Having worked there when I was a teenager, and using the store throughout my life, it's kinda sad that it's gone, but then I found this:

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/ ... neral.html

very cool - every radio shack catalog going back to 1939!

Wait... it's gone?

I vaguely remember, as a very young kid, seeing the old vacuum tube test stands (probably around 1978ish). Then, I remember the TRS-80 Color Computer from using one in school. Radio Shack got me out of some binds with school engineering projects! Going up to 2012, I recall seeing a bunch of cool maker stuff loaded on the shelves. Radio Shack has even begun offering Raspberry Pi packages (although not for only $35 to get JUST the Raspberry Pi).

I do lots of electronics projects at home and I've always loved getting quick/typical components from Radio Shack, unless it was something that had to be ordered from Mouser or DigiKey....

I was lucky enough to be raised by a man (my dad!) who pretty much knew everything one could know about electronics and computers (he was a physicist at UNH)

So I was raised soldering photomultiplier tubes that were launched into high-altitude weather balloons that collected gamma radiation and other sundry data for the various projects my dad's outfit at the university were working on.

We often made the trek down to RS looking for various bits and pieces for whatever project we were immersed in.

Between that and my dad's knowledge of auto repair and home remodeling/home repair, I feel so incredibly lucky to have a set of skills that allows me to be able to fix or build almost anything, but more importantly, not be intimidated by something I know nothing about.

Everything can be fixed or made, you just need to figure out how to do it! And my experiences with Radio Shack were a large part of that.

Back in high school me and a friend found a circuit for a ring modulator. We built it from stuff we dug out of old radios and stuff we bought from Radio Shack. Then we had a blast wailing on our electric guitars, making robot and alien sounds.

I'm amazed that it lasted this long...

I had a TRS-80 (trash 80, we called it... even back then!). Then the Commodore 64 came out, which we thought was bad to the BONE. Fond memories of that place, a wonderland for boys who wanted to build stuff. I can even remember how it smelled.

Hasn't been the same for a long time. Guess they just went downhill and couldnt get back up.

Kev

Yeah, my parents bought me the Commodore 128 - instead of anything Tandy - and I was glad! I wonder if RS's failure with the home computer market partially started their long slide.......

Chris

Radio Shack could not help being diametrically opposed to a consumer culture characterized by "disposable" electronics. As the purchasing of short-lived electronics gave way to leasing, part of America's anti-equity shift, Radio Shack's only way of generating revenue was shilling for cell phone companies.

The shame is not that Radio Shack has fallen upon hard times: the shame is that "we" have no need for Radio Shack.

I've also spent a fair share of time in RadioShack. Word is that about half of them are shutting down and the other half are converting to Sprint stores that will sell stuff (probably remaining stock) under the RadioShack name. So maybe we still will be able to pickup that must have electrical component without ordering it online.