Radio Shack Still Exists! I Visit a Store Still in Business

[@AntennaMan]

This video is sponsored by Avantek. Check out their wireless doorbell kit at the affiliate link below: amzn.to/3m0vbwM #avantek #doorbell Thanks to general manager Ralph Hess and owner Steve Lowen. If you're a HAM their call letters are KC3KMT and N3RSH. Say hi to them! 📡 Do you have reception problems? Consider an antenna recommendation from me below! antennamanpa.com/antenna-recommendations.html

[@foureyedchick]

Hi Tyler. I truly miss Radio Shack. I STILL have 2 Cat. No 1501874 HDTV antennas! I love the UHF loop, the 2 VHF rabbit ears, and the nice 75 ohm cable. I use one with a converter box and my CRT tube TV. The other I use with a 75-->300 ohm transformer for the desktop Radio Shack AM/FM stereo tuner. The reception is great I miss being able to go to a store in Chicago to buy one. BTW, keep up the good work.

[@johnfkennedy2676]

My Fellow Americans 🇺🇸 USA, I'm so proud of This Bright Young man The Antenna Man Tyler ,. keep up the good work Tyler GOD Bless you and GOD Bless America 🇺🇸 USA

[@MSRgoogle]

Tyler, you are the man! Fantastic video and a trip down memory lane. Your channel is the best on YT!

[@HouseCallAutoRepair]

n1uzg (previous manager)

[@christopherkeller2675]

Great to see a radio shack still open I will most definitely make a trip down there is also a small radio shack in Whitney point NY

[@eminence_front6043]

I miss Radio Shack. It was always handy for picking up electronic components when I was working on a project. People don't build their own electronics like they once did.

[@dalethelander3781]

Heathkits.

[@johnpoldo8817]

@@dalethelander3781 Yes on wonderful Heathkits. I built a ham radio SSB transmitter, multimeter, auto analyzer., and more. Still have some of them.

[@supremerulah420]

Pretty much have to be a surgeon now thanks to surface mounts. I can barely hold those things let alone any type of board construction 😁

[@Tibbs_Farm]

About a decade ago, I was hanging out with a buddy who's electric pressure washer started acting up. Pulled apart the gfi plug to the pressure washer, inspected it real good. And discovered a damaged resistor. Ran to the local Radio Shack (we use to have) and got a small pack of the correct resistors. Fixed his pressure washer for something like $0.19 He was super amazed at the cost, because he was about to go out and buy a new pressure washer.

[@brentfay6515]

I spent alot of money at Radio Shack in the 70s & 80s.

[@domslivin]

We used to have a Radio Shack in the little shopping center near my house. I would walk down there every time I got money just to buy something electronic and cool. The store owner had a CB radio hooked up in the store and would talk to local CB'ers all the time on it. When I got my first CB radio, I talked to him several times a week...it was a lot of fun. Any kind of adapter or plug I ever needed was a 10 minute walk from my house, and I always felt like a little kid in a candy store every time I went. I miss that store, it was a huge part of my child hood and the reason I'm so into electronics today.

[@BenHodgeThemeParkEndeavor]

That store sure does bring back memories, thanks for the video.

[@henryseldon6077]

What a trip through memory lane. Thanks!

[@algorithminc.8850]

I miss those from the 70's/80's ... and as a kid flipping the catalog for all of the parts I'd buy from some electronics projects. Thanks for the video ...

[@JRobert111111]

I always looked forward to getting the new catalog each year and seeing the new items available.

[@kraig8812]

Yeah, I love Radio Shack. I bet Radio Shack was even more terrific back in the 70s and 80s.

[@alexkay1874]

I still flip through those catalogs and wish I have bought so many things when they were available but I didn't have the money

[@algorithminc.8850]

@@kraig8812 I think so ... they had those P-Box electronics kits, lots of parts, easy-to-use and easy-to-electronically-hack early computers, and they even had a small music synthesizer at some point.

[@Mosfet510]

I miss those days too! The people you would meet there were cool too.

[@oswaldjh]

Bought my first multimeter from Radio Shack many decades ago. From there I bought the components to build a tone generator for troubleshooting audio circuits. Radio Shack also had electronics text books that taught the basics of the craft. The learning curve was greatly flattened thanks to this company.

[@billschlafer]

Oh man. I miss Radio Shack too. Back in the 1970s (shortly after the glaciers receded) I used to visit Radio Shack stores every chance I had. Getting their catalog in the mail was like Christmas day, browsing all the cool electronic gear. I wish there was a full blown store like the one in your video within driving distance of where. The ones still around are poorly stocked and are mostly just generic wireless phone stores. I think there is a market out there for the old school Radio Shack stuff that is not being taken advantage of. There's a new generation of makers and electronic project kids out there, as well as a new wave of cord cutters exploring OTA TV that all need reliable gear. And, as you said, actually SEEING those parts in person is a much more satisfying experience than ordering junk online (if you can find it.). Thanks for this post!

[@dalethelander3781]

I lived for getting that catalog every year in the late summer-early fall.

[@danbasta3677]

@@dalethelander3781 Me to, and I loved to look at their tv antenns. Sorry, however Radio Shack is totally gone, who in the world is going to go to Philadelphia to buy things at Radio Shack? It made a bad move going in the direction that it did, and it put itself out of business.

[@absalomdraconis]

@@danbasta3677 : They're not quite dead, but most or all of the stores are affiliates instead of corporate.

[@michaelmattson3515]

@@dalethelander3781 We used to wait. Not any more. Everything is now.

[@toonman361]

As a teenager in the 1970s, I rode my bike there at least once a week. I loved the Archer kits, electronic parts and the component audio equipment. I still have a small RS cassette player which I occasionally use to make Mp3 files of analog audio.

[@josemoreno3334]

It's like seeing an old friend again. When I was in the USAF back in 1980's. I use to visit a Radio Shack near Norton AFB, CA. ( Closed in 1994 ). I was into scanning and bought four scanners mix base and handheld from them including antennas and frequency guides . Every time the AF sent me somewhere, I'll will take them with me . It was lot of fun and a great hobby. I also bought a lot of electronic things there . I was a telephone lines. They just open one in East Phoenix hear in Arizona. I going to drop by and see them soon. Oh, By the way. I still use those scanners today . I can only hear the airports and the DPS and a few first responders including Luke AFB near by... I going to buy one that I can listen into the trunk systems. Thanks for you great videos. It was like a visiting Candy store to me.

[@rblevins97321]

I miss the "able to fix it ourselves" time...they've made it nearly impossible for some things these days.

[@AlexR_44]

There are people out there trying to reverse that. Look up Right to Repair laws and see if your area has any organizations active in the fight. I too wish things were made with longevity in mind, like the good ole days.

[@Δημήτρης-θ7θ]

​@@AlexR_44 Right to Repair will give third-party shops access to the same parts, tooling and documentation the first-party shops have. Which is good. But it doesn't mean devices will become easier to repair (for example screws instead of glue or any other repairability metric), or use standardised parts, or become easily repairable by the common tools that most tinkerers have in their drawers. There are arguments to be made about not legislating for "ease of repairability", for example it could hinder waterproofing and affect gadget size and thickness for smaller forms factors (smartwatches etc), so I doubt such a law will ever be legislated.

[@GoldSrc_]

I mean, miniaturization is a double edged sword. Amazing because it gives us better, smaller and more efficient technology. Bad because it's a pain to repair, it's not impossible but you can't just do it with your average soldering iron. Nobody in their right mind would buy a smartphone made from through hole components lol.

[@reecenewton3097]

@@GoldSrc_ Devices super-miniaturized and built by robots and/or slave labor are meant to be recycled, not "fixed." I restore real radios from the 1930s!

[@stall-u-rated1986]

@@reecenewton3097 Me too!! Very rewarding when my Philco 16b cathedral first roared to life after the rebuild... Love them wood radios.. :)

[@commercialelectric696]

As a former manager of a Radio Shack (RS) in Channelview and Port Arthur, Texas, I can tell you that we were selling by 1980 Winegard antennas manufactured for RS and RCA. We started selling only anodized antennas. We also started selling only anodized poles tied down with guy wires mounted on multiple sections to reach the proper height...we sold a lot of antennas! Not to mention commision as SPIFS for amplifiers, cable (RG59 cable company standard) and splitters aside including RG58 for local low-loss and CB. Shielding was not given such importance then (only 75% shielding) including lightning surge arrestors. Grounding used to be so important, ground plains and ground sinks included...

[@dennisanderson3895]

Interesting how a private owner (franchisee?) can keep a store operating and stocked with what people want to buy when the company could not.

[@jeromewysocki8809]

I'd like to see a Radio Shack store open as a franchise, stock Radio Shack stuff, then have the owner buy up all kinds of electronics parts from other sources, and sell then at that store, too. That would fill the voids that senior management of Radio Shack overlooks. Can you imagine a Radio Shack store that would have EXERYTHING? That would be awesome!

[@iggy151]

Because the corporate locations became Cellphone Shacks. 😂

[@rupe53]

Dennis ... also consider that Radio Shack originally saturated their own market with too many stores... and there were only so many customers. Compound that with trying to sell TVs and cell phones at prices that were not competitive when compared to other discount outlets and company owned cell stores. Verizon and T-Mobile were giving phones away cheap with a service plan and all people look at is the cost of the phone. You can also fill in the blanks where "kids these days" don't buy toggle switches and relays if they can get some kind of touch pad with with software to turn on their lights. Some of it's just the different market and some of it is not having the right stuff at the right time when Amazon can send almost anything by next day carrier.

[@jeromewysocki8809]

rupe53 , I think you are correct. Radio Shack saturated the market, seemingly, to force their only remaining retail competitor, Lafayette Radio, out of business. Well, Lafayette is no more, and Radio Shack, with no competition, in just a few short years, deteriorated to basically a "me, too" cell phone store. Little wonder they themselves basically went under. There is a market for small parts, but senior management showed little, if any interest in meeting it, especially with Lafayette gone. I'm hoping for someone to pick up the ball that Radio Shack dropped. I'd do it myself, but at age 73, there is not enough sand left in my hour glass of life, nor the necessary vigorous strength left in me, to see it through to success.

[@TehDeXXX]

That’s because they buy stuff from Amazon and sell it in their store for a markup. It’s a mashup of Radio Shack branded items and filler.

[@markquintonii]

My town still has its radio shack and it's still going good.

[@transmitterguy478]

I miss Radio Shack! I have dreams of the old days every night. Going in and buying a pound of rosin core solder for $4.99. 555 timer chips individually packaged, solder iorns, stereo amps, electronic kits to build, TRS 80 computers, The girl behind the counter that didnt know anything about electronics but had big boobs, Forest Mims notebooks, electronic gagets galore, did i say the girl behind the counter had big boobs? I miss those days.

[@Michael_A_MN]

hahaha

[@billman6364]

at least we can be NON-PC on yt

[@youtoo2072]

You didn't marry her.. she Had to move away, why do You think Life Changes ??!!!! Why?, Guys Aren't Serious Enough ... China can fix thaat Nowadays Too IF YOU GUYS ALL DON'T GET SERIOUS = NOW!!

[@timcline8472]

I managed a RadioShack store near a university and told "my girls" to not worry about dress code. They wore low-cut blouses and separated those college boys from as much money as possible.

[@mattcat231]

i literally just used the last bit of 60/40 solder i bought in 1998 the other day, solder nowadays is trash!!!!

[@swedesspeedshop2518]

I took radio shack for granted growing up they had everything to build electronics from scratch

[@inny74]

Congrats! You got shouted out by SomeOrdinaryGamers! 😁

[@leviathansky7188]

I managed a small radioshack inside a true value hardware in Estes park, co. Really serves the community in a small mountain town. People come in just to check it out!

[@IamDerick]

I remember the free battery card. When I was getting my start in electronics in the 70's this was the place. My first soldering iron and tools where from RS. It does look exactly as I remember it.

[@davidtee2812]

LOVED Radio Shack...!!! ❤️

[@kathym6603]

Yesterday I was looking at the RadioShack Weather Alert Radio that I bought in their store about 10 years ago and thinking how I would totally miss that experience today if I wanted that radio. Tyler, you're good!!

[@LatitudeSky]

To be fair, my local Kroger sells Midland weather radios. There's just one choice but at least it is available. But of course, not the rest of what RS had.

[@robertbangkok]

I still have the one my dad bought back in the 1960s. Still works perfectly. And it looks cool, too!

[@josemoreno3334]

I bought a weather radio that had only three NOAA frequencies back in 1975 and runs on a 9 volt battery. It's a table top model, Small and it still works today. I live in southwest Arizona and use it a lot during monsoon season. I even took it with me when I joined the USAF in 1979.

[@markanderson350]

My First job was at a Radio Shack, I was only 16 and loved it. 1976

[@scottwozniak3988]

This was great. A real trip down memory "aisle".

[@allhailwaldo1851]

The owner of this radio shack is a ham radio operator. The local ham community comes here to buy radio and antenna parts. I like that this store is still available, in my area.

[@yahoosierindiana5164]

When I was a college kid, I couldn't afford a brand new stereo, but I bought a used one and bought plenty of speaker wire and adapters from my local Radioshack over the years. When I got older I bought a few new radios from there. Now I am looking to make a slight detour on my next vacation trip to visit one of their remaining storeros, maybe pick up another radio. Thanks for your video!

[@luisreyes1963]

Nice to see some people hold a torch for Radio Shack. Not everything has to be bought from Amazon, you know. ☎️

[@majordisappointment8692]

I spent many hours at lots of Radio Shack stores in miss them thanks glad to see there are some die hard dealers left.

[@bernlitzner2739]

Radio Shack and the old Lafayette stores. And Tech Hifi.....and Absolute Sound.....and....

[@jeromewysocki8809]

Bern Litzner , yes I remember the old Lafayette Radio stores, too. Lafayette seemed to carry some items Radio Shack did not. Then, some time in the mid to late 1980s, Radio Shack somehow seemed to drive Lafayette out of business. Now, ironically, other forces seemed to drive Radio Shack out of business.

[@vasopel]

? there are about 500 stores right now (2021) here is their map: www.radioshack.com/pages/store-locator

[@richardfeuti3743]

I miss radio shack I just loved that place 😭😭😭😭😭.

[@truesimplicity]

Took me back to my CB days in the 70's as a kid... Thanks Tyler.

[@keiththomas3141]

Yeah ... I got all my CB stuff at Radio Shack in the 1970's and 80's too.

[@dalethelander3781]

Realistic base stations were underrated.

[@kraig8812]

I like CB radios. I wonder if Sheriffs and the Police ever used CB radios.

[@aaronhiggs]

My dad had that AAA edition portable Cobra CB from Radio Shack that was all in 1. Man they dont make stuff like they used to.

[@dalethelander3781]

@@aaronhiggs Cobra made that?

[@Cthulhu1970]

Our Radio Shack shops in the UK were known as "Tandy". I really miss those shops, they were really useful.

[@brodiegamboa8092]

I miss Radio Shack, it was one of the best places to buy and find A/V electronic accessories!

[@vasopel]

? there are about 500 stores right now (2021) here is their map: www.radioshack.com/pages/store-locator

[@lindaadam4550]

My favorite radio was a short wave from Radio Shack back in the day.

[@LMacNeill]

My step-mom bought a Radio Shack franchise back in 1989. She sold it in 2005 when she retired. Unfortunately, it's no longer in business - the people she sold it to had to close it because it wasn't making enough money. I miss The Shack. Used to be a great place to go shopping.

[@RIPGLIDE]

As the son of a Ham Radio Operator/electronics egineer, Radio Shack was an essential part of my growing up. From the science project kits to finding that needed component for a repair, the trip to Radio Shack was always special to me. Another place I miss is Heathkit.

[@watershed44]

@steve moon Man I loved our local Heathkit store in Paoli PA back in the 1970s and 1980s...I always wanted a ham radio and amplifier but couldn't afford them.

[@ColdFuse96]

I kind of hope Radio Shack makes a comeback one day. There's been many instances where I'm working on some tech project that requires a specific cable, connector, or just some little thing that they only sell in bulk on Amazon, but you could easily find in single or small packs in a store like Radio Shack. Plus, even through Amazon, you still have to wait a day or two to actually get the item where with Radio Shack it would just be a matter of driving to the store and getting it right then and there.

[@Republic4ever714]

Never made sense why they went under

[@johnnycarson67]

I had the radio shack VU-190 superhigh gain tv antenna BACK in the 1980s. At night I could pick up out of state TV stations from Tennessee. I was able to get stations from Terre Haute, Indiana, Alabama , Georgia. Even Lawton, Oklahoma. I once picked up Portales, New Mexico station strong enough for a color signal for about half an hour. The farthest I've ever picked up was a station in Kapaskasing Canada. Good times

[@kennylauderdale_en]

For me, the store ended when they switched to selling cellphone service. I just wanted some capacitors.

[@W4ABN]

My first Ham transceiver was a Radio Shack 2 meter hand-held and when I joined the military 23yrs ago, I got a 2 meter mobile that I still have sitting in a box in the garage.

[@watershed44]

@Daniel - S/V Rhapsody Those units were solid !

[@lynnee.pagels8896]

This brings backs memories. I was a store manager in the Detroit area in the late 70’s -80’s and then again early 90’s total 11 stores. Still have my DX -440 shortwave radio.

[@69Dartman]

I worked at a Radio Shack my manager friend ran for a while in the early 90s. I was a stock person, he made a special position for me, but I wrote tickets and helped people when we got busy, plus the crazy store inventories every quarter or so. I used to hang out a lot at the store and trade for broken stuff to fix for helping him out so eventually he talked me into applying and working for him officially. I worked part time, usually evenings and nights. I got a LOT of decent gear from them as most of it was made by someone else and Radio Shack put their name on it. My buddy retired a few years after I left before it tanked and we're still friends though I don't see him much anymore.

[@watershed44]

@Lynee E. Pagels The DX-440 was a great portable shortwave radio. Made by Sangean as the ATS-803A

[@terrymillard9255]

I remember going to radio shack with a bag of tubes to the back of the store and checking tubes with my dad. He was a HAM and he fixxed TVs on the side. Boy dose that date me

[@brianball426]

You didn't cover the RC cars, That was my favorite part of Radio Shack, you could get really nice racing-grade stuff there, not the cheap Walmart ones

[@jfkansas5508]

Nothing has ever been "racing-grade" at Radio Shack. This comes from a long time RC Racer of almost 30 years.

[@rcyalater...2305]

This is true statement

[@bedlamite42]

Radio shack couldn't dream of comparing to Associated or Losi.

[@ysffkan2839]

Yea I remember I got a really fast rc car

[@derekowenjr3599]

Man you saying that makes me miss my dad. Walking in there with him you never knew what he might buy on any given day. The smell of the stores too !

[@rickharms1]

I remember when Radio Shack was really a shack. They simply sold components and were basically supporting Ham radio people. I am 72.

[@philipchapman250]

Between the humor, the antenna smash back "flash back" and the fun tour of the radio shack, easily a top 5 antenna man yt channel video! (Only surpassed in my opinion by antenna man's road trips to find analog stations that were still active over the past year)

[@brendanmah]

I really miss Radio Shack.Everytime I would go there I would always learn about what new gadgets they had ,the workers were ' Very" informative & if they couldn't get this product, they would tell you where you can pick this item up.Bring Radio Shack back !!!

[@Sidecutter]

Damn this is actually like an old-school Radio Shack. All the ones I knew went to phones and techy gadgets and got rid of almost all the electronics components 10-15 years ago

[@-FAFO-]

I was gonna say this too, this looks like what they used to have in the 80's-90's when i was growing up. Those newer stores didn't have nearly all of the things as the old ones did. I miss having one around

[@AJDIYNetwork]

Omg. I live up in Binghamton. I have to go visit!!!!

[@pwcorgi2000]

I really miss Radio Shack, especially the older ones. It was such a cool store.

[@BrucesWorldofStuff]

I went to my first Radio Shack when I was 10 and my mom bought me my first kit to put together. I'm now 67 and when I was 63 I walked into both stores for the last time. The both was east and west of my small town. Even though they were so pricy at the time I still bought stuff from time to time as it was easier than waiting days for a transistor to finish a project... It was nice to see a store again that was as the old one were and not one that was more about phones and did not even have speakers or stereo radios. Just some little junk radios for kids... Sad to see such a great place go by the wayside... Thanks for the video! LLAP

[@jeopardy60611]

I was a TRS-80 computer user as a kid, and that got me started as a computer programmer. I loved exploring the computer equipment at the local Radio Shack stores in Chicago. I imagine that the Radio Shack featured in the video sells CDR's. I needed some and went to a local Best Buy and they told me they no longer have them at the store because no one buys them anymore.

[@stall-u-rated1986]

LOL, i have the same CHANNEL MASTER antenna they have standing up outside in their antenna pile. Mine too is standing up alongside my home awaiting a home.. We used to have one of the RS warehouses here where i live, you could find just about ANYTHING there when you needed a part. Good friends with alot of the staff that worked there over the years.. Sadly, theyre all gone now, even the FRYS in the neighboring city is a memory as well.. Mostly done by internet these days. Miss the road trips to go get parts to work on the days project..

[@crysknife007]

We got one right up the hill where I live in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I love going to it from time to time.

[@user-lu6yg3vk9z]

For what? To see outdated tech

[@speeddemon5339]

@@user-lu6yg3vk9z to buy outdated tech! And I can just go to goodwill.

[@xboxgamer9626]

Is it still around I’m about 3 hrs away

[@erikj.2066]

Finally visited the one franchised own Radio Shack I would see in Windham Maine. That fella has more than Radio Shack items. He sells records, vintage electronics, and old school electronic components. Too bad when I went there it was right before closing time. Would have liked to look around some more. Maybe next time I’m up.

[@andrews.9286]

This video and the comments brought back some fond memories. As a young "nerd" I used to hang out at Radio Shack in the late 70s and early 80s. Even as an adult I did shop there for other electronics and other products but it wasn't the same as in the late 70s and early 80s.

[@basspig]

Radio Shack logo with the stylized circle with offset letter R is very similar to the symbol on the wristwatch worn by a alien in The Outer Limits episode "Soldier " from 1963.

[@kenf3539]

I haven't seen a Radio Shack in years, but I do live an hour away from the last Blockbuster video store.

[@seancondon5572]

I remember back in 2005 walking into a radio shack and getting my first soldering iron, some solder, and some beefy-looking capacitors to replace the ones that were bulging on my computer's power supply. more than that, though, I also got capacitors to replace the smaller ones on my motherboard that were ALSO bulging - likely as a result of being downstream of the ones on the PSU. I have fond memories of Radio Shack as a place for hobbyists.

[@reecenewton3097]

Those power supply caps, easy to diagnose (are they bulging? oozing goo?) and easy to change, are likely the biggest reason for a lot of TV's, monitors, and computers unnecessarily heading for the landfill.

[@seancondon5572]

@@reecenewton3097 yeah, but like all computers, the one I had eventually got outdated. I mean, a 300W PSU, a 32-bit single-core CPU, DDR1? yeah. It was time to put it to rest. I got the most I could out of it, and finally sent it to be recycled last year.

[@DanPellegrino486]

I worked at Radio Shack for years. This store carries a lot of things that corporate stores did not, or would have add to order manually. Even if you did, they eventually the would get recalled back so you didn't have stale inventory in the store. It's also a bit of a mess, but I guess without corporate breathing down your neck you can operate it more like a hobby store, and less like a cell phone store like the corporate ones did. We carried a lot of poor quality junk at the end of Radio Shack's life. We were especially inundated with cheap toys, junk RC cars, no name headphones, and low quality batteries. Was not a pretty sight at the end. I quit before it all came crashing down completely, but only by a few months. I took off when we stopped getting regular shipments of new products, I knew it was a lost cause. I miss it sometimes, but I think I was the only person who worked there who knew anything about electronics and not just cell phones.

[@MrSTOUT73]

I worked PT at a Radio Shack in Milwaukee in the late 70's. One thing I remember that I HATED was taking a total store, floor to ceiling, inventory every two months! Back then they had a whole wall that contained nothing but thousands of blister packs of transistors and resisters and diodes and other things for building your own electronics. The other thing I hated was having to ask every single customer for their address so they'd get the mailers and catalogs. If you turned in a sales receipt without it you actually got docked.

[@bjs2022]

Radio Shack was the 7-Eleven of its day, convenient but not low prices.

[@jaimeramirez-perez7198]

There used be a 7-Eleven where i live and used to have gas pumps there as well but now its a completely different store now

[@timothyp1937]

I thought radio shack had good stuff cheap I was 17 years old bought my first pioneer stereo system all separate components for $500 you can't find that nowadays

[@bjs2022]

@@timothyp1937 Their small components like audio cables and adapters were horribly overpriced. They still are in stores like Best Buy or big drug stores.

[@timothyp1937]

@@bjs2022 the radio shack in the North Windham Maine did not have overpriced products and it's probably the only radio shack in the state of Maine the ones in Portland Maine all closed down last time I heard they had an inside job where they were being ripped off so they closed them all down there's only a select few that is open now like the one in North Windham Maine I know the owner there I've known him since I bought my pioneer stereo system there when I was 17 years old at that point he didn't own it his father did now he inherited the business and he's continuing the radio shack

[@alakani]

@Digital Split That was then, it's now now

[@lawrencegatt4515]

We love ❤️ your wonderful page in OZ🇦🇺

[@Markimark151]

I miss the old radio shack when it was all about specialty electronics, the antennas, VHS camcorder accessories, even PCs like Tandy computers! That radio shack you want to mostly an independent store that’s franchised. Also they still make blank cassette tapes because they’re used for dictation and backup for vinyl records even Rite Aid still sells Maxell UR-60 tapes in stock!

[@youtoo2072]

Cassette tape recording is also a fast way to add an interview in a broadcast if in a radio or etc transmitting studio n u jz simply plug the recorder into mixer board n hit play.. Audio is mmmuuuuch better loud enough vs some file fn sharing how can't n not all phones have headphone jacks if did on phone's audio recording.. Tape recorders for standard sized cassettes are not much bigger than a book..u can as well connect re orders to laptops n record Skype interviews.. Says the show producer herself.. Who does so;)

[@youtoo2072]

Dictation n composers on the go that add or adjust a lot, a real lot.. Its cheap good way to start w particularly.

[@Markimark151]

@@youtoo2072 cassettes still have their niche for radio people and the audio enthusiasts where they prefer analog recordings.

[@johnsiders7819]

were is a Rite aid ? they all closed around here !

[@Markimark151]

@@johnsiders7819 Rite Aid is mostly in the northeastern states now, they’re the Radio Shack of drugstores. Their stores are more outdated than their competitors that they still sell older electronics like antennas and analog wires!

[@rem145]

There are some things to be said about physically interacting with items. Like clothes and small electronic components

[@wallychambe1587]

There is one in Cleveland Texas also, my brother said he thinks the guy bought out all their old stock.

[@kdupuis77]

I loved hanging out in RadioShack as a kid when our family would go to the mall and even spent four years working there (01-1134 and 01-1526) in high school. Fixed a lot of peoples gear with what we had on the pegs and in the drawers and saw a lot of crazy shit haha. It was a cool job though, got paid to fool around with electronics in the air conditioning and sometimes we’d sell some stuff haha.

[@fredparsons5134]

Radio Shack was the first to sell a CD player in my area in the late 70s, or possibly 1980. I paid 400 bucks for a player and they were the only place that had cds. They had about a dozen different music cds. First time playing music with no hiss or clicks during the soft sounds.

[@TR47]

CDs were introduced in 1982.

[@fredparsons5134]

@@TR47 , thanks and you're right. That would square up more with when I got one. Maybe I was thinking of that VHS I got that had a wire cable remote for 700.00 back then? A demo model at that. Lol

[@scottwiggin4810]

I used to consider Radio Shack my home away from home. Don't suppose they still sell those double bow tie indoor UHF antenna. Those solved all my UHF reception problems back in the day. Uglier than sin but worked great. I'd love to get my hands on one today because I'd bet that they would still work out

[@itscringecat]

3:01 In fairness, from a former local resident, WHTM's signal is relatively weak and their transmitter is located further northwest than the transmitters of WXBU/WHP and WITF/WPMT. I was never really able to pick up their signal when I lived in the Lancaster city area. Their main signal is simulcast on the translator of channel share partner WLYH in Red Lion, between Lancaster and York, though it's also not perfect signalwise.

[@williammay2332]

Last purchase at a local Radio Shack was the 3.5 floppy disks (in colors!). Asked at Office Deport and got a blank look about disks being floppy. Still keep some for hiding some old text files and an old will copy is still usable. I have the USB to floppy cable.

[@DFWTexan42]

One of my first jobs was at a Radio Shack. Best place for electronic hobbyists. Glad to see some independent operators are keeping a few physical stores alive.

[@emilycunningham8125]

you got a thumbs up from me for the blank audio cassette!! lol

[@toddbu-WK7L]

I loved Radio Shack for components. When they went out of business, I went to Fry’s. When Fry’s went out of business, I bought a bunch of kits from Amazon - resistors, capacitors, diodes, etc. It cost me around $80. Switches are still a bit of a problem, but not insurmountable. So yeah, I sure do miss my local RS but have learned to live without them

[@alakani]

Check out Jameco or Goldmine Electronics too, sometimes they have grab bags of switches

[@vernoncox6537]

There is a Radio Shack dealer in Dover, Tennessee as a section in an Appliance store.

[@allmyhobbiesareexpensive2676]

I feel like I should light a candle and burn some incense for the sacred Radio Shack.

[@Polygonlin]

Radio Shack was in the same Vein as "Hobby Town" for me. i loved going to Hobby Town to see all the amazing model kits. sometimes they'd have Aurora model kits from 20 YEARS AGO. if not longer. and id want to buy them, but i never did :( they were cheap too! not like they was hundreds of dollars. no idea why i never got any back then.

[@donnaten2]

I miss Radio Shack too. Considering how much we are digitalized, more Radio Shacks (or the like) would make a come back.

[@vasopel]

? there are about 500 stores right now (2021) here is their map: www.radioshack.com/pages/store-locator

[@The2010SnowDay]

I was in the Fayetteville Arkansas one the other week! We were working in the area and needed a potentiometer and knob and just happened to find it, it was amazing, we spent a good 5 minutes going through all the drawers of components. It was also the first time I've been able to get the good Hakko wire cutters and Kester leaded solder in a store!

[@johnpoldo8817]

Tyler, thanks for bringing us down memory lane. Think I started buying electronics there in the late 1950’s in Boston and Waltham, MA. Radio Shack and other electronics stores had the components to build a ham radio transmitter and install a large 3-element beam antenna on the chimney of my childhood home. We depended on Radio Shack to stock components needed to fix anything electronic. That was when tech people fixed electronic vs replacing them. I have so many fond memories of just looking at electronics at Radio Shack. Let’s not forget the free battery card.

[@joeymaterese8095]

Oh my God I'm in heaven please please tour the store in detail... dealer stores kind of fray from the main RS theme and product's

[@VincentVader]

I miss the old Radio Shacks from the 80s & 90s. That one is just like I remember them.

[@usernamemykel]

I very much enjoyed Lafayette Radio even before Radio Shack.

[@cornbread1955]

I miss radio shack and all the good stereo equipment stores like we had years ago. They say things change to get better but not in that department it did not

[@danbasta3677]

Very true. They put themselves out of business.

[@kdrapertrucker]

You are right, I can't even find a decent stereo anymore, had to buy a car head unit, power adaptor, etc.

[@DrForbin001]

RadioShack after they decided to please stock holders and not customers sold the computer business (TRS80 ) to then AST and sold pieces of their manufacturing business off which included speakers and stereo. Their "high end" stuff was made by Pioneer, ewwwww!

[@Abitibidoug]

Yes, I remember Radio Shack quite well. I live in Canada and we had many of them here. Sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s they got bought out by a chain called The Source. They were not bad, but not as good as Radio Shack. Last year they got a makeover and now are selling cell phones and some computer stuff and that's it. The last time I was actually in a Radio Shack store was in Ogdensburg, NY back in 2010. I miss these stores.

[@reecenewton3097]

"Cell phones and computer stuff" ...that's how RS bit the dust. Duh! Guess nobody learns their lesson.

[@Abitibidoug]

@@reecenewton3097 I think if they had a hybrid model of computer stuff and cell phones, as well as some of what they used to sell it would be a good business plan.

[@watershed44]

@@reecenewton3097 BINGO...

[@jayjaybar1188]

I miss Radio Shack. It is the store where you can buy hard to find antenna accessories such as attenuators, filters, band mixers, good quality boosters and so much more.

[@kenteagle2918]

RS was a geeky kids favorite store! Pbox kits, the comic books with coupons in the back for free or discounted batteries, pbox kits, flashlights, etc. Realistic, Tandy, Optimus, Archer, etc. Were all brands/models we had all but memorized. After graduating fro. Pbox kits, RS was practically the only place you could get individual components and parts. Especially on a Saturday or Sunday! Man, I miss that store in it's old school iteration.

[@scottlarson1548]

When the first two television stations in my city went digital around 2000, I went to my neighborhood Radio Shack to get my first outdoor antenna. It didn't work very well, but they had no problems with me trying and returning nearly every antenna they sold until I found the one that worked the best.

[@jchiliw]

My local Radio Shack sells lawn and garden implements and fertilizer. I remember buying an FM converter for my old Chevy truck.

[@303nitzubishi4]

Incredible timing releasing this video, I just spent the past week working in Aspen, CO and drove past a commercial building that had "Radio Shack" prominently displayed on the roadside marquee and the building itself. I couldn't believe that they would leave the sign up so many years after the business had closed. Looks like I may have incorrectly assumed that the store closed at all! I'll be working up there again in few weeks I'll definitely stop in there

[@steveclark5206]

About 10 years ago I went into the Radio Shack in Parker Colorado. I asked the kid working there if they had any contact cleaner and he told me: “No, check the grocery story next to us because they have stuff for cleaning your contacts [for your eyes]”. I couldn’t believe it and told him what it was. He said most of the young people working there were hired because they know “stuff” about the cellphones RS was selling. I knew then they were doomed and weren’t the Shack I grew up going to anymore.

[@Mrdsmith500]

I had no idea any still around. Thanks. I still have a few never-used parts in the original package with Radio Shack labeling. Sadly no more Fry's electronics either.

[@johnsiders7819]

I miss them when I was in high school I was in our ham club I also took electronics and every other industrial arts course they offered. all the projects we built from books and magazines always had a parts list that featured radio shack part numbers we could walk in buy every thing to build it including the circuit board and etching kit ! and our school covered the cost too that was great ! sadly you see very few young people that build any thing electronic or otherwise becoming a lost art working with your hands we built transmitters and amplifiers for our station even a AM transmitter and had a pirate radio station that covered the whole town ! was great fun this was in the late 60s . the mixing board turntables cassette decks and a reel to reel tape unit and microphones all from R/S !!

[@crowmigration8245]

Yass. I've been there. So much charm with the stuffed animals, it's at the back of someone's house. Stock was low but I found a really old multi room VCR system called "the rabbit". Also got some radio shack branded stuff, get it while you still can. Also that town is really cool, felt like time travel to the 80s.

[@jonfreeman9682]

Omg Radio Shack still exists?! I'm shocked. I worked there back in the 80s and thought they went bankrupt.

[@bjs2022]

What is the story about the “graveyard” of the big, old, good roof antennas outside next to the building? You should have told the manager or the owner to replace the junk one with one of those. Radio Shack was a popular source of Antennacraft roof antennas like the big, good, HBU55 UHF and high band VHF combination antenna.

[@butterbean4195]

really!! i would love to go dumpster diving back yonder.

[@aaronhiggs]

I remember in high school grabbing one outta the dumpster when I worked at a Sam Goody next to the Radio Shack. That antenna is STILL in use and my sister gets signals in tampa from all over the state!!

[@polyrhythmia]

I used to work at a place where they made parts for Antennacraft.

[@davidcohen12345]

Super! Memories. There’s a Family-Owned store on US 522 in Mt. Union, Huntingdon County, PA. Highly recommend! They are good people and the store is filled with the usual RS+toys and Arduino

[@billgreen1861]

Talk about algorithms, I was just talking about Radio Shack yesterday and "I wished they were still around" is all I said and here it is. I used to go there at least once a week literally once a week. Now I'll be making a trip to Amish PA probably once a month. I'll have to make a list of things to buy and make the trip. Thanks Antenna Man.

[@alvinmortimer7536]

I have had similar experiences but with odd things many times... Just speaking in conversations. I'm not very advanced and do not have Alexa etc.

[@billgreen1861]

@@alvinmortimer7536 I'm not technically advanced either but, it freaks me out when I'm talking about personal things 😉 and later I see advertisement for - lets say "personal and embarrassing" 😊 stuff now that freaks 🤣me out all the time.

[@virginiareeder9961]

Once a week

[@shannonnewman3091]

As A kid Radio Shack Rocked ! ( the late 70 ) I keep going tell they most of all of them went away

[@eosjoe565]

Did you get your free battery? I used to love putting together their P-Kits.

[@MarionStevensJr]

I definitely had my battery club card back in the '80s. I'd also get the flashlights whenever they'd come around. They were pretty cheaply made, but they were free, so I didn't complain.

[@lexbeltran1354]

Yes. I fondly remember having a free battery club card and receiving a free flashlight

[@Abitibidoug]

I made use of that free battery club card also. In the 1990s I used it to get NiCad rechargeables, even better.

[@circuitsandcigars1278]

I was always at Radio Shack as a kid and worked for them for three years as my fun job during Christmas then worked part time . I found out I was good at sales as I made good money as a part timer (compared to full timers) and mom was worried I’d take up a career in retail like she had done for 20+ years. The customer service skills I learned there and computer experience working for Tandy Service launched me into a meandering IT career but I always had work when I wanted it.

[@keithjones197]

Lord I wish someone would bring them back.

[@landofahhs_1]

Wow!...I'm breathless...a REAL Radio Shack. Unbelievable!

[@codybrandoncargle3129]

Ikr. 😂

[@God_of_Calamity]

I would literally run amuck in that store. This stuff is what i dream about the night before Christmas.