SPENCER.REPORT

Written by a TSR Staff Writer:
That heartfelt and soulful lament in the title of this post is for that much-beloved and formerly-ubiquitous store known and loved by all who knew it as Radio Shack. (Company Website) (Wikipedia Article). You might be thinking, “Why is there a post on this high-tech “Spencer Report” blog about an old electronics company?” Good question. The answer is that Radio Shack was known in its heyday for its emphasis on the latest high-tech products available, which invariably bore one of its own brand names, such as Radio Shack, Realistic, Micronta, Archer, Science Fair, Tandy (for PCs), and a few others. Some of its more iconic products include the “Weather Cube”, the “Flavoradio”, and the TRS-80 Computer. The “Weather Cube” was essentially a NOAA weather radio which was built into a small box with a single large button bar on the top which switched the radio on and off. The weather band tuning controls (162.400MHz to 162.550MHz) and the volume controls were located out of sight on the bottom of the radio. The “Flavoradio” was an AM-only radio when it was first introduced, but later came in an AM/FM model as well. These radios came in a variety of colors. The Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 Computer (affectionately known as the “Trash 80” by its huge and loyal fanbase) was released in 1977 and went through several upgrades and model number changes over the course of time.

Radio Shack Weather Cube

Realistic Flavoradios

TRS-80 Computer – Model 1

Back in the day, there were several publications that I always looked forward to receiving every year, the Radio Shack catalog, the Lafayette Radio Electronics catalog (similar to Radio Shack), the Heathkit catalog, the Estes Rockets catalog, and the Sears Christmas Wishbook catalog (for science-related products). So, what happened to good ol’ Radio Shack? Well, they tried to stay competitive against newcomers like Best Buy and Circuit City by becoming basically a cellphone store like the globzillion other ones on nearly every street corner. The real nail-in-the-coffin for Radio Shack was when they changed their brand name to “The Shack”, which will go down in the annals of time as the worst rebranding in the entire history of rebranding. Today, Radio Shack is trying to make a comeback by becoming an online-only retailer at RadioShack.COM. I don’t know what the results of their endeavors will be, but I certainly wish them all the best of success. Thanks for the memories, Radio Shack.