Radio Shack
Radio Shack is a mostly-defunct U.S. retail chain which sells electronic gear to hobbyists. It was originally founded in Boston, in 1921, as a mail-order business, selling analog gear to hobbyists in radio. In later years, they created many local retail stores, and also expanded into the digital area. Many of their custom products were later sold under the Tandy brand (the name of the parent company).
With the rise of microcomputer personal computers, in the late 1970s, Radio Shack expanded into that business area, adjacent as it was to their existent areas. The TRS-80 Model I Family and Tandy 1000 Series were quite successful. They then expanded rapidly through the late 1990s, reaching over 8,000 U.S. stores by the end of that period.
As personal computers became ubiquitous, taken up by ordinary people, they began to be distributed through large retail outlets. The increased competition eventually led to corporate bankruptcies for Radio Shack, in 2015 and 2017. They have now closed their retail stores in the U.S., except for some independently owned ones; they retain an online presence, retreating to their mail-distribution roots.
See also
External links
- tandy - manuals at Bitsavers
- Radio Shack - company Web-site
