The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. (December 2024) |
Formerly | Radio Shack Corporation (1921–1962) Tandy Corporation (1962–2000) RadioShack Corporation (2000–2015) General Wireless Operations Inc. (2015–2020) |
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Industry | E-commerce, retail |
Founded | 1921 Boston, Massachusetts, US |
Founders | Theodore and Milton Deutschmann |
Headquarters | Fort Worth, Texas, US |
Number of locations | Approximately 400 authorized dealers in the US[a] Various international locations |
Key people | Alex Mehr (CEO)[2] |
Products | Consumer electronics |
Parent | General Wireless IP Holdings LLC (2015–2020) Retail ECommerce Ventures (2020–2023) Unicomer Group (2023–present) |
Website | radioshack |
RadioShack (formerly written as Radio Shack) is an American electronics retailer that was established in 1921 as an amateur radio mail-order business. Its original parent company, Radio Shack Corporation, was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, shifting its focus from radio equipment to hobbyist electronic components sold in retail stores. At its peak in 1999, Tandy operated over 8,000 RadioShack stores in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and under the Tandy name in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
The 21st century proved to be a period of gradual 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 bankruptcy.[3][4] In May 2015, the company's assets, including the RadioShack brand name and related intellectual property, were purchased by General Wireless, a subsidiary of Standard General, for US$26.2 million.[5]
In March 2017, General Wireless and subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy, claiming that a store-within-a-store partnership with Sprint was not as profitable as expected.[6] As a result, RadioShack shuttered several company-owned stores[7][8] and announced plans to shift its business primarily online.[9]
RadioShack was acquired by Retail Ecommerce Ventures, a holding company owned by Alex Mehr and self-help influencer Tai Lopez, in November 2020.[10] RadioShack operated primarily as an e-commerce website with a network of independently owned and franchised RadioShack stores, as well as a supplier of parts for HobbyTown USA.[11]
In May 2023, Unicomer Group acquired control of the worldwide RadioShack franchise.[12] Unicomer is based in El Salvador and is one of the largest franchisors of RadioShack, with stores in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. It had purchased its first RadioShack franchise (in El Salvador) in January 1998.
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