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RadioShack
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{{Short description|American electronics store chain}} {{About|the electronics retailer|a radio communications room|Radio shack}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox company | name = RadioShack | logo = RadioShack Logo 2013.png | logo_size = | logo_caption = Logo used from 2013 to 2015 and since 2023 | image = RadioShack Exterior Modified.jpg | image_caption = The exterior of a typical free-standing RadioShack store in [[Texarkana, Texas]] (2006) | trading_name = | predecessors = | founded = {{start date and age|1921}}<br />[[Boston, Massachusetts]], US | founders = Theodore and Milton Deutschmann | defunct = | location = [[Fort Worth, Texas]], US | num_locations = Approximately 400 authorized dealers in the US{{efn|Down from a peak of 7,300 locations in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Golden Age of Radio Shack Toys |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-golden-age-of-radio-shack-toys |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=PCMAG |language=en}}</ref>}}<br>Various international locations | area_served = | industry = [[E-commerce]], retail | key_people = Alex Mehr ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])<ref>{{Cite news |title=Stay tuned: RadioShack owner optimistic about new contract |url=https://www.wiscnews.com/community/baraboonewsrepublic/stay-tuned-radioshack-owner-optimistic-about-new-contract/article_5771250f-705e-5e56-9dac-ee41bcee244b.html |last=Gittings |first=John |date=July 25, 2022 |access-date=August 5, 2022 |work=Baraboo News Republic}}</ref> | products = [[Consumer electronics]] | services = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | divisions = | subsid = | website = {{URL|https://radioshack.com}} | footnotes = | former_name = Radio Shack Corporation (1921β1962)<br/>[[Tandy Corporation]] (1962β2000)<br/>RadioShack Corporation (2000β2015)<br/>General Wireless Operations Inc. (2015β2020) | parent = General Wireless IP Holdings LLC (2015β2020)<br> Retail ECommerce Ventures (2020β2023) <br> [[Unicomer Group]] (2023βpresent) }} '''RadioShack''' (formerly written as '''Radio Shack''') is an American electronics [[retailer]] that was established in 1921 as an [[amateur radio]] mail-order business. Its parent company was purchased by [[Tandy Corporation]] in 1962, which shifted its focus from mail-order radio equipment to hobbyist electronics sold at retail. Tandy ended the mail-order business, opened small stores staffed by people who knew electronics, greatly reduced the number of items carried, and replaced name-brand products with [[private-label]] items from lower-cost manufacturers. These moves were successful and the brand grew. In the late 1970s, the company branched into personal computers, and in the 1990s, it began to focus on wireless phones and de-emphasize the hobbyist market. RadioShack reached its peak in 1999, when Tandy operated over 8,000 stores in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and under the Tandy name in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia. However, its sales strategy increasingly competed with [[big-box store]]s and dedicated wireless phone retailers, and it fell into decline. In February 2015, after years of management crises, poor worker relations, diminished revenue, and 11 consecutive quarterly losses, RadioShack was delisted from the [[New York Stock Exchange]] and subsequently filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pacermonitor.com/view/AKIMBNI/RadioShack_Corporation__debke-15-10197__0001.0.pdf |title=PacerMonitor Document View - 1:15-bk-10197 - RadioShack Corporation Bankruptcy, Docket Item 1|website=Pacermonitor.com|access-date=May 23, 2016}}</ref><ref name="WSJFeb2015" /> In May 2015, the company's assets were purchased by General Wireless, a subsidiary of [[Standard General]], for US$26.2 million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/standard-general-wins-auction-of-radioshack-brand-1431520464|title=Standard General Wins Auction of RadioShack Brand|last=Brickley|first=Peg|newspaper=[[Wall Street Journal]]|date=May 13, 2015|language=en-US|access-date=August 21, 2019}}</ref> In March 2017, General Wireless and subsidiaries also filed for bankruptcy<ref name="rsbankruptcy17">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-radioshack-bankruptcy-20170309-story.html |title=RadioShack files for bankruptcy protection for the second time in two years|date=March 9, 2017|access-date=March 9, 2017|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|via=Associated Press}}</ref> and RadioShack announced plans to shift its business primarily online.<ref name="RS_LastChance">{{cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/last-chance-for-store-closing-deals-at-your-neighborhood-radioshack-come-innovate-with-us-one-last-time-300464748.html |access-date=May 30, 2017|date=May 26, 2017|title=Last Chance For Store Closing Deals At Your Neighborhood RadioShack! Come Innovate With Us One Last Time|website=prnewswire.com}}</ref> RadioShack was acquired by Retail Ecommerce Venture<ref name="wsj2021">{{cite news |last1=Al-Muslim |first1=Aisha |title=Retail Entrepreneurs Buy Twice-Bankrupt RadioShack With Plans for Online Revival |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/retail-entrepreneurs-buy-twice-bankrupt-radioshack-with-plans-for-online-revival-11605781802 |newspaper=[[Wall Street Journal]] |date=November 19, 2020 |access-date=December 30, 2021}}</ref> and RadioShack operated primarily as an [[e-commerce]] website with a network of independently owned and [[Franchising|franchised]] RadioShack stores.<ref name="Halkias" /> In May 2023, the El Salvador-based franchisee [[Unicomer Group]] acquired control of the worldwide RadioShack business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Release |first=Press |date=2023-05-30 |title=Radioshack Global brand now acquired by the Unicomer Group |url=https://www.stvincenttimes.com/radioshack-global-brand-now-acquired-by-the-unicomer-group/ |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=St Vincent Times |language=en-US}}</ref>
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