RadioShack’s shambling remains were given another jolt of life today. Radioshack 28 280 Electronics Learning Lab… when they were purchased by another business that plans to relaunch the once-great retailer as an online-focused brand name.
The shop’s remains were bought by Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), a startup founded in 2019 that’s been scooping up brands from other faded retail giants too, including Pier 1, Modell’s Sporting Goods, Dressbarn, and more. REV says RadioShack’s site currently has “strong existing sales and sales potential,” and the company is “confident” it can even more raise awareness of the brand name worldwide.
REV claims it’s effectively turned around other companies it’s launched as online brand names. The Wall Street Journal reported that Dressbarn more than doubled its profits in between the 2nd and very first quarter of 2020.
RadioShack was founded in 1921 and became a retail staple in the ’80s and ’90s for anybody looking to get tech essentials. For a long time, that suggested real radio elements, however wound up consisting of great deals of electronic toys (one Edge editor fondly remembers his Armatron) and ultimately phones. Its fortunes declined vastly as online shopping showed up, and the business declared personal bankruptcy two times in the past 5 years. RadioShack still certifies its name to third-party “licensed” shops and sells top quality products within some locations of HobbyTown, a crafts merchant– similar to how you can still discover “Sharper Image” items at Kohl’s although that merchant shut its physical doors over a years earlier. REV didn’t say whether those RadioShack licenses would stick around. Radioshack 28 280 Electronics Learning Lab
REV says it will “quickly relaunch” RadioShack’s site. So for those of you still sticking on to fond memories of the shop, there’ll be a familiar enough place to go when you wish to purchase costly HDMI cables and knockoff headphones.