I was a big fan of RadioShack and Heathkit.

Had this for many years,very reliable.  

It was the all types of switches and kit / project boxes that I liked so much. You could walk in and get almost anything. And with the 'other' side of the house (company); Tandy leather craft, my non-modeling type craft projects were complete. Dang I miss those guys. 

Heh, not 15 minutes after I made that post I checked caller on a seperate caller ID box on an extension phone in garage. That was Radio Shack too from decades ago. Probably before caller ID was built into everyday landline phones.

Back before digital control, I built an entire 200 sf model railroad using stupid low voltage RS components.

Their consumer electronics were pretty bais.

Like John, I also did amatuer stuff with Heathkit and Dynaco kits.

Bill

GMorrison

Back before digital control, I built an entire 200 sf model railroad using stupid low voltage RS components.

Their consumer electronics were pretty bais.

 

Like John, I also did amatuer stuff with Heathkit and Dynaco kits.

A friend of mine did a color TV from Heathkit. I think it was that company because I can't recall any others that made kits like that. He said the cool part was that the instructions told him what the function was of the assemblys were that he was putting together. It wasn't just solder resister #176 into hole # 98 and 101.

 

Bill

 

Ah!

         Yeah! Radio Shack. Best supplier of simple R.C.Vehicle and Boats that could be scavenged for other projects-Cheaply! Wire for Plane and Ship detailing. Nuts and Bolts for electronics that fit H.O. and N scale trains. Must Not Forget, Heathkit products or the T.R.S.80 computer. Definitely a To-Go place for beginners and pros of electronic stuff!

I miss Radio Shack too.

That was a great store and I miss it to. Like hoo yah I miss tandy leather crafts. They had great stuff to make. I made a checkbook case about 21 years ago and still use it today. 

Yeah, I spent hours and hours there in the late '80s early '90s looking for switches, lights etc for lighting Trek spacecraft and my model railroad.

Blew to see them go, now if I want even some cheap simple electronic gizmo like a single LED it's order it over the internet and pay more for shipping often than the product costs.

I was a Radio Shack store manager for a couple of years. I don't miss it at all. Too many 80-hour weeks for too little pay. Too many "customers" buying something on a Friday, using it over the weekend, and trying to return it on Monday in damaged packaging and expecting a full refund. Too many "customers" coming in for their free battery or flashlight and never buying a thing. Too many customers ignoring the "Thank you for not smoking" signs and my being chronically ill as a result, but still expected to show up day after day after day because my district manager wouldn't hire any help or, even worse, hire totally untrained people and expecting me to train them while also trying to do my job. Stores too close competing for sales from the same population. And the inane written sales receipts while at the same time advertising the company as everybody's technology solution. The entire experience left me with a cynical opinion of business, management, humanity in general, and a vow never to work in retail again or patronize the company's stores. I say "goodbye and good riddance" to Radio Shack.

After they shut down I watched a YouTube video on the company's demise and oh gee whiz what a mismanaged mess- a disaster of Biblical proportions. 

And the comments section had lots of people that had worked for Radio Shack, they pretty much gave the same story as you Ranger. 

I enjoyed the Shack as a shopper, I am glad I never worked there... 

The three memories I have of Radio Shack are in chronoligical order:

1.  Going as a kid to the nearest store to my house with a list of electrical compenents needed to make a simple curcuit for a couple educational display for 4H, and being amazed at all the stuff crammed there.  The clerk was even able to help a novice like me out.

2.  Buying a Radio Shack brand transister radio before heading off to college.  It still works 18 years later.  

3.  Buying my first smart phone from them around 2012 from the same store I bought those electrical components from.  I was amazed how empty the store was with all that stuff now gone and cell phone paraphernalia taking over the space.   

I think that store closed down maybe 2 or 3 years later. 

Yea,  I use to get all kinds of stuff there.

Now the closest I can get is " Scientific American" mail order...

I miss it a lot.  I don't do as much electronics as I used to, but still do some, such as lighting and sound.  If I needed a component I used to run to my local radio shack, less than ten minute drive.  Now I have to mail order everything.

I miss Heathkit, and the other kit mfgs.  There are still vendors that sell boards, some the raw boards plus components, some all ready to use. But we are on our own for cabinet, power supply, input and output jacks, etc.

You know what is funny? Last night I stopped at HobbyTown and they had a whole row of Radio Shack parts. Switches, LEDs, hardware, ECT. They were all in Radio Shack packaging.

I guess I am the odd duck here because I don't miss Radio Shack one bit. I felt they were overpriced, niche, and they seldom had what I wanted. I bought from them in the 70s during the CB radio craze, and I even purchased my first TV from them. After that, with the advent of the internet and other electronics box stores, I don't know how they lasted as long as they did. 

Maybe I'd feel different if I didn't work for an electronics distributor. I got what I needed through work and for much cheaper. 

What happened to TEAM electronics.  I remember them. If radioshak didnt have what you needed they did.Seems to me there was another one but I dont remember that name.