

A Surefire Way to Save RadioShack - BinaryAcid
http://singularityhacker.com/post/97313954530/a-surefire-way-to-save-radioshack

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Someone1234
Uhh, there are two places with 3D printers locally, aside from a demo I've
never seen them be used. I'm not even sure how I myself would utilise them as
I'd need to know first off that something I needed was available as a 3D
printer plan and then assuming that it is that it is cheaper than the mass
produced alternative (hint: it almost always isn't, 3D printing is super
expensive for simple plastic components).

Plus you're renting retail space and hiring staff but competing with companies
like i.materialise, sculpteo, and so on, who can operate out of more
inexpensive real estate and get the economies of scale, see Amazon. They also
manage to bring together both the manufacturing and helping you find the
things you wish to manufacture to begin with (which is a big problem with just
setting up a 3D printer and hoping people will use it for "something").

It is a tiny market that is difficult to leverage. Far from a "surefire"
anything, more likely to just accelerate their likely inevitable demise.

Let's not even talk about the huge limitations of 3D printing. It has come a
long way, but realistically a lot of plastic items cannot be produced via a 3D
printer because the resulting products are too fragile.

~~~
BinaryAcid
\- "I'm not even sure how I myself would utilise them" Then you're obviously
not the target demographic. \- "you're renting retail space and hiring staff"
RadioShack is already doing this. \- "inevitable demise" I'm more into
solutions and outside-the-box pivots, not inevitable demise kind of thinking.

~~~
HillRat
Unfortunately, "inevitable demise" is often more economically-rational than
"outside-the-box pivots," especially when talking about an organization the
size of RadioShack Corp. The cost to pivot some 5,000 stores into an unproven,
capital-intensive market that would require high-skill, high-cost employees
would be far beyond the company's reach, especially since RS is totally
beholden to its lenders for any kind of strategic change (they nixed plans to
shut down some 20% of their stores, for example, since the cost to get out of
those stores was higher than the lenders were willing to bear). Instead, the
most likely scenario is a fast bankruptcy followed by a faster closing of
stores -- or a total liquidation of assets, in the worst-case scenario.

I call this the "Blockbuster Paradox" \-- the idea that a corporation with a
large investment in assets, employees and contracts is often locked into an
unsustainable path by virtue of past successes. Just as Blockbuster wasn't
financially capable of disrupting its own business model, so too is RS
incapable of a major pivot like the one you describe. After all, the maker
market is a tiny fraction of the market for cellphones and personal
electronics, and the company's structure and finances are based on the higher
revenue expectations. (The company needs a _minimum_ of $800m in revenue per
quarter just to break even.) RadioShack, with only about $30m of cash on hand,
would die of asphyxiation long before it could ever become the kind of large-
scale TechShop you describe.

Having said that, I would _absolutely_ agree that RadioShack and the maker
community have great mutual potential, just not on a large scale. RS could
create a small number of flagship stores offering equipment, access and
expertise, as a rebranding of the company back into a more technically-
oriented market. (It can be argued that a central RadioShack makerspace could
provide ongoing sales and marketing support for smaller, retail-oriented
satellite locations.) But RS will need both a new strategy that can keep them
around $4b in revenue per year, and a set of new investors that are willing to
believe in them. That's a very hard row to hoe.

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tombrossman
My last visit to RadioShack was to try and purchase an overpriced plug adaptor
from a sleazy salesman. I was in a hurry and knew I was paying too much, but
it was for my parents and I was just wanting to grab one to get them sorted
out and move on.

He had some lengthy offer of 'free batteries' that he incorrectly assumed I
was willing to listen to, then refused to complete the sale when I refused to
give my telephone number. Total scumbag. This was in Florida but I had nearly
the same experience 2 years earlier at one in California.

This is representative of their culture for a while now and I know I'm not the
only one they have alienated. New 3D gadgets or not, I'm not likely to ever
set foot in the place again. If they are 'pivoting', they need to pivot that
name, too, to disassociate the new venture from the toxic sales culture that
they exhibit today.

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georgeecollins
This is cool, but super naive for all the problems already mentioned and then
some.

Warren Buffet said that some companies are already bankrupt, they just haven't
run out of money yet. Sadly, this is true of Radio Shack.

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mindcrime
I'm not sure this _would_ work, especially given the lack of funds that RS
currently holds. But I think it _could_ work, or _could have worked_. Radio
Shack did start a marked move towards re-embracing the DIY/Maker community a
while back, but it was hardly a wholesale pivot... I think it was just a case
of "too little, too late".

Still, I wish this could, and would, happen. Ordering parts online is cool and
all, but having a physical retail location nearby with a great selection of
parts, supplies, books, tools, etc., would definitely draw me in.

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mtVessel
Sure, and Borders should have pivoted from selling books that have already
been published, to becoming an outlet for people who want to self-publish. I
mean, hey, there's loads of people like that on the internet! It _must_ be a
viable business model. /s

