RadioShack files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

RadioShack has finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after years of circling the drain.

The retailer started out in Boston in 1921 as a catalogue and parts shop for electronic hobbyists. Following the Second World War, the company made a name for themselves by selling low cost hi-fi and stereo equipment along side accessories under the Realistic brand. They eventually branched out to computers during the 1980s with the legendary Tandy TSR-80, one of the earliest home PCs.

During the 1990s, big box retailers and the emerging internet began to cut into their sales. At the start of the new millennium, the company was already on shaky ground. Employees accused them of mistreatment, while management scrambled to stop the bleeding. RadioShack eventually decided to hedge their bets and pool their energy into the cell phone market. Though it was ultimately smartphones that sank them. Not only did these new devices have razor thin profit margins, they made everything else The Shack sold obsolete.

The bankruptcy announcement thus comes as no surprise to anyone. Business insiders have been expecting it for years now, but the final nail came when its stock was de listed from the NYSE earlier this week.

The company plans to sell off about half their stores, while closing the remaining locations. Rumours have been going around that Amazon may be looking to purchase at least some of them, with the rest going to cellular providers.

Up in Canada, the retailer has already been gone for a decade now. When RadioShack parted ways with it’s Canadian division in 2005, the stores were sold off to Circuit City and rebranded as “The Source”. It is now owned by Bell Mobility, selling phone and TV plans alongside the store’s more traditional tat.

Source: The Consumerist

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