| RadioShack Corporation | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | NYSE: RSH |
| Founded | 1921 |
| Headquarters | Fort Worth, Texas, USA |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Electronics |
| Revenue | $2. The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventeenth-largest city in the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need Electronics refers to the flow of charge (moving Electrons through Nonmetal conductors (mainly Semiconductors, whereas electrical In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services 24b (2006) |
| Employees | 37500+ |
| Website | www.RadioShack.com |
RadioShack Corporation (formerly Tandy Corporation) (NYSE: RSH) is a chain of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of North America, Europe, Central America, South America and Africa. Tandy Corporation was a family-owned Leather goods company based in Fort Worth Texas, which is best known for purchasing and giving its name to the Fort Worth The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the As of 2003, it has more than 6,000 stores in the USA and reported net sales and operating revenues of $2. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. 24 billion. RadioShack briefly reopened stores in Canada after losing its former subsidiary InterTAN (independent since 1986) to a purchase by Circuit City in 2004. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page InterTAN is a Canadian consumer electronics retailer that operates stores under the banners " The Source by Circuit City " and a single "THS Studio" location Circuit City ( is an American dealer and retailer in brand-name consumer electronics personal computers and entertainment software However, in December 2006, RadioShack Canada announced it would be closing its nine corporate stores to focus on strengthening its core business in the US. The head office of RadioShack is located in Fort Worth, Texas. Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventeenth-largest city in the United States.
RadioShack's current proprietary brands include Presidian (audio and video equipment), Accurian (audio equipment and video equipment), Optimus (formerly PA/DJ equipment, now digital imaging products), Gigaware (personal computer accessories), VoiceStar (wireless phone accessories, including leather cases, holsters and hands-free headsets), MyMusix (MP3 players), Kronus (tools), Enercell (batteries and power accessories), Mio (GPS) and recently Envision (HDTV's). Store brands ( house brands in the United States own brands in the UK, and home brands in Australia) are Brands which are Enercell is a battery brand sold exclusively by RadioShack at retail stores and online Discontinued brands include Realistic (sound equipment), Micronta ("scientific" and educational equipment) and Archer (wiring and antennas). RadioShack is also famous for sponsoring the Samsung/RadioShack 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The Samsung 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas USA The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing ( NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of Stock cars in the United States. Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U
Contents |
History
The first 40 years
The company was started as Radio Shack in 1921 in Boston, Massachusetts, by two brothers, Theodore and Milton Deutschmann, who wanted to provide equipment for the cutting-edge field of amateur, or ham, radio. Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a Hobby and a service in which participants called "hams" use various types of Radio communications Theodore and Milton Deutschmann opened a one-store retail and mail-order operation in the heart of downtown Boston on Brattle Street, near the site of the Boston Massacre. This article is about the 1770 incident The Boston Massacre is also used colloquially to describe portions of a Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. They chose the name "Radio Shack," which was a term for the small, wooden structure that housed a ship's radio equipment. The Deutschmanns thought the name was appropriate for a store that would supply the needs of radio officers aboard ships, as well as "ham" radio operators.
The company issued its first catalog in the early 1940s and then entered the high-fidelity music market. High fidelity or hi-fi reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts ( Audiophiles to refer to high-quality reproduction In 1954, Radio Shack began selling its own private-label products under the brand name Realist, but was subsequently sued and consequently changed the brand name to Realistic. After expanding to nine stores plus an extensive mail-order business, the company fell on hard times in the 1960s. Radio Shack was essentially bankrupt, but Charles Tandy saw the potential of Radio Shack and retail consumer electronics and bought the company for $300,000. [1]
Tandy Corporation
In 1963, Radio Shack was purchased by the Tandy Corporation, which was originally a leather goods corporation, and renamed Tandy Radio Shack & leather. Leather is a material created through the Tanning of hides and Skins of Animals primarily Cattlehide The Tanning process Tandy eventually divested itself of its non-electronic product lines.
Tandy (through InterTAN) also operated a chain similar to RadioShack in the UK under the "Tandy" name from the 1970s until the late 1990s. InterTAN is a Canadian consumer electronics retailer that operates stores under the banners " The Source by Circuit City " and a single "THS Studio" location The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The stores were sold to Carphone Warehouse in 1999, and over the next few years were converted to that format, or sold off. The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC ( known as The Carphone Warehouse, claim to be Europe 's largest independent Mobile phone retailer with over 1700
Tandy entered the Australian market in 1973. In 2001 Woolworths Limited acquired the Australian operations and merged them with their Dick Smith Electronics business. Dick Smith Electronics is an Australasian Electronics retailer founded in 1968 by Dick Smith.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Radio Shack marketed its free battery card; a wallet-sized cardboard card, free, which entitled the bearer to free batteries when presented at one of their stores. The bearer was limited to one a month, although many customers would frequent several stores with several cards every month. These cards also served as generic business cards for the salespeople in the 1980s; the "battery club" card was still used until the company-wide changes in the early 1990s.
In 1978, three years after the famous MITS Altair, Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80, one of the first mass-produced personal computers that became a big hit. The MITS Altair 8800 was a Microcomputer design from 1975 based on the Intel 8080 CPU and sold as a mail-order kit through advertisements in TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation 's desktop Microcomputer model line sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated This was followed by the TRS-80 Color Computer designed to attach to a television for use as a monitor. The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer (also called Tandy Color Computer, or CoCo) was a Home computer launched in 1980 In the late 1980s, Radio Shack made the transition from its proprietary 8-bit computers to its proprietary IBM-PC-compatible Tandy computers; however, shrinking margins and a lack of economies of scale led Radio Shack to exit the computer-manufacturing market by the mid-1990s.
Radio Shack had another big hit with products designed to take advantage of the Family Radio Service, a short-range walkie-talkie system. The Family Radio Service (FRS is an improved Walkie talkie radio system authorized in the United States since 1996 Since the mid-1990s, the company has attempted to move into the consumer small components markets, focusing on marketing wireless phones.
In 1993, Len Roberts became president of Radio Shack. The move came as a radical career departure for Roberts, who spent more than 20 years in the food industry, beginning with Ralston-Purina, where he served in various management and marketing positions.
In early summer 1995, it was elected that the name "Radio Shack" would be spelled in CamelCase as "RadioShack", and a new logo would be launched. CamelCase (also spelled " camel case " and sometimes known as medial capitals) is the practice of writing compound words or phrases in which the
RadioShack Corporation
In May 2000, the company dropped the Tandy name altogether, instead opting for RadioShack contracted into one CamelCase word. CamelCase (also spelled " camel case " and sometimes known as medial capitals) is the practice of writing compound words or phrases in which the The logo had been changed from the '70s-style bullethole lettering to the current stylized R in 1995.
Also in 2000, the company-owned Realistic and Optimus brands were discontinued when the company entered into an agreement to carry RCA products, although RadioShack hasn't made products under the Realistic name since the early 1990s. RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986 The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 When the RCA contract ended in 2004, RadioShack added its own Presidian and Accurian brands, and then re-introduced the Optimus brand in 2005 on some low-end products. RadioShack still has its own brand of batteries, called Enercell.
A few RadioShack stores still carry products dating as far back as the 1980s. Older RadioShack products feature the old logo, or an older Realistic or Archer brand name. It is not uncommon to see a few generations of packaging variations on slower moving products.
Until 2002, RadioShack routinely asked for the names and addresses of customers who made purchases so they could be added to the mailing list. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Personal information is still requested when purchasing a cellular phone, service plan, mail order part, Direc2U item (which is a fee-free special ordering of a product not in stock), returning an item, paying with a check, or opening a RadioShack Answers Plus credit card. The Seinfeld television program satirized this practice in one episode. Seinfeld is an American Situation comedy, or sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5 1989 to May 14 1998 lasting nine seasons As of February 2007, the company has again begun to request customer information on nearly all purchases, though the practice is not quite as strictly required of associates.
On December 20, 2005, RadioShack announced the sale of its newly built riverfront Ft. Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Worth headquarters building to German-based KanAm Grund. RadioShack will continue to lease the property for 20 years.
Charles Tandy also inspired the Tandy Kids, a duo of teen calculator enthusiasts who teamed up with the likes of Archie and Superman.
"Fix 1500" initiative
In a controversial and wide sweeping move, RadioShack in early 2004 introduced a program to "correct" inventory and profitability issues company wide called Fix 1500. District managers and administrators assessed the skill level of all store managers (5,000+ at the time) and put the 1,500 lowest-graded managers on notice. The strategy was revolutionary because employees were not included in the program because of parameters based on tangible store and personnel data. Instead, managers were selected by assessed skill deficiencies obtained in subjective one-on-one interviews between district and store management. What created more controversy was that the metrics of the skill deficiencies were graded in comparison to all other store managers, with a pre-determined number (1,500) of selections. Simply put, store managers were not selected for Fix 1500 based upon their own skill level, but in comparison to how the other 70% of store managers company wide were subjectively graded. [1]
Typically, a 90-day period would be established for the manager to improve his/her "grades" (thus causing another manager to then be selected for Fix 1500). As a result, a total of 1,734 store managers were reassigned as sales associates, or terminated, in a 6-month period. Also, during this period of time, RadioShack canceled the employee stock purchase plan. Although the stock price began to surge, by the first quarter of 2005, the metrics of skill assessment used during Fix 1500 had already been discarded, and the corporate officer who created the program had resigned.
By May 2005, RadioShack (RSH) stock fell over 30%, and the company offered to buy back shares from former employees and managers at a comparatively much lower price than the original purchase. This predictably decreased earnings per share (EPS), but improved overall volume at that time. Stock options for district and regional management however were never revoked.
CEO résumé scandal
On February 20, 2006, the company announced that its CEO, David Edmondson, had resigned over questions raised about his résumé. Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. David J Edmondson (born 1960 is an American Businessman who was the Chief executive officer and President The Fort Worth Star-Telegram discovered that he had not earned degrees in theology and psychology from Heartland Baptist Bible College as claimed on his résumé. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major US daily Newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area Heartland Baptist Bible College is an unaccredited Independent Fundamental Baptist Bible college in Oklahoma City Oklahoma, which offers [2] RadioShack's board of directors stood up for Edmondson, but Edmondson admitted to the errors, calling them "misstatements", and resigned. [3]
In wake of Edmondson's absence Claire Babrowski acted as CEO, chief operating officer and president for RadioShack. She had just joined several months prior, after spending 31 years employed with McDonald's Corporation, most recently as a vice president and Chief Restaurant Operations Officer. In August 2006, Claire Babrowski left RadioShack, later to become COO and Executive Vice President of Toys "R" Us. Toys "R" Us ( currently typeset as Toys Я Us in the logo and before as Toys "Я" Us) is a Toy store chain based
RadioShack had also admitted that 2005 fourth-quarter earnings had fallen 62 percent after a switch in wireless providers led to an inventory write-down. The news sent the company's shares to an almost three-year low.
On July 7, 2006, RadioShack's board of directors announced it had chosen Julian Day, 54, to serve as chairman and chief executive officer of the company. Day has successfully served in senior leadership positions at several large publicly traded retailing companies in the U. S. and had played a key role in revitalizing such companies as Safeway, Sears and Kmart.
New strategy
RadioShack in the spring of 2006 announced a strategy to increase average unit volume, lower overhead costs, and grow profitable square footage. Many prior efforts involving supply chain management, store management liquidation, and excessive store display renovations had failed. Since the plan’s announcement in February, the company has closed 480 underperforming stores, consolidated its distribution centers, embarked on a cost restructuring program, and liquidated end-of-life merchandise to make room for a new product assortment.
Corporate layoffs
Despite these actions, stock prices plummeted within what was otherwise a booming market. On August 10, 2006, RadioShack announced plans to reduce its workforce at company headquarters by approximately 400 to 450 positions across its various support functions. Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Company officials said this action was necessary to reduce the company’s overhead expense and improve its long-term competitive position in the marketplace while supporting a smaller number of stores.
Most of RadioShack’s planned reductions occurred on August 28 at its headquarters operation in Fort Worth, Texas. Events 475 - The Roman General Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his Capital Approximately 1 out of 5 positions were eliminated, and it affected employees at all levels of the company.
All employees at the corporate headquarters were informed of the impending cut 10 days in advance. As previously communicated to employees, an e-mail notification was sent on the published day and time to employees whose positions were terminated. They were given 30 minutes to finish packing up, say their goodbyes to co-workers and then attend a meeting with their senior supervisors. Afterward, a larger meeting with human resources allowed departing employees to obtain their benefits packages and ask questions. This move drew immediate widespread public criticism for its perceived lack of sensitivity. [2] There have been many profuse efforts by RadioShack Corporation to modify, minimalize, and in some cases delete reportage of this controversy. Reportage sometimes refers to the total body of media coverage of a particular topic or event including news reporting and analysis " the extensive reportage of recent
International operations
Operations in Canada
Pre-2005
The Canadian counterpart of RadioShack, also known as Radio Shack, was run by a company called InterTAN, acquired in 2004 by Circuit City. InterTAN is a Canadian consumer electronics retailer that operates stores under the banners " The Source by Circuit City " and a single "THS Studio" location However, RadioShack sued InterTAN one week after the purchase, claiming InterTAN had breached the terms of their agreement. On March 24, 2005, a U. Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. S. district court judge ruled in favor of RadioShack and cancelled their agreement, meaning that all 950 RadioShack stores in Canada must stop using the brand name in any of their products, packaging or advertising by June 30, 2005. Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. As a result, all of the InterTAN stores were rebranded under the name The Source by Circuit City and RadioShack Corporation planned to open its own stores in Canada under the RadioShack name. The Source by Circuit City (often referred to only as The Source) (formerly known as RadioShack Canada) is an Electronics Retailer
Post-2005
After preventing InterTAN from using the RadioShack trademark, RadioShack announced its intention to re-enter the Canadian market itself with a Canadian division. InterTAN pursued court action to prevent RadioShack from using the trademark in Canada until the original 2010 expiry date of the original licensing agreement. The company had planned to have 20 to 30 stores operating in Canada as RadioShack by the end of 2005, mostly in the Toronto area, but progress was slower than anticipated. As of September 2006, nine company-owned stores had been opened and 16 dealer stores were operating under the name RadioShack, signing new agreements with RadioShack Corporation.
In January 2007, RadioShack Corporation announced that it closed its nine company-owned stores in Canada in order for the company to refocus its attention and resources on strengthening its core business in the U. S. [4].
Operations in Australia
InterTAN Australia ran Tandy stores until 2002, when it was announced that Woolworths Limited would acquire them for AUD$114 million and merge them into their existing Dick Smith Electronics business. Woolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. Dick Smith Electronics is an Australasian Electronics retailer founded in 1968 by Dick Smith. After the merger, Woolworths found Tandy to be in poor condition and has been trying to rejuvenate that part of the business since. Various Radioshack & Optimus branded stock continue to be sold exclusively in Tandy stores, but these are continuously being superseded by DSE branded stock. Dick Smith Electronics is an Australasian Electronics retailer founded in 1968 by Dick Smith.
Operations in France
InterTAN operated Tandy stores in France, selling standard RadioShack brands, Realistic, Optimus, and Archer. Sales people sometimes came from the French-speaking Québec. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk The French subsidiary went bankrupt and closed by the end of December 1993. Sales representatives blamed this on the practice of selling non-store brands (such as IBM laptops) with margins that were too low.
Operations in Belgium
Tandy stores were introduced in Belgium in the early 1970s. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those The opening of a Tandy store was usually accompanied by a publicity campaign where free 5-D cell flashlights were given away, with free batteries available through the Tandy battery card. Initially, the Tandy stores only sold their proprietary brands such as Realistic, Archer or Optimus. By the mid-1980s however many Tandy stores had closed and by 1990, Tandy had disappeared from the Belgian market. In the last years of operation, they also stocked mainstream brands, which made the stores lose a lot of their peculiar character.
As at 2007, one Tandy store remains open in Merksem, claiming to be the only remaining Tandy store in Europe. Merksem is a district of the Municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. [5]
Other operations
Corporate citizenship
RadioShack's charity of choice is the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit organization. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children ( NCMEC) is a private Non-profit organization established in the United States in 1984 under United The organization's store presence is the StreetSentz program, which is a child identification and educational kit readily available to families free of charge.
RadioShack's green initiative involves the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, in which end-of-life rechargeable batteries are dropped off in-store to be safely recycled. End-of-life wireless phones can also be recycled.
RadioShack and other retailer partnerships
In August 2001, RadioShack opened new kiosk-style stores inside Blockbuster outlets. Blockbuster Inc ( is the largest chain of DVD and Video game rental stores in the world The project ended in February 2002 when CEO Len Roberts announced that the stores did not meet expectations. [3] A more successful venture for RadioShack has been the wireless kiosks the company has been operating since 2004 within Sam's Club discount warehouses. Sam's Club is an American chain of membership-only retail Warehouse clubs Founded in 1983 it is owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores Inc RadioShack purchased the kiosk operations from Arizona-based Wireless Retail Inc. Kiosk employees are contracted through RadioShack Corporation, and no RadioShack-branded merchandise is sold.
References
- ^ RadioShack Corporation. RadioShack History. Retrieved on September 11, 2006. Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
- ^ 101 Dumbest Moments in Business. CNN. Cable News Network, usually referred to by its Initialism CNN, is a major English language Television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner 2007. Retrieved on January 23, 2007. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
- ^ Blockbuster pursues CE, as RadioShack deal dies - Consumer electronics launch in 2002 - Brief Article | DSN Retailing Today | Find Articles at BNET.com
- Irvin, Farman (1992). Tandy's Money Machine : How Charles Tandy Built Radio Shack into the World's Largest Electronics Chain. Chicago: Mobium Press. ISBN 0-916371-12-3.
External links
- Official homepage of RadioShack
- Official homepage of RadioShack Canada
- Official history of RadioShack
- Business data
- RadioShack Corporation at Google Finance
- RadioShack Corporation at Yahoo Finance
- RadioShack Corporation at Hoover's
- RadioShack Corporation at Reuters
- RadioShack Corporation SEC filings at EDGAR Online
- RadioShack Corporation SEC filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission
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