More than 1,000 RadioShack stores are closing in a cost-cutting effort born of the company’s ongoing financial troubles and inability to compete with bigger retail outlets on mobile device sales.
“RadioShack Corp. plans to dramatically cut back its store count, after a sharp drop in sales over the holidays left it with a $400 million loss last year,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
In particular, slow sales of tablets and smartphones were reported by RadioShack, indicating that the venerable brand can’t gain a competitive footing against other leading sellers of popular consumer electronics.
The highly competitive industry has killed off rivals including Circuit City, Tweeter Home Entertainment and CompUSA. RadioShack Chief Executive Joe Magnacca is now fighting to cut back the sprawling chain, stem a steep decline in sales and stock his stores with products people want to buy.
So what’s RadioShack’s plan to turn things around? There’s a multifaceted answer to that question, for sure. But one aspect of forthcoming plans involves taking a stab at selling newer, more innovative products.
“To put a more modern twist on its offerings, the company plans to start selling products from Quirky—a startup that helps get inventions off the ground—and will carry 3-D printers at more than 100 stores,” the WSJ report concludes.
