That was my experience too but somehow the manager would always help the pretty single women. Maybe he earned a commission there too?

These guys took the old Radio Shack.

I remember that! Great nostalgia.

 

Surprisingly RS was still selling electronic parts (sort of) even after the local electronic supply house that supported the local Radio and TV repair shops had closed due to lack of business. By then it was all manufacturers' modules and not much call for discrete components. The CB "Boom" kept RS open for a while then the TRS-80s and such. Now it's cell phones and accessories and a small spattering of resistors, wire, and solder. Brick and mortar stores are quickly falling by the wayside. Even Walmart is getting into the online sales racket or at least attempting to make headway against Amazon's dominance in the market. I rarely go to a store these days...

 

I worked at RS in the 80s. My first week, the manager complained that I was spending too much time helping customers solve small problems..

Yep. Nailed it. What a shame. Wasn’t that way in the 60’s when I haunted the place,

 

I worked at RS in the 80s. My first week, the manager complained that I was spending too much time helping customers solve small problems... mainly "what cable do I need for my VCR?" or "do you have this fuse?"

Such a common refrain. This often comes about as a result of people getting "business degrees", often taught by people that have never actually run a business (in fairness, most engineers are taught mostly by people that have never designed anything). So they have all kinds of theories and models and equations and graphs, all of which simply dismiss or ignore any factor that can't be readily quantified and which often overemphasize any that can. The case that really drove this home for me was when the small company my dad worked for was handed down from the guy that started it to his kids. They immediately did a fancy analysis and declared that they needed to get rid of a huge fraction of their small-parts inventory because they had a lot of parts that often sat for three or four years between sales and they had a 95% in-stock rate. They "proved" how the optimal in-stock rate was around 70%. My dad, who was the manager of purchasing and inventory, tried to tell them how a large fraction of their big-build jobs came from companies (including Denver Public Schools) that came to them as their first choice precisely because they always had the parts when they were needed, including rebuild kits that were needed only every few years. But, since my dad didn't have a business (or any other) degree (just thirty years working for that company as the third person hired when it started), that meant nothing. After just a few years of such highly-educated leadership, the company went from being the dominant company of its kind in a multi-state region to essentially out of business (was reorganized as a considerably down-sized "service" company instead of a manufacturing company) as long-term customers shifted all of their business to other sources (mostly out-of-state) that were willing to stock the parts they needed.

 

That might have been a local phenomenon. As late as 2017, a store in Quincy MA (the city immediately south of Boston) had a selection of Arduinos, Basic Stamp and Propeller MCUs, plus a limited selection of Arduino shields (sound, servo, motor and LCD controllers). It just closed 2-3 years ago.

The store that used to be in my neighborhood did indeed have Arduinos. But the Arduinos they had were only the "official" ones that cost $30. And this was at a time when cheap clones were already available. People aren't going to blow $30 when they can get the same thing online for $5. And this is what I mean...failure to understand the electronics market. Back in the 70's, sure, they didn't have to do much because simply stocking components was enough of a service. But access to components has completely changed. When Arduinos came out they should have offered free (or cheap) classes to teach kids and adults how to use them. They would have been creating customers!

And, yes, I think my local 'Shack had Basic Stamps too. But Stamps were only good for that window when they had the market, before Arduinos came along. RS continued to carry Stamps long after they were surpassed by Arduinos. Again, failure to know the market.

This is why I call them morons. And is my complaint about MBA-types. They treat all businesses the same, but they aren't. You have to understand the market; you can't just apply general business schooling to all business.

 

People aren't going to blow $30 when they can get the same thing online for $5.

People also won't buy 5 resistors for a dollar. But, dammit, when you need that resistor now, a dollar ain't so much to pay.

 

I have a box of RS components in my cellar that has to be 30+ years old.

Mine are in the attic. Someday I really need to get up there and see exactly what I have.

Ron

 

Mine are in the attic. Someday I really need to get up there and see exactly what I have.

Ron

An old radio parts box at the mom's house with RS diodes from my HS days.


'Modern' RS diodes at my house today.

 

A treasure trove.

Ron

 

I’m still using my old RS soldering iron…

 

I’m still using my old RS soldering iron…

Me too. Still have a 15 / 30 watt selectable from Radio Shack.

Ron

 

Mine are in the attic. Someday I really need to get up there and see exactly what I have.

Ron

Of course Radio Shack was no Lafayette Radio Electronics, Ron. Particularly the Lynbrook store...

 

Of course Radio Shack was no Lafayette Radio Electronics, Ron. Particularly the Lynbrook store...

Fond memories of going to Lafayette with my dad. Yes, the Lynbrook store. I would hang out in the radio room drooling over the receivers and transmitters of the day. Great line of used stuff. Just a short drive for us at the time. As a kid I worked a few military electronics surplus outlets. The old ARC 5 command sets were $5.00 and ideal to convert for novice class users. My first commercial sets were a HealthKit DX40 and National NC173 from Lafayette used.

Ron

 

Fond memories of going to Lafayette with my dad. Yes, the Lynbrook store. I would hang out in the radio room drooling over the receivers and transmitters of the day. Great line of used stuff. Just a short drive for us at the time. As a kid I worked a few military electronics surplus outlets. The old ARC 5 command sets were $5.00 and ideal to convert for novice class users. My first commercial sets were a HealthKit DX40 and National NC173 from Lafayette used.

Ron

Did you check out the catalog I linked, pretty amazing.

 

Did you check out the catalog I linked, pretty amazing.

Oh I loved the catalog. Revisited so many fond memories. Really cool memories. Thanks for posting that.

Ron