[TriLUG] Article on Radio Shack's Demise

[Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG]

On Wed, 18 Feb 2015, C TC via TriLUG wrote:

> "Radio Shack lost its way when it ditched its hobbyist customers"

It's not clear that hobbyists would have been profitable.

In Sydney in the 60's and mid '70's there were two large electronic stores 
caterging to professional electronics people. Presumably there were enough 
electronics technicians building and repairing things to keep them afloat. I 
never saw another hobbyist lined up at the counter. By the end of the 70's both 
stores were gone. Presumably everthing was PC boards and you didn't repair or 
build anything yourself. If you bought parts, you must have been out of a 
catalogue.

When I visited London at the end of the '70's, there wasn't an electronics store 
catering to professionals that I could find.

I expect that if there weren't enough professionals to keep stores afloat, then 
the few hobbyists who frequented these shops wouldn't have kept them afloat 
either. Businesses aren't going to be kept alive by people buying resistors. You 
need a large population buying $100 at a time, like happes at a car parts store.

Joe
--
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) austintek (dot) com - azimuthal equidistant 
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