As expected, RadioShack has filed for bankruptcy. The US electronics retailer currently has about 4,000 stores, but the company plans to close more than half of them and liquidate its assets.

But some locations could live on, thanks to a deal with Sprint and hedge fund Standard General.

radioshack

Last year Standard General led a group of investors loaned RadioShack more than half a billion dollars to help keep the company afloat. Apparently that wasn’t enough.

Now Standard General is the retailer’s largest shareholder and the hedge fund’s subsidiary General Wireless has reached a deal with Sprint that could keep some of RadioShacks’s stores open even as the company files for bankruptcy.

The idea is that Sprint and General Wireless would open co-branded stores in up to 1750 RadioShack locations. They’d continue to sell RadioShack products, services, and accessories but each store would also effectively become a Sprint Store, with Sprint’s products taking up about a third of the retail space in each store.

Sprint brands including Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile would also be represented, but don’t expect to see Verizion, AT&T, or T-Mobile products at these locations.

The deal could more than double the number of Sprint retail stores in the United States. Right now the company operates 1,100 stores.

None of these new plans will be finalized until after they’re approved by a bankruptcy court in Delaware.

 

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9 replies on “RadioShack bankruptcy: Sprint will take over some stores, others will close”

  1. I wonder if the popularity of the Raspberry Pi (and other similar size computer boards / components) could have helped Radio Shack if they had gone in that direction? These small boards are very popular.

  2. We will now read from the book of 1 Electronics, Chapter 11.

    “Hark, ye who abandon thy faithful to seduce the multitude. Thy days shall be numbered and the number of thy days shall be as pitiful as the fruits of thy harvest. Weep not for him that betrays thy people, for he deserveth neither thy pity nor thy charity. Weep not for the death of a pretender, for he was dead in spirit before the last breath escaped his lips. Seek out those who would keep thy covenant and stand fast with thy people against all enemies. Thou shalt be tried and thou shalt weather great storms, but the strength of thy faith shall carry ye through the darkest night. For thou hast no greater friend than the Hobby thy God.”

    In the name of the Hobby, the Electron, and the DIY Spirit, I bless you all and ask that you leave here today not in sorrow for the death of the Shack, but in remembrance of what it once was. Celebrate the Hobby and rejoice in the Good News, that It is here for us all and that Its holy light can never be extinguished.

    We will now sing “My Hobby is a Wondrous Hobby” on page 394 of your hymnal.

  3. The latest Bloomberg piece (reporting on the official bankruptcy announced today) also says that the RadioShack brand has some value. Really? Maybe Monoprice, Mouser or NewEgg could buy it to redirect radioshack.com to their own site, but I fail to see what appeal the name has, otherwise.

    1. The story states, “Right now the company (Sprint) operates 1,100 stores.”
      Could your search include results were Sprint phones/services are sold (such as Best Buy etc.)?

  4. I was brought up going to Radio Shack, and I did 5 years with ’em at one point until an old friend found and rescued me. (true story and I’ll never be able to thank him enough)
    Totally screwy phones phones phones culture and then brought in more modern electronics kits after they managed to get rid of the people who knew what they were talking about and could actually sell the stuff (for not selling enough phonesphonesphones) so that now it’s random overpriced kits and phonesphonesphones and good luck if you need help with the kits or anything else that isn’t…you know.

    -and Sprint was bleeding customers back then, has that ever stopped? It seems like sending the Andrea Doria to go save the Titanic if you’ll pardon the geo-temporal mismatch.

    1. Sprint was bought by Softbank back in 2013. Softbank is doing well, so they can afford Sprint losing money for a while. The CEO of Softbank is determined to turn Sprint around. They’ve added towers in my area that has improved coverage, so it’s not just talk. Of course his main plan was to merge Sprint and T-Mobile and we saw how well that went.

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