Should Amazon Buy RadioShack?

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

If not Amazon, then how about Google?

Google is going retail.

[Laridae]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

Google is going retail.

Really? Why bother? They need to work out their Production first.
It's taken them 2 months to catch up with backlog demand for the Nexus 4 that was introduced last fall! They should perfect what they have now before heading off into some radically new direction!

Why increase demand for products if they can't handle what they have now?

[GlenBarrington]

And even if they did, they probably wouldn't take it!

[forgottenbooks]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

If the situation is that bad for RadioShack, why would Amazon want to inherit its problems? Buying a company means inheriting the contractual obligations of that company. They would get leases to properties that aren't necessarily profitable. They would have to fulfil or terminate contracts with suppliers. They would have to deal with labour laws while letting go of employees. Things like debts don't disappear. There is also the necessity of getting rid of unneeded assets. (To give an example: I was able to get some dirt cheap electronics components a few years ago when RadioShack Canada was let go. I'm talking about pennies on the dollar. Same could be said for properties in depressed areas.) The list could probably go on.

Still there might be some business interest of Amazon that we are unable to see.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

ts.
By moving into stores, they suddenly have a very limited amount of stock available, lose their major advantage and pick up a significant disadvantage.
Why?

In days of yore, one could walk into Radio Shack, and walk out with everything you needed for your ham shack, including an appointment for taking the required tests in Morse, etc.

Today, Radio Shack sells two things:
* Batteries;
* Cell Phones;

Were Amazon, Google, or another outfit with vision, and the willingness to risk some venture capital to purchase RS, they could position themselves to do serious damage to Target, K-Mart, Family Dollar, and Walmart. They'd also damage "dollar stores".

Radio Shack would sell:
* Batteries;
* Cell phones;
* Plastics & ceramics printed to the customer's specifications;
* Amazon ebook kiosk;

That third item would require around US$50K investment per store. The only additional inventory would be the daily drop of plastics and ceramics.

As an Amazon store, RS could offer "next day customer pickup". High tech is nice. High Touch is a customer service winner. Whilst customer service and RS are mutually exclusive, that need not be the case. With a corporate takeover, HR could enforce "high touch or be terminated" rules, without running afoul of EEOC/ADA legislation.

High Touch also means that you can return that product you purchased online to a human being offline.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by ApK

You were lucky to stumble on what you needed in a dollar store,

Contrary to the implications of the name, the products that Family Dollar sells typically are equal to, if not better than that sold by K-Mart, and Target.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Contrary to the implications of the name, the products that Family Dollar sells typically are equal to, if not better than that sold by K-Mart, and Target.

All of them?
Dollar-Tree and the other chains I've sampled feature *some* name brand products in channel-specific sizes and packaging but they also feature a lot of low-grade "what-the-heck" wares. I tried a couple of USB cables from Dollar Tree once. Not a one worked.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

All of them?
Dollar-Tree and the other chains I've sampled feature *some* name brand products in channel-specific sizes and packaging but they also feature a lot of low-grade "what-the-heck" wares. I tried a couple of USB cables from Dollar Tree once. Not a one worked.

Family Dollar isn't a "dollar" store. It's more like what we used to call a five-and-dime. Which may not be helpful...

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

In days of yore, one could walk into Radio Shack, and walk out with everything you needed for your ham shack, including an appointment for taking the required tests in Morse, etc.

Today, Radio Shack sells two things:
* Batteries;
* Cell Phones;

That's true to an extend in the front of the store. In the back there still is a lot of electronic components.