
Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says - swohns
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/amazon-radioshack/
======
blt
Please, please, Amazon, leave 1/16 of the shelf space for electronic
components! Pack them densely, don't offer customer support, and charge high
prices. We need brick and mortar places to buy components. It might be worth a
lot of goodwill from electronics tinkerers. Although I guess that's not a big
enough group to matter, but who knows...

~~~
seanp2k2
If you're in the Bay Area, halted.com has a store in Santa Clara that totally
blew my mind. Dozens of aisles of electronics components, including racks of
reels of surface-mount stuff. They also have stuff like used oscilloscopes,
industrial robotics controllers, etc.

~~~
CamperBob2
If you're in the Bay Area, you never needed Radio Shack to begin with. Their
market is (was) the rest of us, here in flyover territory.

~~~
VonGuard
Yeah, not everyone has access to Fry's or Weird Stuff, sadly.

~~~
wl
And even Frys has been getting worse and worse. Fortunately, Jameco is still
local, even if it is a bit of a drive.

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Spooky23
Sounds fishy to me.

Radio Shack tends to have old leases in 2nd tier shopping centers. Why would
they buy a marginal retailer with poor footprint, when you could just lease
stores yourself?

There was a time when getting space in malls and strip shopping centers was
tough. This isn't one of those times.

~~~
eof
old leases = below market rate? they are already well distributed for ten
zillion amazon lockers?

it doesn't seem so far fetched to me; amazon being able to pick up a bunch of
cheap space in fell swoop.

~~~
libria
Having used Amazon Lockers a lot, I don't really get it. If you don't want a
package sitting on your doorstep all day, have it delivered to work. And
Lockers has a maximum size limit that I hit every so often that negated that
option. Having it show up at my desk is a lot more convenient.

Now if I could return packages through Lockers, then I'd be game.

~~~
hdctambien
So, just have the UPS guy come to McDonalds to deliver your package while
you're working?

Not everyone works in an office...

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vhost-
I wonder if this is their in for B&M stores. I can also see this as part of
their plan to start shipping items before you even buy them. I click checkout
and it tells me to just go pick up the item from Radio Shack on 6th and
Weidler.

~~~
chiph
With their analytics, they could probably make a good guess as to what people
living in a 5-mile radius of the store are likely to purchase.

Which could make for some interesting juxtapositions on the shelves. Kitty
litter next to Blu-ray movies, etc. But if it sells, it sells.

~~~
xur17
I could also see it acting as a showroom for certain products that people want
to be able to look at, handle, etc.

~~~
VLM
Locally malls have transitioned from "sells everything" in the 80s to about
95% womens clothing, the food court, and that radio shack that just wont die.
Being in the mall MIGHT be useful if amazon wants to expand its sales of
womens clothes.

I am not, as far as I know, a woman, but I could find it incredibly useful to
go "somewhere" and get 3-D scanned / measured and then have a giant clustered
database translate my exact physical measurements into this mfgrs idea of a
"M" vs this mfgrs idea of a "L" or whatever. Not to mention shoes, where I'm
about a 10.75 so 50/50 odds if a 11 fits me better than a 10.5, and some kind
of "big data" might help. Money saved in return shipping alone might make it
financially worthwhile for amazon to run a "scanning booth" store.

~~~
jdhawk
There was a German company that tried this using a webcam and a Compact Disc
(for size reference).

[http://site.upcload.com/](http://site.upcload.com/)

I still think the best solution is to measure the normal tailors measurements
with a tape, upload them, and then have manufacturers upload the exact
measurements of their clothing in corresponding areas.

Crowdsourcing would allow people to mention wash shrinkage, and tolerance
delta's for items.

Be cool to say I'm X size, and this is my favorite shirt. Show me more that
are of similar measurements.

brb, going to start coding.

~~~
ahlatimer
Some companies are already doing that. True Fit is the one I've seen when
shopping for an Arc'teryx jacket. I think I've seen it elsewhere, but I
couldn't tell you where.

It wasn't particularly accurate, in my experience. It told me to get a medium
when a small actually fit better, but it also didn't have my favorite shirt in
its database, so I had to go with something that had a decent but worse fit as
a comparison.

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DigitalSea
This could be very interesting if it proves to be true. Seeing Amazon purchase
Radioshack and then miraculously return it to its former glory and exclusively
sell electronic components, hobbyist kits and stop selling things like TV and
phones would be a move that I would wholeheartedly support as would my inner 7
year old self who has fond memories of going to Radioshack with my dad and
buying a bag of LED's and various electronic components to build things.

As a bonus they could use it to locally store popular items, use the stores as
pick-up and drop-off zones (as the site suggests) and have a few computers
consumers can come in and use to order directly off of Amazon. I would hate to
see Radioshack die, it kind of makes me sad to think the brand could just
vanish.

~~~
kumarm
[exclusively sell electronic components, hobbyist kits and stop selling things
like TV and phones ]

So sell low margin products and leave out high margin products? How do you
expect that to work for a business?

~~~
cryptoz
TVs and phones are very low-margin products. Batteries are high margin
products. I think the RadioShack cost for a 2-pack of AA batteries is about
5-20 cents, and they charge like 5 dollars, right? A TV or phone costing $500
to RS probably sells for $502. At least, that's how The Source works in Canada
(former RadioShack).

Telecom contracts, however, are high-margin, and they'll have to continue
increase their mobile contracts significantly if they want to stay in
business.

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VLM
Pump n dump. There's a story on bloomberg that radioshack had been a target
for months of leveraged buyout rumors in pump n dump schemes and now, finally,
"woosh sound of relaxation" thats all over. LOL little optimistic, not done
beating this dead horse yet.

~~~
sushid
Except for the small fact that the NYSE suspended trading on stock RSH
yesterday?

~~~
dragonwriter
Pump and dump doesn't require that the stock be traded on an exchange -- the
idea is to manipulate perception and, thereby, demand to improve the price you
can sell at, which applies no matter what mechanism you are using to sell.

~~~
sushid
Right, I'm aware of 1) what pump and dump is and 2) the fact that unlisted
stocks can still be traded. But the reason the NYSE suspended trading is to
prevent pump and dump amidst talks of a buyout with Sprint, Amazon, etc. It's
much harder to do so with unlisted stocks...

~~~
jessaustin
You seem to be conceding the point? Or is the NYSE just wrong?

~~~
dragonwriter
The NYSE didn't suspend trading to limit the risk of pump and dump directly --
though that's probably among the reasons for their general policies on
delisting. The NYSE suspended trading because RadioShack stated that it did
not intend to present a business plan identifying how it would return to
compliance with NYSE's minimum $50 million market cap requirement for listing.
As is policy when that occurs, NYSE suspend trading and began the process for
delisting the stock.

------
MilnerRoute
It'd be easier for Amazon to sell Amazon smartphones if their customers could
first actually hold one in their hands at the local mall.

~~~
criley2
Eh I doubt that the issue is brick and mortar representation.

The worlds best selling smartphone family, Android, has next to no dedicated
stores outside of a handful of Samsung and Sony experiences.

It seems to me that the trick to getting more sales at network stores like
AT&T is simply paying off AT&T to get it's representatives to push your
product. Many buyers go in and ask for recommendations or allow network staff
to drive them towards a product. In my experience, the rep will usually push
people towards a Samsung flagship. When I visited my local official AT&T last
summer, they were pushing A LOT of Samsung gear and didn't have much of
anything to say about the latest LG G3 or HTC M8 refresh. They pushed the
Samsung Gear watch but didn't have much to say about any other brand.

Amazon would probably boost the sales of their devices much more strongly with
some kind of sweetheart promotional deal with a network than they would trying
to operate non-network smartphone stores. Who's going to go to an Amazon store
to buy an Amazon phone? You go to your network store to look around at what's
available.

I could see the smartphones-in-store approach working if they get customers
flying through the doors for other reasons (same day pick up, Amazon lockers,
Prime-ready electronics show room, etc), and kept them in store long enough to
look at phones.

~~~
Touche
> The worlds best selling smartphone family, Android, has next to no dedicated
> stores outside of a handful of Samsung and Sony experiences.

Every wireless store is a 90% dedicated Android store.

~~~
criley2
More like 80% Samsung 10% everything else.

Because Samsung pays for it.

------
bastian
I'm pretty sure that Amazon will use the best positioned stores as forward
stocking locations. They experimented with a similar concept at WebVan i
believe. I also think they now realize that what Postmates and Instacart are
doing today (using the city as a warehouse) is actually working and can be
attractive to customers.

~~~
baddox
My initial impression is that Radio Shack stores are too small to be used
primarily for stocking.

~~~
AdamTReineke
They're small but if you took Amazon's warehouse layout and Kiva robots, you'd
get an incredible storage density. Coupled with lockers, pre-stocked with
Amazon's top products, and staffed by one or two people, you'd have a pretty
good system.

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CyberDildonics
They should treat the stores as a cache for whatever people in the area order.
If someone orders something, send two and put one in the store. That should
make things interesting.

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sosuke
Oh no I sure hope not, the tax will be back and that is enough to move me to
other sites in several cases.

Edit: To clarify, no sales tax was one of the first things Amazon and other
online retailers had on their side. They could sell things cheaper, even by a
little, and the rest would be made up by not having to pay sales tax. If they
have a presence in a state though they have to collect sales tax. If you buy a
lot from Amazon it is kind of like taking a 8.5% pay cut in buying power. If
you remember back in 1997-8 there were several bills popping up around it. My
Google-fu is failing me, but this is a real issue. Amazon even discontinued
the associates programs in some states to avoid taxes.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_tax](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_tax)

~~~
jabagawee
IIRC, aren't you supposed to calculate your owed taxes for your state and then
pay when you filed? Of course not many people do this, and the IRS (or state
equivalent) has no hope of enforcing this.

~~~
scintill76
In some states, "use tax" is due on goods or services bought out of the state
and used in the state. I don't know how widespread it is, but I don't think
there's a blanket law that applies over all the US.

------
e0m
I like the idea that one of the shipping options could be:

"2 day shipping (free with Prime)"

"1 day shipping $3.99"

"Get off your butt and go get it yourself (closest 2 miles)"

~~~
nacs
Also by Amazon:

* Delivery by bicycle

* Drone-based delivery

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chrisgd
Says RadioShack equity holders

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BendertheRobot
This would mean sales tax in all 50 states for amazon purchases.

~~~
aaronbrethorst
They currently collect sales tax in 24 states[1,2], and I'm guessing the
writing is on the wall in the other 26. I don't know if there's any truth to
this Radio Shack rumor, but I'd expect that avoiding tax nexus status probably
isn't as big a deal for them as it used to be, because they're going to be
forced to do soon, one way or another.

[1] [http://ilsr.org/rule/states-amazon-sales-tax-
map/](http://ilsr.org/rule/states-amazon-sales-tax-map/)

[2] [http://blog.taxjar.com/michigan-sales-tax-nexus-
law/](http://blog.taxjar.com/michigan-sales-tax-nexus-law/)

------
tn13
This is a good example of why we should let failed companies fail and let good
companies then salvage the good assets.

Imagine US government had taken over RadioShack to "protect the jobs" using
taxpayers money and spent billions for a so called turnaround.

~~~
650REDHAIR
RadioShack is not comparable to Detroit.

~~~
jessaustin
Yeah unionized auto workers are far more valuable to politicians than part-
time $9/hr people.

~~~
derefr
The entire voting population of a city [not] losing their jobs all at the same
time is more valuable to a politician than a lot of things, really.

------
7952
Amazon sells so many different things that it is difficult to find products
within a particular niche. When you look for educational toys on Amazon you
will not presented with electronic kits (for example) because mostly that is
not what a generic customer wants. Even if you go looking for a particular
niche it can be very tricky.

There are lots of sites that sell the same products Amazon do but target a
particular niche. A brand like RadioShack could use the Amazon backend and
only expose a particular type of product that fits within the traditional
RadioShack ethos.

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Shivetya
Would this be a precursor to their delivering items themselves? I wonder if it
would allow them to effectively have mini warehouses which are just behind a
convenient store front. Something like Amazon Basics, simple items Amazon
users buy all the time just now in your neighborhood shopping center.

Hell they could do shipping and receiving like UPS stores if they want. The
possibilities are endless.

~~~
ihnorton
I'm pretty sure they already do this in major metro areas. Many of my Amazon-
as-vendor purchases are delivered by "A1 Courier". Often at unexpected hours
too.

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julianpye
Scott Galloway talked about this at last week's DLD. You can hear his points
and arguments at 6:50 -very insightful video on why Amazon has reached a point
where they must make a brick and mortar acquisition
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCvwCcEP74Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCvwCcEP74Q)

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fubarred
Bezos could refocus on DIY, hobbyists and maker culture... classes (or
sponsorship thereof) would be a good direction to get the cash register
filling. It's hard to compete with online, open-source, but there are some
things people would pay for (and want) in-person.

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pasbesoin
So, AmAShack or Radiozon?

I'm not sure I see the logic/advantage of taking over existing RadioShack
locations as opposed to just making real estate decisions based upon Amazon's
own requirements.

A select subset of their stores might be quite select (and limited in number).

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raycloyd
Perhaps Amazon Local could expand and extend as a storefront hub that connects
with the city's businesses. Or maybe I just wish I could get local goods in
Amazon's purchase model

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Animats
This makes little sense for Amazon. They have a huge product line. What items
would they put in a retail outlet? Unless it's a desperate attempt to push
their phone/tablet line.

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harmonicon
I have always wanted Amazon to have a store so I can play with their kindle
products before pulling the trigger. Hopefully this deal can make that happen.

~~~
CPLX
Are you aware you can do exactly that at Best Buy?

~~~
harmonicon
No actually I don't. Haven't been to one in years. Thanks for the tip.

------
bhartzer
Would make sense for Amazon to do this, they could stock a limited inventory
and expand their quick-delivery option for a limited set of products.

~~~
potatolicious
Not to mention make an impressive and accessible demo-space for their
increasing stake in devices and media (try Amazon Prime Video! try Kindle
Fire!).

It'd be a hell of a lot better than the neglected "demo" devices glued to a
display in Best Buy they have right now.

------
fnordfnordfnord
The Sears & Roebuck dealer store (Smaller Sears stores in typically in rural
locations) remade as an Amazon Prime depot/storefront?

~~~
dredmorbius
Pretty much exactly this.

It's where the developing war between Amazon and Google starts to get
interesting. Google's approach has been to work with _existing_ brick-and-
mortar stores via Google Shopping Express, which I suspect means tying into
their ordering and inventory systems. That's also more-or-less an attack on
IBM (which does a lot of SMB work as well).

Google gets storefronts, merchandise, direct retail, and business knowledge,
while Amazon's got to build that, but has a single unified shopping and
logistics system.

I'm not sure which is going to win, though I'm betting somewhat on Google.

------
mhuffman
I would like to see Amazon Direct-to-Store pickup locations at all existing
radioshacks. Do you hear me Amazon!

------
mitchell_h
Bloomberg is reporting that "THE SHACK!" is in talks to close half its stores
and sell the rest to Sprint.

[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-02/radioshack...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-02/radioshack-
is-said-to-discuss-liquidation-as-part-of-sprint-deal)

~~~
dredmorbius
Quite possibly courting multiple suitors. Though if Sprint's the best
counteroffer they've got, Amazon's going to walk all over this.

------
johansch
Perhaps Amazon is looking to use these locations as pickup-up-places for
shipped packages?

~~~
tomsthumb
isn't that covered by the delivery lockers?

~~~
johansch
Are those really widely distributed across the US? Perhaps they are looking
for more locations to install these.

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analog31
So does a retail presence in every state mean that Amazon will pay sales tax?

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schnevets
I'm sure Amazon is eying every struggling retailer the exact same way.

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sidcool
I would be much more excited if Google bought it. Google lacks a physical
presence that Apple has, and they need it.

------
genopharmix
This is a brilliant PR move.

