Details are a bit light on this one, but thanks to a tipster and some chatter we picked up on the interblogs, it looks like Radio Shack may be about to undergo a pretty noticeable rebranding. The above image was taken from a terminal within a store, and while it's not completely clear if this is a short-term promotional push or long-term strategy (apparently the company will remain Radio Shack on the corporate side), our tipster says that in-store signs will reflect the change this week, and storefront signage will begin to be reworked as "The Shack" sometime later this year. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense -- radios aren't exactly considered cutting edge these days, and from the sounds of things, the store is about to launch a full assault on the mobile space, bringing T-Mobile into the fold this month, and attempting to cover the gamut on cellphone reselling. Still, we're not sure "The Shack" is the right direction... unless they
wanted us to immediately picture a remote location where very, very bad things happen.
Update: Apparently we're not the only ones talking about this -- someone has added
detailed info on the rebranding to the company's Wikipedia page. According to the writeup, the switch will kick off with celebrations "in San Francisco and New York featuring '14 foot tall laptops' streaming the images from their webcams from one city to the other, live music in both locations, as well as television coverage of the event." Uh, okay!
Update 2: Guess they weren't kidding.
Here's the promo page on Radio Shack's site. Thanks Ellis D.!
posted Aug 2nd 2009 9:15PM
Shack Fu?
I bet the only people working there are interns.. I dont see how anyone with 1 brain cell would pump money into said shite store...
"Weird Batteries, Etc." would be better. That's all I buy there.
They used to be a very good company. I learned Basic programming language on their legendary TRS-80. I wish they can come back like apple.
It's a rebranding. And yeah, it's true.
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7067/photo1rci.jpg
That's a tshirt that was given to sales associates. We'll be wearing them on the weekends in august.
The idea of "The Shack" is that it's friendly, helpful, and with the latest electronics and solutions. The same thing we've been doing the whole time, but now, we have a name for it.
It's all KFC's fault. That took off, so now everyone with a name older than 20 years will be doing it. Be prepared for soon you will be getting your tacos from The Bell, getting car parts from The Boys, picking up your hamburgers at The King and getting your new computer from The Buy.
Don't you go blamin' KFC and the Colonel. This started with those punks at IHOP.
In Canada, all the Radio Shacks were re-branded "The Source" after they were bought by Circuit City. But now they are bankrupt, so "The Source" was bought out by Bell.
more like get your computer from THE BEST
There is only one true shack: Shake Shack
THE SHACK? well given that I keep all my junk in the shack at the end of my garden.... sounds about right!
They should take a cue from Prince and just have a little symbol.
Then everyone will call it "The Store Formerly Know As Radio Shack"
Please, don't remind me of Shaq Fu. That was the worst game I have ever played. If you have never played it, here is the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaq_Fu
Why would anyone care about a name? If it has great prices, technology and service you can call it "poop depot" for all i care. (I dont buy eggs at "newegg")
Come on guys, when's the last time you bought something from International Business Machines? Names deserve updating. Radio shack really doesn't have very much in the "radio" department anymore, and basically hawk directTV and cell phones. The rest is mostly overpriced dongles and adapter cables. Dunno how long a business model like that can really persist, whatever the name.
LOL. Good one.
The Shack is rad!
This can go right next to The Hut
I was gonna say... what's with these marketing gurus and their bad ideas?
Yea you beat me to it.
I can go to The Hut then The Shack, or The Shack then The Hut. But then I'd have to carry what I get from The Shack into The Hut...that might be inconvenient.
So I guess it's The Hut first.
Does anyone else think that "shack" and "hut" were not two positive terms to rebrand to? I mean, I understand dropping "Pizza" and "Radio" to add pizazz, but come on, shack and hut? My dog craps in the back yard next to The Shack.
The Hut sounds like a place I'd go to eat if I didn't care about the insect content of my food.
Whats wrong with Radio Shack? Thats an awesome name. Do people even call it The Shack? It doesn't even make sense. Whats a shack sell? Chewbacca is a wookie from Kashyyk
The Shack sounds like a dump. Same with The Hut. I guess soon I'll be living in The Cave, and going to The Farm to get my groceries, with my car from The Lot, wearing my clothes from The Store. If anything breaks I'll go the Shack and pick up food from the Hut.
Yeah, I heard Linens and Things is changing their name to just "Things". A bit vague but accurate nonetheless.
this is all very appropriate considering that in the future we will all be living in shacks and huts. Welcome to idiocracy!
I'm confused. If I go to "The Hut", am I going to get pizza or sunglasses?
iirc, Circuit City had a concept store called "The City" - not sure if they actually planned to rebrand to that name or if it was just a codename for that model.
I think their focus groups were toying with them.
"Why yes I would totally go check out a store called 'The Shack' for shopping purposes!"
Maybe it's just me, but "The Shack" somehow makes me think of hillbillies and Deliverance. Not somewhere I'd voluntarily go... Perhaps Circuit City had it right in Canada when they rebranded them to "The Source (by Circuit City)".
@TuxBobble
OMFG you made my day with your first comment here. I couldnt stop laughing.
They should have gone with Hack Shack
Haq a Shaq
Attaq of the Iraq Haq Shaq! Taq a Maq to his Baq and you'll say he doesn't Laq!
Or from the cover of 2600, Rad Hack.
Why??
In honor of Ted Kaczynski's legendary rural home and his unwavering love of technology.
Engadget, you are really lacking on your blogs. Get it together.
It's the weekend
Leave Engadget alone! Go to gizmodo and leave some invisible comments or something.
I love Engadget.
Actually they already have t-mobile, and the t-mobile website is recognizing radio-shacks as preferred sellers or whatever it was.
"Cellphone Accessory Shack" didn't have a good ring to it, I take it.
Between Best Buy, Walmart and the 99c stores selling electronics and components, its a miracle Radio Shack is still open.
They don't sell anything worth buying and what they do have is overly expensive.
Very true, but they do have some of those little hidden exclusives, and their black friday deals aren't something to snatch at.
I haven't found a cheaper source of decent copper clad perfboard.
"I haven't found a cheaper source of decent copper clad perfboard."
Well then you obviously have never gone to Copper Clad Perfboard Hut.
They have these awesome $20 headphones I keep going through after breaking them with fits of nerd rage. They're the only ones I can stand wearing and are relatively cheap.
Actually Radio Shack has a lot of things I couldnt' find anywhere else (Not a bestbuy/walmart/circuit city/etc)
I have nothing negative to say about Radio Shack, ive always enjoyed getting random things there. I hope they get bigger and compete with Best Buy (Since you can already buy laptops/consoles/tv's at radio shack, just not a big selection)
I drove all over town a few months ago looking for speaker wire. Each store had little to offer and then I drove by a radio shack and thought, wow, I should give them a shot since I haven't shopped there in years. Sure enough, the only store to have multiple kinds in stock. So, I have to give them the credit of having what I needed when nobody else did.
Not only copper clad perfboard, but other misc. resistors, capacitors, connectors, fuses, etc. (although their selection is FAR worse than what it was, say, 5 years ago). You just can't find that stuff at best buy/wal mart
you see a painted sign on the side of the road that says "15 miles to theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee SHACK!"
That's my favorite song!!
Yeah, because taking away "radio" leaves that graceful "shack" front and center, greattttttttttttttt idea.
Looks like www.theshack.com redirects to their current home page.
They took it down temporarily, but Bing's cache led me to this address, where the countdown is hosted: http://www.rshost01.com/
Crap Shack was sadly rejected I see.
Well if it makes you feel any better, I've been calling it that for years.
im also fond of radio crap and rat shack
Well the "name" Change is under the impression that most customers call Radio Shack "The Shack" , so much that they deciede to spend 80 million on all new ads, signs, branding and greeting tips.
waste if you tell me
If the SHACK stick to products that people want for the future like solar wind and other green power products, they will survive. Give the people what they need not what they don't need!!!
They should change their name to Circuit City...
then to 'The City'?
They should just rename it "the place you go to buy capacitors or audio cables sometimes if you need them right now".
I think that's a terrible rebrand.. If they want a good one that's noticeable, they should go with The $hit!
Lance Armstrong's team name for next year's Tour de France.
Yep... and "the Shack" is where Lance and his teammates will be taking that whiny little Contador!
It's just like that Pizza Hut> The Hut thing. Trying to get all the cool little hipsters to their store. lol
hipsters like you LOL
ROLF
LOLA
NOOB
NUB
LOLZ
LUPADUPADOO..
here is one for you
STFU!
The generic term "radio shack" (or just "shack") has long been used to describe a ham radio operator's station. Radio Shack (the store) used to actually be a place that hams shopped at for parts and components for their stations, although that has definitely dwindled over the years, mostly because Radio Shack's component section is now limited to a few drawers in the back of the store with a handful of switches, capacitors, etc. and a completely clueless staff who have no idea what you're referring to when you walk in and say you're looking for a resistor.
Those were the days. Too bad most American kids want consumer products made for them from a whole other country. I don't really ever see smart kids in my area tinkering and creating contraptions and whatnot.
dude, i made a van de graff generator for a school project and that small component section helped a whole lot, though the staff sure didn't.
does this make anyone else think about how sci-fi changed their name...
Why would they? All the cool gadgets have the parts done at microscopic levels, which pretty much makes it impossible.
What's changed is no one needs to go a local store anymore to buy electronic parts. Mouser, Digikey, partsexpress, Newark, RS, etc... you can buy everything online, it easier, cheaper, and wwith an infinitely wider selection.
It is true... I work for a company that services Radio Shack. We were notified fo this change 2 weeks ago, and have actually begun referring to them as "The Shack" to "make the change easier."
I'll bet the guy at Radio Shack who wanted to call it "e Shack" is gonna talk about this decision for the rest of his life.....Q
Turd polish.
Make it real cool by calling it the Love Shack.
Tiiiiiiin roof Rusted!
they should just call it what most people call it anyways... "Rat Shack"
"Radios aren't exactly considered cutting edge these days..."
What is a cellphone, exactly?
And your WiMax?
and your 802.11x?
and RFID?
and 3G?
and the majority of telecommunications equipment?
You are absolutely correct, eventually everything will be radio sans wires (hopefully), but when most people think 'radio' they think 'generic top 40 R&B ClearChannel crap'. That's just the way it is.
I was about to say the same thing. Personally I think they should stick with Radio Shack. "The Shack" doesn't really sound like a place I want to go.
They had to take Radio off because they really don't do that anymore.. I went in to buy an Amateur Radio book and guess what, they no longer carry ANY books!
Umm...they weren't called "Book Shack." I think you're looking for a library. Easy mistake.
My local 'Shack (Houston Westheimer) has actually started carrying more of the "old school" type stuff - robot kits, perfboard, discrete components, soldering irons, solder, and so forth. Ended up talking to the manager the other day when I was there to buy a cable, and he said they're seeing more and more demand for that sort of thing, a lot of DIY people nowdays.
Anyone see this yet on the RadioShack website?
http://www.radioshack.com/theshack/
the shack is on fire! hot metaphorical fire
"whoa" The Shack is a way to reignite the brand (yes, with hot metaphorical fire) that everyone knows but no one seems to like. It's not a name change, it's a way of personalizing a brand and repositioning it as the place to go mobile and get it done right the first time. Let's not forget the definition of "radio" is "wireless" not ham, FM, capacitor, resistor or fuse. RadioShack is still going to be RadioShack, but we're going to call it "The Shack" like Federal Express calls themselves "FedEx." You all have something horrible to say about the shack and from someone who has worked there for over 4 years this doesn't come as a surprise. Every day I have at least one person reminisce about the good ol' days when you could get anything at the Shack. However, after looking through a whole lot of catalogues I've come to realise that this is all relative. Sure, the shack used to carry "a lot" of stuff, but now that the electronic industry has ballooned (as well as the expectations of our clientele) the current catalogue (not so different from the past) may now seem miniscule. The small format stores can only stock what most of the customers are looking for on a day to day basis - will they have the right capacitor every time? no, but components are available at a much cheaper price from online retailers that can stock more items than could fit in 100 stores without the need for as many employees (and a profit margin fit to run a retail outlet). RadioShack has been trying to stay relevant as well as it has been trying not to upset the veteran customers - because of that RadioShack didn't move fast enough to keep up with its competitors and almost went out of business 4 years ago. Since Julian Day was hired on as CEO RadioShack has built itself back up with no real focus other than a profitable business, after hard work and a lot of restructuring it has found itself at the cusp of the industry. With this rebranding RadioShack hopes to move into the future with a fresh face and a fresh focus all while gaining the market share 4800+ retail outlets demand and continuing to be the strong company it's grown up to be (90+ years and counting).
To sum it up, RadioShack is giving itself focus - for years now everyone has had different expectations of what RadioShack is about, now it's shouting it loud and proud "we're all about wireless and we're here to help you with it." So no, you wont find tubes, vacuum cleaner bags or air conditioner filters but you will find the most helpful and knowledgeable associates in america who can't wait to tell you about the latest in wireless living.
SM 3393
I know you guys work for Radioshack.
The second guy might even be Julian Day himself.
what? I dont work there. I just hang out for 40 hours a week there.
Bwah, you gonna get raped... in TEH SHACK.
This reminds me of the 90s when InfoWorld did a big cover story on 'Radio Shack's Schlock Image'. This was when InfoWorld was actually a great mag for tech professionals, unlike its sorry state today, and they did use the word Schlock (PC Magazine used to be good too, believe it or not! *sob*). There was an outraged letter from Radio Shack's CEO or other spokeshole, but it was absolutely correct. You're not going to make Radio Shack COOL and HIP and XTR33ME just by changing the name, and this certainly seems like a misguided one.
you forgot 1337
I have to agree with a previous commenter - go to a Radio Shack and try to buy an AM/FM radio (tabletop) that *doesnt* have an iPod dock built in. You can't do it.
Catalog # 12-889
anyway....I liked working at the shack, except that we would always be pressured to sell cell phones and contracts. Our store actually had a very nice parts section, bigger than most shacks had at least. Yeah they've sure gone downhill but if you're in a bind and need a part, where else are you going to go? Gotta give them a little credit for that.
I work at a Radioshack and we definitely carry radios without iPod docks in them. In fact, one of them is literally labelled AM/FM Tabletop Radio.
Shit Shack is more like it...
Especially on St Thomas in the USVI -- the asshats didn't even know what ethernet cable is...
aww no iShack?
The "Shack" is back!
Is that internet explorer 6 you guys are using to view the page?
Yeah, we have to use it. It sucks
I would kill for some freakin tabs (or firefox, but lets not get TOO adventurous here) in this place!!
The Shaq.
'The Shack' is a very non-descriptive name. 'Electric Shack' might be a little better. At least it tells you what it is. I guess that a committee must have decided on the new name :P
It's just a new nick name. It's not the new name. People have been calling Radioshack The Shack for a while now.