
Adafruit acquires RadioShack? - obrajesse
https://twitter.com/adafruit/status/916473322203992064
======
ianpenney
I'm not sure the title is 100% true. I think they just bought a framed stock
certificate at an auction. Likely, Kensington Capital still owns the
RadioShack brand.

Sources:

\- [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-radioshack-
kensingtoncapi...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-radioshack-
kensingtoncapital/radioshack-brand-to-survive-under-new-owner-sources-
idUSKBN1A427F)

\- [http://ubidestates.hibid.com/catalog/103245/radioshack-
aucti...](http://ubidestates.hibid.com/catalog/103245/radioshack-auction--
1/?q=framed)

~~~
wickberg
Indeed, it does look like the set she's holding is one of three that were sold
in the auction. If Adafruit has actually acquired the brand, this is certainly
an odd way to go about announcing it. I could see this having been a joke
that's now gotten misinterpreted.

But, if so, the @adafruit twitter account is definitely further confusing
things.

~~~
obrajesse
Indeed. If they hadn’t been retweeting congratualtory messages confirming the
acquisition from their official corporate Twitter account, I wouldn’t have
posted it here.

~~~
ianpenney
Namaste. I, too was pretty wide eyed and excited when I thought about the
consequences of such an acquisition.

At this point, I think we're all looking to the initial actors for some
clarification.

Later, when I saw that Adafruit's revenue is about $22M a year, and the
acquisition price was a $29M debt accrued prior, I started to doubt myself yet
again!

It's fascinating to see the intense online waves this has made. People are
truly fond of RadioShack's brand, and AdaFruit as an underdog.

Whatever the outcome, perhaps it's a good reality check for all of us in the
age of "fake news".

------
theyregreat
Daayam. That’s awesome! Hopefully they rename it RatShack and sell actual
radios and kits through what’s left of it. Also, it would be cool if there
were IoT, electronics, μctrlr interfacing kit subscriptions for academic-level
learning through practical kits on a monthly basis.

Adafruit is an awesome, modern business model (juxtaposed to the tiny margins
of components and other commodification) that pumps out tons of quality kits,
and Fried is killing it! I see tons of new product demos all the time on their
YouTube channel.[0]

0: [https://youtube.com/user/adafruit](https://youtube.com/user/adafruit)

PS: Still have my PS/2 :cueCat.

Update: if you really love electronics, more YT channels: eevblog, ave,
bigclivedotcom, mikeselectricstuff, strange parts, this does not compute,
louisrossmann (IIRC)

------
em3rgent0rdr
I have fond memories of buying my first transistors, capacitors, resistors,
and soldering gun from RadioShack and soldering my first devices (a TI-85
interface to computer serial port). RadioShack seemed to lose their way when
they started selling phone subscriptions. Adafruit is what RadioShack is
supposed to be. I'm glad they have reappropriated the name. I guess all the
real estate is gone...but it would have been cool to have those RadioShack
stores as ada fruit stores/learning centers.

I went to my local RadioShack's liquidation...bought a ton of RadioShack
branded things at discount to have for nostalgia purposes. Was also pleasantly
surprised to see a section of the DIY kits you would find at adafruit
including arduinos and RPi's.

~~~
criddell
> RadioShack seemed to lose their way when they started selling phone
> subscriptions.

What else could they do? Even with the big markups, those resistors and
transistors weren't profitable because they turned over so slowly.

------
jlgaddis
Before everybody gets too excited about brick and mortar stores opening (back)
up, think about it for a second...

If RadioShack couldn't earn enough to stay open -- selling all the various
products that they did (mostly Sprint phones and service the ladt few years,
AFAICT) -- do you really think there's gonna be enough sales of AdaFruit
products to keep retail stores open? No.

~~~
Zak
Aside from the fact that whatever Adafruit bought, it's almost certainly not
Radioshack's whole former business with 2500 locations...

Radioshack failed by giving up its original niche and trying to do what
bigger, better-funded competitors were doing, badly. Maybe there wasn't a
sufficient market for an electronic components retail store, but there
_certainly_ wasn't a sufficient market for a mini Best Buy with even worse
prices.

There might well be a market for a much smaller number of stores with stuff
for people who make things. Germany's Conrad Electronics appears to do well
with that, though their stores are larger and also include a lot of ordinary
consumer stuff.

~~~
technos
>Radioshack failed by giving up its original niche

Radioshack failed when they fired their engineers that were really good at
coming up with all the neat stuff they had at the time. So they had no
engineers then they started to be a me-too in an already filled space of
consumer electronics and cellphones.

I bet that if they would have found a way to hold on to the vision their
original engineers had, they could have been the ones to create the Raspberry
Pie at an earlier date. Or drones, or expand their part business and become
what Digikey is now. Radio Shack had wildly more resources than any of these
other projects when they started, but they scoffed at the kits and parts and
left them for the cell phone market which they coveted for an easy dime that
didn't require the engineers of old.

I'm surprised that they held on for as long as they did, all the while being
completely blind to the "makers" that were still there and growing up around
them. Until it was quite literally too late and they just became another "me-
too" there also.

------
kn0where
I don't think there exists a single remaining RadioShack store in the US. The
website appears to have everything on clearance. I think they've essentially
just bought the name, likely very cheaply since virtually nothing else exists
anymore.

~~~
zbowling
The only stores that remain open are the ones the at did well for Sprint as a
Sprint retail location. All the others closed.

~~~
theyregreat
Yup. It’s probably a licensing deal with the conservator or some such to give
a little coin back to investors/debt-holders. The remaining B&M I’ve
encountered basically just sell mobiles, junk like toys, accessories and
cables. Maybe a handful of discrete passive components, if you’re lucky.

Heck, in the valley, IRL fulfillment (willcall)/retail of electronic
components is limited: (Halted isn’t organized and sells mostly used stuff
without ESD management anywhere, Fry’s is a joke). Maybe you can will-call
some places (Jameco), but the main sources like FleaBay and DigiKey don’t
compare to IRL/right-now like Shenzhen highrise of everything bad fakes, good
fakes and authentic. If you’re prototyping and about to do small runs it’s
much easier in China because suppliers of all sizes and contract manufacturers
right there, and can turn-around PCBs in a couple of hours. America doesn’t
have anything remotely close to the density and rapid business efficiency of
Shenzhen.

~~~
colejohnson66
I once heard a rumor that if you get parts manufactured in China, they’ll keep
the schematic so they can clone it later on. Not sure how true it is, though.

~~~
jacquesm
I had that exact same thing happen to me in Europe, so it stands to reason
this is an industry wide problem, not just a Chinese problem.

~~~
an_account
There’s legal recourse when it happens in the US or Europe. Not so much in
China.

------
rdtsc
I was in Fort Worth, TX for a job interview around 2005 or so and we decided
to walk through the city and chat with one of the owners. We passed by the
RadioShack headquarters. And I said something like "They seem to be declining,
they just resell cell phones and plans mostly". And they said, "Nah, it's a
large company they'll figure something out". Well I guess they never did.
Though Adafruit buying them feels right. It's like having RS return to its
roots. Hopefully Adafruit finds some use from it and it doesn't let it drag it
down.

------
shriphani
They have a great chance to set up something like techshop for electronics. I
discovered a new serious hobby in carpentry thanks to the community there.
Imagine what this could do for electronics hobbyists.

------
taneliv
As a non-American, I'm completely unfamiliar with RadioShack, except for
having seen the name often, and often associated with some sort of strong
feelings. Why do they hold such "high" status, or stay relevant in
discussions? I could not really gather an answer to this from their Wikipedia
page; perhaps I'm just imagining the whole attitude?

(Adafruit's collection I've browsed online, and possibly even ordered
something from there; RadioShack appears not to even ship outside the US.)

~~~
abritinthebay
If you’re familiar with uk stores: Tandy Electronics, or a crappier Maplins.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
_crappier Maplins_

That's quite hard to imagine.

~~~
theyregreat
XD It wasn’t called RatShack for nothing. ;)

~~~
colejohnson66
I’ve never heard that term before. What’s its significance?

------
ocdtrekkie
I guess I didn't realize before seeing this that Adafruit was of the scale
that they could buy a major brand like Radio Shack. Although, in retrospect, I
suppose Radio Shack isn't worth much anymore.

I have so much Radio Shack branded crud around my house (and that was even
before I went on a shopping spree through like six stores undergoing
clearance), they used to be so much more than a store. I'm glad to see it
finally end up in good hands.

~~~
Hydraulix989
I can't believe it either. I always thought of Adafruit as the underdog, and
to me, it still seems like a David and Goliath story.

------
SethMurphy
Radio Shack missed the opportunity of going back to their maker roots a long
time ago, the brand is worthless and has been tarnished by an inconsistent
vision. Radio Shack give me nostalgic feelings of my grand father building the
families first color tv in the basement, not of a future makers go to store.
It’s a real shame.

------
mungoid
The title made produce a rare, audible 'whaaat?' when i read it. But looking
more, I don't believe it's as simple as they literally own all of RadioShack
now. I think it would be a terrible idea for them to do that this late in the
stage.

------
tosstossy
Funny, and I hope it was cheap and not riddled with debt baggage, because I
doubt there's much value left in a pile of ailing brick and mortar stores at
this point.

I hope for adafruit's sake this is just a joke around a framed radio shack
cert.

------
iClaudiusX
This is perfect. The only thing that made Adafruit less than ideal was the
shipping cost and delay for small purchases. If I can just hop over to a local
retail site and get what I need for my projects I will be so happy!

------
dejawu
This is crazy, this is like Porsche almost acquiring Volkswagen. If you'd told
me the other way around (RadioShack acquires Adafruit) a couple years ago I
would've believed it.

~~~
scott_karana
Porsche almost DID manage to do just that!

Fascinating stuff: [https://priceonomics.com/porsche-the-hedge-fund-that-also-
ma...](https://priceonomics.com/porsche-the-hedge-fund-that-also-made-cars/)

------
rbanffy
I can't imagine a better match. Thanks, Adafruit.

------
flyGuyOnTheSly
This is really exciting.

I just know that Adafruit will bring back at least some of the luster that
Radio Shack once held in my heart.

------
malloryerik
Amazing and super cool! I'm not even in the U.S. and I haven't yet done
anything with Arduinos, etc. apart from buying one for a kid, but this news
will put spring in my step today.

------
stereosteve
I wish they had a physical store in NYC. So sad I have to wait several days
for shipping when there warehouse is on Varick street.

Add a pickup counter... I would still pay shipping to pick up.

------
newman8r
Sounds like a perfect fit. I would be a customer for sure. Microcenter should
take a hint and reorganize their neglected hobbyist electronic section.

------
ejanus
Adafruit , here we come !

