Shack, BBY Look to Adapt

Left for dead at the side of the road, RadioShack is still twitching. Following its latest bankruptcy filing, it has emerged with a reorganization plan that would mix an online presence with 400 independently owned dealerships and 27 company-owned stores in Colorado, Texas, and New York. Eight new RadioShacks have recently opened, and another 18 are being considered. However, RadioShack probably will not return to the days when it lived in a $200 million HQ in Fort Worth, overseeing an empire of 7,000 stores nationwide.

Best Buy, meanwhile, is determined not to go the way of RadioShack. Five years into its own turnaround strategy, it has announced a new plan called Best Buy 2020 that would build on its Geek Squad and IT prowess to move further into connected-home tech. In-Home Advisor sends help to your door and has been rolled out to all major markets. Vivint, for home automation and security, is expanding to 450 stores. The new Total Tech Support would soup up the Geek Squad with installation, setup, repair, other in-home services, and a combination of phone, online, and in-store support for $199/year or $20/month. An Assured Living pilot would help people monitor aging parents.

COMMENTS
Bosshog7_2000's picture

I couldn't tell you the last time I stepped foot in a Radio Shack. Even in it's prime I never bought anything at Radio Shack unless it was some cheap electronic component, I would never buy a stereo, camera or TV there. Radio Shack is dead.

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