Get some RadioShack memorabilia while it's hot...

[Gilah G.]

My first credit card was Radio Shack.
My first boom box was Radio Shack.

[Arcenal813]

I'll miss being able to buy all of the components I'd need to build custom thru hole boards and making things work (awesome hobby.) Sure you can buy them online, but I preferred to see them in store, especially when needing last minute miscellaneous stuff.

[Listener2307]

I was at a managers meeting in the 70's when Charles Tandy took the stage and announced that he was "going to put computers in people's homes".

I nudged the guy next to me and whispered, "The Old Man has lost his mind! What the hell am I going to do with a computer in my home?"

And here I sit.

[s1alker]

I dug out my Rat Shack scanner a few days ago. I was surprised to see the county EMS/Fire/Police still using the same analog systems just like it was when I last tuned in nearly a decade ago. One of my fondest memories was listening to a HAM repeater that was located on top of the WTC. Used to come in relatively well even though I am 100 miles away.

[ohio_peasant]

I still have a "Micronta" analog multimeter from Radio-Shack, with red needle sweeping across a white screen, in a black plastic clamshell case. It's 30+ years old, but still going strong.

Originally Posted by M3 Mitch

There are some good online outfits, RS type electronics is going to be mainly mail order from now on, it seems.

For electrical component supplies (resistors at the like), alternatives include Mouser (http://www.mouser.com/) and Digi-Key (http://www.digikey.com), though both are aimed at institutional clients (graduate students in a university lab, needing to order widgets overnight) rather than retail hobbyists. As with the overall brick-and-mortar vs. online dichotomy, the demise of the former means loss of “feel”, of that slapdash aimless wandering from aisle to aisle… though I guess that that’s not particularly conducive to business.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by M3 Mitch

Yeah, to me, the first really bad move is when they dropped the Realistic brand and got away from radios, stereo sets, etc. Then this last bankruptcy.

I still have a fair amount of Realistic speakers, radios, etc.

Cuz that stuff doesnt sell anymore. Kids by ipods and bluetooth headphones or buds. They dont have boomboxes and component stereos any more. Not unless you are an audiophile. That mid market stuff got too cheap to profit from and eventually undesirable in todays ondemand cloud/digital world.

[headingtoDenver]

I miss the good ole days of having a Tandy 1000 in my bedroom, typing book reports and printing them on my Dot Matrix printer.

[crd08]

I worked 3 stores down from a RS and the only time I ever went in was to get their wifi password. I know I almost never saw customers in there.
The last day they were open the employees took some of the remote cars out back and had a derby with them.

[JonasW]

Listening to a pair of realistic speakers right now! Mid-70 jewels.

[uggabugga]

i'll always have fond memories of my DX-160 shortwave radio and staying up all night trying to hear exotic stations. that was a hobby that caused me to learn 10x more geography than I would have otherwise.