ruled in favour of RadioShack, requiring InterTAN stop using the brand name in products, packaging or advertising by June 30, 2005.

The previous RadioShack stores had closed in 2015 as a result of RadioShack first bankruptcy filing.

RadioShack supported United Way of America Charities to assist their Oklahoma and Texas relief efforts after the 2013 Moore tornado.

RadioShack operated wireless kiosks within 417 Sam's Club discount warehouses from 2004 to 2011.

RadioShack then attempted a joint venture with Target to deploy mobile telephone kiosks in 1, 490 Target stores by April 2011.

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RadioShack featured Armstrong in a number of television commercials and advertising campaigns.

RadioShack came under fire for having Armstrong as a spokesperson in 2011, when allegations that the cyclist had used performance-enhancing drugs surfaced.

In June 2011, a customer sued Sprint and RadioShack after finding pornography on their newly purchased cell phones.

Visits to RadioShack are a frequent plot point in the Young Sheldon series, building off allusions to childhood visits made by the character Sheldon Cooper in its parent series, The Big Bang Theory.

RadioShack appears in the second season of the Netflix series Stranger Things as the workplace of Bob Newby.