I remember some kind of free battery program at Radio Shack back in the 80s. I am so far over the hill that my memory is wrong?
I also recall ABC Sports commenting that in the town of Lake Placid (for the 1980 Olympics) all there was was a Radio Shack, so they would have to cart in all of their spare parts, etc.
Oh yeah, I think it was some kind of "battery club" kind of thing. They kept track of your battery purchases and you got free ones every so often? Can't quite remember. Still, carrying around a "Radio Shack Battery Club" card in your wallet must count as some kind of all time nerd badge of honor.
I also remember a brief, dumbfoundingly irritating program of gathering customer data, manually, every time you bought something. Name, street address, phone number, zip code, every time.
So you would end up standing in a line wherein every person in front of you would go through this "What? Why do you need to know that?" thing, which on top of the time it took to ask the questions in the first place made all transactions proceed very, very slowly.
That, combined with the eight foot long receipt that got churned out by a dot matrix printer, no matter how trivial the purchase, gave the proceedings a slightly surreal tinge.
Irritating, but entertaining, I thought, since only a company run by insane people would do any of this, and there just aren't that many national chains run by insane people.
I think they have managed so far on a loose coalition of wire-heads, garage bands, battery enthusiasts, and, just lately, cell phone subscribers. Maybe the odd stoner mesmerized by cheap radio control toys.
However, as they attempt to morph into an upscale electronic toy emporium, I predict they are doomed. My impression is that RS management also doesn't know how they've managed to live on and their efforts to "focus" the brand will just break it.
I fear there is just no room in this relentlessly market tested, focus grouped, PR managed business planned world for such an endearingly odd duck as the Shack.
Oh yeah, I think it was some kind of "battery club" kind of thing. They kept track of your battery purchases and you got free ones every so often? Can't quite remember. Still, carrying around a "Radio Shack Battery Club" card in your wallet must count as some kind of all time nerd badge of honor.
I humbly acccept the honor...no, on second thought, I don't think that I am worthy of it... please, find someone more deserving... oh, if you insist.
Oh yeah, I think it was some kind of "battery club" kind of thing. They kept track of your battery purchases and you got free ones every so often? Can't quite remember. Still, carrying around a "Radio Shack Battery Club" card in your wallet must count as some kind of all time nerd badge of honor.
I had one of these too! I remember I was able to get a free RS branded battery (the green 9 volt) every month. I'd collect when I was at the store messing with the TRS-80 Model III.
I also remember a brief, dumbfoundingly irritating program of gathering customer data, manually, every time you bought something. Name, street address, phone number, zip code, every time.
Ah yes, I remember that. In fact I was not allowed to make a purchase because I refused to give them my info. This was somewhere around 1986...
I think Radio Shack probably still is profitable thanks to HAM radio operators and senior citizens. For the obvious reasons, HAM guys and gals would love that store and shop there all the time. Seniors, I think, probably would rather shop there for electronics (e.g. corded phones with GIGANTIC buttons) because the stores are small, friendly, and not overly noisy like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.
I think Gilbert Gottfried did a routine in his act where he complained about having to give your address and name in order to buy batteries at radio shack. It is pretty stupid to have to give your address for anything when you are paying cash for something that is under $50. Radio Shack represents ignorance in coporate management. Let them suffer and go under for all I care.
You can buy anything at radioshack cheaper on the internet while not having to drive over 10 miles to deal with dumbf*ck employees.
It is pretty stupid to have to give your address for anything when you are paying cash for something that is under $50.
I hate that crap. Today I went to our Apple store and bought a sleeve for my PB. The questions started while I was trying to pay: what's your zipcode, is this purchase for business or personal use did anybody assist me... WTF, take my money and shutup.
I think Radio Shack probably still is profitable thanks to HAM radio operators and senior citizens. For the obvious reasons, HAM guys and gals would love that store and shop there all the time. Seniors, I think, probably would rather shop there for electronics (e.g. corded phones with GIGANTIC buttons) because the stores are small, friendly, and not overly noisy like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.
I don't see how... Most RSs I have been in are hardly elderly accessible with crap all over the floors...
I once watched an amazing altercation between a woman in a wheel chair and a Radio Shack manager.
You guessed it, crap all over the floor, blocking aisles, hell, it was hard for the able bodied to navigate the place. I can't imagine it would have passed inspection with any number of licensing bodies.
Bizarrely, the manager's contention was that the woman in the wheel chair didn't really need to get at the stuff that wasn't accessible to her and she was just trying to cause trouble, and why didn't she just get the hell out.
The woman in the wheel chair was speechless with disbelief. I actually gave her my phone number in case she needed a witness for her civil suit which I urged her to file.
I'm not a big wheel chair accessible nazi or anything, but this was ridiculous.
I'm not a big wheel chair accessible nazi or anything, but this was ridiculous.
Next time you're in ANY clothing section of ANY store, just check out how easy it'd be to navigate around there in a wheelchair. I pity disabled persons who want to shop at Walmart, Gap, Old Navy, Abercrombie, Hollister, American Eagle, Sears, etc. etc. Retailers don't care about wheelchair users.
I spent a year in a wheelchair due to an injury; it was a very educational experience that will not be quickly forgotten. To put things mildly, the world doesn't give a crap about you unless you can walk on two feet.
Navigating anywhere in a chair is a pain in the ass even in areas designed to be barrier-free, and the lack of understanding from many "able-bodied" people is unbelievable. The experience taught my how truly tough a lot of "handicapped" people really are, and how challenged many "able-bodied" people really are because of their mindsets.
when i lived in toronto, there was (well, still IS) a great place on queen street, just before spadina called active surplus. they are what radio shack used to be. man, on man, if you ever find yourself in toronto, and you are ANY sort of a gadget whore, check them out. they got new digs upstairs from their old storefront, cleaned up everything, and they have every bit, bauble, diode, wire, cable, circuit and converter you can think of. it's best if you live there, because it's anyone's guess what they get each month off "the truck."
when i lived in toronto, there was (well, still IS) a great place on queen street, just before spadina called active surplus. they are what radio shack used to be. man, on man, if you ever find yourself in toronto, and you are ANY sort of a gadget whore, check them out. they got new digs upstairs from their old storefront, cleaned up everything, and they have every bit, bauble, diode, wire, cable, circuit and converter you can think of. it's best if you live there, because it's anyone's guess what they get each month off "the truck."
sniff..... Sounds like the old "Electronics Etc." in Berkeley. Everything plus random surplus weirdness. Alas, she is no more.
In my town it's more like "You've got questions, we've got blank stares."
From a former emploee within the last 2 years, the current montra in the back rooms is something like "you've got questions, we'll answer them as long as you BUY A FUCKING CELL PHONE TO SAVE OUR HIT RATE!!"
Or "you've got questions we've got lies"
Radioshack doesnt like you as an emploee unless you are a cockbyte. I got chewed out for sugesting the $3.50 headphone splitter over the Belkin/griggen ones in the store that were like $20, the kids were using a portable DVD player in the back of a van with CHEAP headphones (we're talking 5 year olds), attenuation in a 6 inch cable wasnt a worry.
I got chewed out and nearly fired because I corrected a coworker when he has making outlandish claims about a $149 video camera. It shot MPEG4 30FPS 320x240 (it was a cheap digital camera in a camcorder body, that is what they told us at the regonal meeting!) HE told a lady that the cam was "dvd quality" and her holiday videos would look like a "Hollywood movie" because "digital makes everything cheaper"
I set the record streight, and he nearly bitchslapped me right on the spot.
The crowned jewl goes to the store manager, a gentalman was having issues with his PC burning coasters whenever he tried to make a redbook disk. The manager told him that he "cant use the data spindal CDs for music because they are a differant disk, get the music branded disks" the spindles, one of which the guy had bought the day before, were like 1/6 the price of the "music" discs
Next time you're in ANY clothing section of ANY store, just check out how easy it'd be to navigate around there in a wheelchair. I pity disabled persons who want to shop at Walmart, Gap, Old Navy, Abercrombie, Hollister, American Eagle, Sears, etc. etc. Retailers don't care about wheelchair users.
Check out macys, Cant speak for everywhere but they took over a company that has dept. stores here and all of the isals are now wide enough for a wheelchair, and the main isals can accomedate one in a crowd pretty easily too, a section f each counter is lower, and the highest rack/shelf heights are being phased out.
Comments
Originally posted by Bergermeister
I remember some kind of free battery program at Radio Shack back in the 80s. I am so far over the hill that my memory is wrong?
I also recall ABC Sports commenting that in the town of Lake Placid (for the 1980 Olympics) all there was was a Radio Shack, so they would have to cart in all of their spare parts, etc.
Oh yeah, I think it was some kind of "battery club" kind of thing. They kept track of your battery purchases and you got free ones every so often? Can't quite remember. Still, carrying around a "Radio Shack Battery Club" card in your wallet must count as some kind of all time nerd badge of honor.
So you would end up standing in a line wherein every person in front of you would go through this "What? Why do you need to know that?" thing, which on top of the time it took to ask the questions in the first place made all transactions proceed very, very slowly.
That, combined with the eight foot long receipt that got churned out by a dot matrix printer, no matter how trivial the purchase, gave the proceedings a slightly surreal tinge.
Irritating, but entertaining, I thought, since only a company run by insane people would do any of this, and there just aren't that many national chains run by insane people.
Originally posted by CosmoNut
And yet Radio Shack still lives on. How is that?
That's the central mystery.
I think they have managed so far on a loose coalition of wire-heads, garage bands, battery enthusiasts, and, just lately, cell phone subscribers. Maybe the odd stoner mesmerized by cheap radio control toys.
However, as they attempt to morph into an upscale electronic toy emporium, I predict they are doomed. My impression is that RS management also doesn't know how they've managed to live on and their efforts to "focus" the brand will just break it.
I fear there is just no room in this relentlessly market tested, focus grouped, PR managed business planned world for such an endearingly odd duck as the Shack.
Originally posted by addabox
Oh yeah, I think it was some kind of "battery club" kind of thing. They kept track of your battery purchases and you got free ones every so often? Can't quite remember. Still, carrying around a "Radio Shack Battery Club" card in your wallet must count as some kind of all time nerd badge of honor.
I humbly acccept the honor...no, on second thought, I don't think that I am worthy of it... please, find someone more deserving... oh, if you insist.
Originally posted by addabox
Oh yeah, I think it was some kind of "battery club" kind of thing. They kept track of your battery purchases and you got free ones every so often? Can't quite remember. Still, carrying around a "Radio Shack Battery Club" card in your wallet must count as some kind of all time nerd badge of honor.
I had one of these too! I remember I was able to get a free RS branded battery (the green 9 volt) every month. I'd collect when I was at the store messing with the TRS-80 Model III.
Originally posted by addabox
I also remember a brief, dumbfoundingly irritating program of gathering customer data, manually, every time you bought something. Name, street address, phone number, zip code, every time.
Ah yes, I remember that. In fact I was not allowed to make a purchase because I refused to give them my info. This was somewhere around 1986...
You can buy anything at radioshack cheaper on the internet while not having to drive over 10 miles to deal with dumbf*ck employees.
Originally posted by JohnnySmith
It is pretty stupid to have to give your address for anything when you are paying cash for something that is under $50.
I hate that crap. Today I went to our Apple store and bought a sleeve for my PB. The questions started while I was trying to pay: what's your zipcode, is this purchase for business or personal use did anybody assist me... WTF, take my money and shutup.
Originally posted by CosmoNut
I think Radio Shack probably still is profitable thanks to HAM radio operators and senior citizens. For the obvious reasons, HAM guys and gals would love that store and shop there all the time. Seniors, I think, probably would rather shop there for electronics (e.g. corded phones with GIGANTIC buttons) because the stores are small, friendly, and not overly noisy like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.
I don't see how... Most RSs I have been in are hardly elderly accessible with crap all over the floors...
You guessed it, crap all over the floor, blocking aisles, hell, it was hard for the able bodied to navigate the place. I can't imagine it would have passed inspection with any number of licensing bodies.
Bizarrely, the manager's contention was that the woman in the wheel chair didn't really need to get at the stuff that wasn't accessible to her and she was just trying to cause trouble, and why didn't she just get the hell out.
The woman in the wheel chair was speechless with disbelief. I actually gave her my phone number in case she needed a witness for her civil suit which I urged her to file.
I'm not a big wheel chair accessible nazi or anything, but this was ridiculous.
Originally posted by addabox
I'm not a big wheel chair accessible nazi or anything, but this was ridiculous.
Next time you're in ANY clothing section of ANY store, just check out how easy it'd be to navigate around there in a wheelchair. I pity disabled persons who want to shop at Walmart, Gap, Old Navy, Abercrombie, Hollister, American Eagle, Sears, etc. etc. Retailers don't care about wheelchair users.
Navigating anywhere in a chair is a pain in the ass even in areas designed to be barrier-free, and the lack of understanding from many "able-bodied" people is unbelievable. The experience taught my how truly tough a lot of "handicapped" people really are, and how challenged many "able-bodied" people really are because of their mindsets.
http://www.vexrobotics.com
A nice robotics kit with a good amount of accessories.
Pretty nice for the price.
I have one myself.
Originally posted by rok
when i lived in toronto, there was (well, still IS) a great place on queen street, just before spadina called active surplus. they are what radio shack used to be. man, on man, if you ever find yourself in toronto, and you are ANY sort of a gadget whore, check them out. they got new digs upstairs from their old storefront, cleaned up everything, and they have every bit, bauble, diode, wire, cable, circuit and converter you can think of. it's best if you live there, because it's anyone's guess what they get each month off "the truck."
sniff..... Sounds like the old "Electronics Etc." in Berkeley. Everything plus random surplus weirdness. Alas, she is no more.
Originally posted by Guartho
In my town it's more like "You've got questions, we've got blank stares."
From a former emploee within the last 2 years, the current montra in the back rooms is something like "you've got questions, we'll answer them as long as you BUY A FUCKING CELL PHONE TO SAVE OUR HIT RATE!!"
Or "you've got questions we've got lies"
Radioshack doesnt like you as an emploee unless you are a cockbyte. I got chewed out for sugesting the $3.50 headphone splitter over the Belkin/griggen ones in the store that were like $20, the kids were using a portable DVD player in the back of a van with CHEAP headphones (we're talking 5 year olds), attenuation in a 6 inch cable wasnt a worry.
I got chewed out and nearly fired because I corrected a coworker when he has making outlandish claims about a $149 video camera. It shot MPEG4 30FPS 320x240 (it was a cheap digital camera in a camcorder body, that is what they told us at the regonal meeting!) HE told a lady that the cam was "dvd quality" and her holiday videos would look like a "Hollywood movie" because "digital makes everything cheaper"
I set the record streight, and he nearly bitchslapped me right on the spot.
The crowned jewl goes to the store manager, a gentalman was having issues with his PC burning coasters whenever he tried to make a redbook disk. The manager told him that he "cant use the data spindal CDs for music because they are a differant disk, get the music branded disks" the spindles, one of which the guy had bought the day before, were like 1/6 the price of the "music" discs
Originally posted by CosmoNut
Next time you're in ANY clothing section of ANY store, just check out how easy it'd be to navigate around there in a wheelchair. I pity disabled persons who want to shop at Walmart, Gap, Old Navy, Abercrombie, Hollister, American Eagle, Sears, etc. etc. Retailers don't care about wheelchair users.
Check out macys, Cant speak for everywhere but they took over a company that has dept. stores here and all of the isals are now wide enough for a wheelchair, and the main isals can accomedate one in a crowd pretty easily too, a section f each counter is lower, and the highest rack/shelf heights are being phased out.