Adafruit acquires RadioShack? | Hacker News Reader

Adafruit acquires RadioShack?

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183 pointsobrajesse57 comments

I'm not sure the title is 100% true. I think they just bought a framed stock certificate at an auction. Likely, Kensington Capital still owns the RadioShack brand.

Sources:

- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-radioshack-kensingtoncapi...

- http://ubidestates.hibid.com/catalog/103245/radioshack-aucti...

Seems like a pretty misleading HN item then. Also, considering that Adafruit specifically mentioned on their website a few years ago that they were not prepared to use Radioshack as a distributor it doesnt make sense that they would choose to start using physical stores. But who knows these days ...

Well, as of January that at least had changed. https://blog.adafruit.com/2017/01/04/adafruit-products-at-ra...

Given that Adafruit is retweeting things like https://twitter.com/danielphippsaus/status/91650866813207347..., I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe that they’re saying they bought RadioShack.

Indeed, the company is a husk of its former self and has already sold off most of its assets.

Indeed, it does look like the set she's holding is one of three that were sold in the auction. If Adafruit has actually acquired the brand, this is certainly an odd way to go about announcing it. I could see this having been a joke that's now gotten misinterpreted.

But, if so, the @adafruit twitter account is definitely further confusing things.

Indeed. If they hadn’t been retweeting congratualtory messages confirming the acquisition from their official corporate Twitter account, I wouldn’t have posted it here.

Namaste. I, too was pretty wide eyed and excited when I thought about the consequences of such an acquisition.

At this point, I think we're all looking to the initial actors for some clarification.

Later, when I saw that Adafruit's revenue is about $22M a year, and the acquisition price was a $29M debt accrued prior, I started to doubt myself yet again!

It's fascinating to see the intense online waves this has made. People are truly fond of RadioShack's brand, and AdaFruit as an underdog.

Whatever the outcome, perhaps it's a good reality check for all of us in the age of "fake news".

The framed stock certificate from the auction photo aren't the same as the ones in the photo tweeted by Adafruit. Very similar frame though.

Daayam. That’s awesome! Hopefully they rename it RatShack and sell actual radios and kits through what’s left of it. Also, it would be cool if there were IoT, electronics, μctrlr interfacing kit subscriptions for academic-level learning through practical kits on a monthly basis.

Adafruit is an awesome, modern business model (juxtaposed to the tiny margins of components and other commodification) that pumps out tons of quality kits, and Fried is killing it! I see tons of new product demos all the time on their YouTube channel.[0]

0: https://youtube.com/user/adafruit

PS: Still have my PS/2 :cueCat.

Update: if you really love electronics, more YT channels: eevblog, ave, bigclivedotcom, mikeselectricstuff, strange parts, this does not compute, louisrossmann (IIRC)

I have fond memories of buying my first transistors, capacitors, resistors, and soldering gun from RadioShack and soldering my first devices (a TI-85 interface to computer serial port). RadioShack seemed to lose their way when they started selling phone subscriptions. Adafruit is what RadioShack is supposed to be. I'm glad they have reappropriated the name. I guess all the real estate is gone...but it would have been cool to have those RadioShack stores as ada fruit stores/learning centers.

I went to my local RadioShack's liquidation...bought a ton of RadioShack branded things at discount to have for nostalgia purposes. Was also pleasantly surprised to see a section of the DIY kits you would find at adafruit including arduinos and RPi's.

> RadioShack seemed to lose their way when they started selling phone subscriptions.

What else could they do? Even with the big markups, those resistors and transistors weren't profitable because they turned over so slowly.

Before everybody gets too excited about brick and mortar stores opening (back) up, think about it for a second...

If RadioShack couldn't earn enough to stay open -- selling all the various products that they did (mostly Sprint phones and service the ladt few years, AFAICT) -- do you really think there's gonna be enough sales of AdaFruit products to keep retail stores open? No.

IF this is true it's surely just the brand, definitely not any of the locations.

They could never keep 2500 stores open, but they probably could keep 25 going.

But RadioShack was a shithole. The reason I stopped going was because it just wasn't frankly safe to go there and buy a last-minute capacitor from the store on Sunday night, versus just wait a few days for DigiKey to ship. You're taking a fairly substantial risk by using those crap substandard components sold by RadioShack, and it had been this way for some years before they shut down. If RadioShack had actually stocked quality parts for makers, and not tried to pander to the lowest common denominator as their primary focus with the stupid consumer electronics (and phones and mountains of batteries), things might have turned out differently.

Now, Adafruit is expensive, but I trust their components not to explode or otherwise destroy my project. I would travel to an Adafruit-owned RadioShack on Sunday night for that last-minute component. And like I did so often in the 90s, walk out of there having thrown a couple hundred dollars into the "this looks interesting" project hole.

Aside from the fact that whatever Adafruit bought, it's almost certainly not Radioshack's whole former business with 2500 locations...

Radioshack failed by giving up its original niche and trying to do what bigger, better-funded competitors were doing, badly. Maybe there wasn't a sufficient market for an electronic components retail store, but there certainly wasn't a sufficient market for a mini Best Buy with even worse prices.

There might well be a market for a much smaller number of stores with stuff for people who make things. Germany's Conrad Electronics appears to do well with that, though their stores are larger and also include a lot of ordinary consumer stuff.

A handful of highly visible stores in large cities like NYC, London, Paris, and a few in CA might be profitable and generate free publicity

>Radioshack failed by giving up its original niche

Radioshack failed when they fired their engineers that were really good at coming up with all the neat stuff they had at the time. So they had no engineers then they started to be a me-too in an already filled space of consumer electronics and cellphones.

I bet that if they would have found a way to hold on to the vision their original engineers had, they could have been the ones to create the Raspberry Pie at an earlier date. Or drones, or expand their part business and become what Digikey is now. Radio Shack had wildly more resources than any of these other projects when they started, but they scoffed at the kits and parts and left them for the cell phone market which they coveted for an easy dime that didn't require the engineers of old.

I'm surprised that they held on for as long as they did, all the while being completely blind to the "makers" that were still there and growing up around them. Until it was quite literally too late and they just became another "me-too" there also.

I don't think there exists a single remaining RadioShack store in the US. The website appears to have everything on clearance. I think they've essentially just bought the name, likely very cheaply since virtually nothing else exists anymore.

The only stores that remain open are the ones the at did well for Sprint as a Sprint retail location. All the others closed.

Yup. It’s probably a licensing deal with the conservator or some such to give a little coin back to investors/debt-holders. The remaining B&M I’ve encountered basically just sell mobiles, junk like toys, accessories and cables. Maybe a handful of discrete passive components, if you’re lucky.

Heck, in the valley, IRL fulfillment (willcall)/retail of electronic components is limited: (Halted isn’t organized and sells mostly used stuff without ESD management anywhere, Fry’s is a joke). Maybe you can will-call some places (Jameco), but the main sources like FleaBay and DigiKey don’t compare to IRL/right-now like Shenzhen highrise of everything bad fakes, good fakes and authentic. If you’re prototyping and about to do small runs it’s much easier in China because suppliers of all sizes and contract manufacturers right there, and can turn-around PCBs in a couple of hours. America doesn’t have anything remotely close to the density and rapid business efficiency of Shenzhen.

I once heard a rumor that if you get parts manufactured in China, they’ll keep the schematic so they can clone it later on. Not sure how true it is, though.

I had that exact same thing happen to me in Europe, so it stands to reason this is an industry wide problem, not just a Chinese problem.

There’s legal recourse when it happens in the US or Europe. Not so much in China.

I'm currently in the process of manufacturing my first product in China. Last year, I spent upwards of 3 months in Shenzhen. In my experience, that is...not what happens.

Yes, many things get cloned in China. But I have, as yet, not seen a single thing cloned that uses the same design as the original. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I don't believe it to be the most common case. Very often, the copies of a design use local parts that western designers would never choose or are unaware of.

When making clones, the goal is rarely 'make it exactly the same.' More often, it's "make it look the same or work similarly, but cost much less to make." In most cases, a sketchy manufacturer is better off just doing a not-quite-cleanroom reimplementation of your design.

For example, there are clones of the APA102C 'smart' LED that Adafruit sells as a 'dotStar'. (One is branded the 'SK9822'. Some are sold as 'APA102C'. In a VERY weird twist, APA in Taiwan who made the original is now reselling one of the clones as the APA102C-something.) The external appearance is the same. It speaks roughly the same protocol. But the IC inside is a completely different design. In a couple ways, it's a nicer LED, with a couple extra features. It's cheaper, too. But in my use case, it behaved oddly.

I was in Fort Worth, TX for a job interview around 2005 or so and we decided to walk through the city and chat with one of the owners. We passed by the RadioShack headquarters. And I said something like "They seem to be declining, they just resell cell phones and plans mostly". And they said, "Nah, it's a large company they'll figure something out". Well I guess they never did. Though Adafruit buying them feels right. It's like having RS return to its roots. Hopefully Adafruit finds some use from it and it doesn't let it drag it down.

They have a great chance to set up something like techshop for electronics. I discovered a new serious hobby in carpentry thanks to the community there. Imagine what this could do for electronics hobbyists.

As a non-American, I'm completely unfamiliar with RadioShack, except for having seen the name often, and often associated with some sort of strong feelings. Why do they hold such "high" status, or stay relevant in discussions? I could not really gather an answer to this from their Wikipedia page; perhaps I'm just imagining the whole attitude?

(Adafruit's collection I've browsed online, and possibly even ordered something from there; RadioShack appears not to even ship outside the US.)

RadioShack was a ubiquitous feature in the U.S. and probably still has a far-reaching string of commercial properties. Hard to believe that any American wouldn't know them. Unfortunately they grew staid and dusty. Adafruit seems the perfect buyer.

For a really long time Radio Shack was synonymous with hobbyist electronics- they had a location in virtually every mall and shopping center in the country where they sold little plastic baggies of resisters, capacitors, and the like- not to mention kits, tools, small electronics, etc.

Then they basically all turned into cell phone stores and became irrelevant.

And let's not forget the battery of the month club! Oh yes RS was Wonkaland for me when I was a kid. I also lusted after the CB radios they sold.

If you’re familiar with uk stores: Tandy Electronics, or a crappier Maplins.

crappier Maplins

That's quite hard to imagine.

XD It wasn’t called RatShack for nothing. ;)

I’ve never heard that term before. What’s its significance?

Maplins isn't that bad. They've got a decent range of electronic components that can be picked up in store. They might have to cater to the mass market to keep going, but at least they've not neglected hobby electronics enthusiasts.

Man... if you think Maplins is bad...

... my sweet summer child.

Tandy used to be the housebrand name of almost IBM compatible RS computers.

Yup, made by the same company - Tandy Computers. A spin-off from the Tandy Leather Company.

Then they went retail and eventually were even bought by RadioShack

They were a major electronics retailer when a lot of people on HN were kids, so they hold a special place in our memories. They were pretty much the place to go if you wanted to tinker.

Until the one by me closed earlier this year, it was the only place I could go to buy things like breadboards, transistors, and LEDs. Now I have to order these things online.

If you happen to be from the ex-Soviet Union or maybe other parts of Eastern Europe (going by your username). You might know about open air electronics flea markets. You could buy anything from tube amps, to pirated movies, trade ZX Spectrum computer programs on tapes, tools, multimeters, mechanical parts for tape players and so on. That was one of my favorite places to go to as a kid.

Well, anyway here in US RS was the place to go for kids and adults who liked electronics and needed parts and tools from what I understand. That's why there is name recognition and nostalgia about it.

You may know then under the Tandy brand.

It's complete spread of America is why I miss it. I grew up in a town of 2,000 people and we had a RadioShack as part of the local Ben Franklin's, a chain department/art's and craft's store. Now in a town of about 30,000, I can't buy something like a SATA cable locally since it closed.

I guess I didn't realize before seeing this that Adafruit was of the scale that they could buy a major brand like Radio Shack. Although, in retrospect, I suppose Radio Shack isn't worth much anymore.

I have so much Radio Shack branded crud around my house (and that was even before I went on a shopping spree through like six stores undergoing clearance), they used to be so much more than a store. I'm glad to see it finally end up in good hands.

I can't believe it either. I always thought of Adafruit as the underdog, and to me, it still seems like a David and Goliath story.

Radio Shack missed the opportunity of going back to their maker roots a long time ago, the brand is worthless and has been tarnished by an inconsistent vision. Radio Shack give me nostalgic feelings of my grand father building the families first color tv in the basement, not of a future makers go to store. It’s a real shame.

The title made produce a rare, audible 'whaaat?' when i read it. But looking more, I don't believe it's as simple as they literally own all of RadioShack now. I think it would be a terrible idea for them to do that this late in the stage.

Funny, and I hope it was cheap and not riddled with debt baggage, because I doubt there's much value left in a pile of ailing brick and mortar stores at this point.

I hope for adafruit's sake this is just a joke around a framed radio shack cert.

This is perfect. The only thing that made Adafruit less than ideal was the shipping cost and delay for small purchases. If I can just hop over to a local retail site and get what I need for my projects I will be so happy!

This is crazy, this is like Porsche almost acquiring Volkswagen. If you'd told me the other way around (RadioShack acquires Adafruit) a couple years ago I would've believed it.

Porsche almost DID manage to do just that!

Fascinating stuff: https://priceonomics.com/porsche-the-hedge-fund-that-also-ma...

I can't imagine a better match. Thanks, Adafruit.

This is really exciting.

I just know that Adafruit will bring back at least some of the luster that Radio Shack once held in my heart.

Amazing and super cool! I'm not even in the U.S. and I haven't yet done anything with Arduinos, etc. apart from buying one for a kid, but this news will put spring in my step today.

I wish they had a physical store in NYC. So sad I have to wait several days for shipping when there warehouse is on Varick street.

Add a pickup counter... I would still pay shipping to pick up.

Sounds like a perfect fit. I would be a customer for sure. Microcenter should take a hint and reorganize their neglected hobbyist electronic section.

Adafruit , here we come !

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