having worked there many years ago, I can say they make their margins off the cheap high volume stuff, like connectors and cables. You'd be surprised at how many people walk in and you ask, "would you like to buy a tv today?" They throw a watch on the table, and reply, "nah, i need you to change the battery in my watch." Or rather than buy the crimping tool, they use you to splice the cable and crimp on the RG-6 connector, costing them 99c for parts only. Sure, why not have you do it free, when they can save $25 bucks from the watch repair shop. And when someone said they are cheap with employees; unless things changed, they weren't kidding. They pay mcdonald's rates and want engineers for employees.
I'm an Amateur Radio Operator and play around with a lot of electronics. I do all my own repairs and those of my friends. I'll even troubleshoot motherboards, video cards, etc.......why throw out a motherboard when only one part is blown. RS is the source of last resort, but I'll bet I blow at least $100 a month in their store. Their inventory sucks, but they often have what I need. Plus, when you go in the store, you can find things like 4 gig memory San Disk cards for $8.99 when they're on blow out sale. Radio Shack evolved from the old Allied Radio in the 60's.....now there was a store and catalog. Allied Radio had everything a serious hobbyist could ever dream about. They stay in business because their stores make the spread of labor/inventory/costs vs. sales. Those stores make money.....not a lot, but they are marginally profitable. Jeff
I cut and pasted this from their website. Can you really believe these numbers? I guess a ham operator or two goes in there every once in a while. I dont know. However, everytime I wonder by a Radio Shack its always empty, always. Does 1 in 3 households really visit Radioshack each year? What did I miss??? RadioShack: By The Numbers $4.77 billion in annual sales in 2006 More than 150 million customers each year One of Americaâs largest retailers: approximately 6,000 locations nationwide One of every three households in America purchases RadioShack products each year 94 percent of America lives or works within 5 minutes of a RadioShack store or dealer Over 3,500 products available in-store and many more online
All of the electronic parts are usually worth about $0.02 cents marked up to $0.99 cents, but you're paying for the convenience and its well worth it in small amounts. Not sure if this is true anymore, but many radio shack items were manufactured by reputable companies. For example, their calculators used to be CASIO with a radio shack label on it and 25% lower price.
I bought a big font electronic clock from them after wasting time looking for it at CC and BestBuy. They own the misc hard to find space.
There is a RS in the strip center around the corner. I pop in once a month to get something...easier to get into and out of than Target. I don't know about other RS, but when I go into this one it is usually hopping with customers.
And last but not least, all I have to do wih RS is walk around the corner to check if they have what I need (or call) before pulling my butt into the highway for a 35 minutes drive to the closest Best Buy or Circuit City, where I would have to walk 1 block from the parking space to the front door, never finding a useful employee or having to chase one around the store, freezing to death while inside and waiting another 10 minutes in line so that a disengaged and uncommitted employee asks me if I want to purchase another 3 years warranty during the check out. You'd be surprised about the numbers of counter-culture fellows that will not shop at the Walmarts, the Walgreens or the Krogers in small town America. And yes, small town combined happened to be big numbers.