Brenton Smith
Basic Marketing
16 March 2012
Radio Shack Radio Shack theoretically got its start in 1919 down in Fort Worth Texas. Two friends, on a whim, decided to pool their money together to start a retail store that sold leather shoe parts and they named the store Hinkley-Tandy after their names respectively. Two years later, the Deutschmann brothers opened up a retail and mail order operation in the hopes of selling electronics such as ham radios that were recovered from the army. William Halligan, one of the first employees of the new retailer suggested the name Radio Shack because that was the name ships used for the rooms that housed their radios. In 1921, there was a cluster of stores in the northeast all appealing to hobbyists and military radio junkies. Not much changed after that however until the two brothers met Tandy 4 decades later.
While the Deutschmann brothers worked to branch out their ham radios to more consumers. Tandy and Hinkley worked to expand their operations but found it difficult, especially when the great depression hit. Leather was rationed and adults could only purchase two pairs of shoes a year. They survived however and by 1947 Tandy returned to Fort Worth boasting 5 stores with an annual revenue of 750,000 dollars a year (Radio Shack). Tandy however, was not satisfied and a disagreement between the partners resulted in a split. Hinkley kept the shoe company and Tandy along with his father opened up a leather specialty store. In a roundabout way, Tandy ended up selling the leather company which in turn was used to cover loses of another company at the time. Tandy, not satisfied with this, worked to become elected as chairperson of the division and succeeded at which time he moved the headquarters to Fort Worth. At this time, Radio Shack experienced moderate success because it had entered the music equipment department (Radio Shack Corporation). However management at the 9 different stores made a mistake by allowing people to purchase on credit which left many unpaid debts and almost crippled the company. Tandy, who had paid close attention to the electronics retailer, saw his opportunity and bought the almost bankrupt retailer. Since then Radio Shack has expanded to over 7300 stores and grosses 4.8 billion dollars annually (Radio Shack). Radio Shack today is an electronics store that focuses its marketing towards teen to middle aged, middle class customers who are interested in constructing their own electronics, looking for mobility, searching for the trendiest items, and a quick and easy way to find the latest electronics and gadgets without all of the hassle of trying to navigate a large store. In order to ensure that they continue to grow and evolve as an electronics company, Radio shack has implemented a very interesting way of carrying out the marketing mix. To begin with, possibly Radio Shack’s most appealing benefit is their place. Because of their compact size, Radio shack can be in any location and can squeeze into the tightest of businesses zones in cities. Along with that, their small size makes it easy for shoppers to find what they are looking for quickly. Not only that, Radio shack openly advertises franchising in all 50 states which leaves the avenue for even more stores to open at any time (Radio Shack Corporation). Place is not the only benefit that radio shack has however. Product is also a strong point for the large electronics dealer. Radio shack not only carries all of the major wireless networks, but they also carry the latest updates in software, hardware, digital connectors etc. According to Joe Hicks, an assistant manager at a Radio Shack just outside of Tulsa, Radio Shack is the only place that has such an extensive parts drawer that is catered to people who enjoy tinkering and constructing their own electronics (Hicks). Even further, Radio shack offers a wide variety of private brands that most retailers do not carry. Doing so