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The End is Nigh for RadioShack?

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Bloomberg is the latest to report on the woes affecting RadioShack-- apparently the retailer is set to shut down in a bankruptcy deal selling around half its store leases to Sprint and closing the rest.

RadioshackThe anonymous sources add the sold outlets will operate under the Sprint name, meaning the 94-year old RadioShack will cease to exist as a stand-alone retailer. However negotiations are still ongoing, meaning talks can either break down or lead to a co-branding agreement, possibly as part of a store-within-a-store concept involving the wireless carrier.

Another possibility is that of another bidder entering the fray-- such as the Sanpower Group, the Chinese backers who took the Brookstone chain out of bankruptcy back in June 2014.

Of course, this Bloomberg report is but the latest of a slew on RadioShack's imminent bankruptcy. Last month the Wall Street Journal said RadioShack will prepare for bankruptcy protection from early February 2015, should it fail to find lenders or debt-restructuring options.

RadioShack counts over 4000 stores in the US. It was founded as a mail-order radio equipment retailer (thus the name) in 1921, and over the decades expanded into CE, PCs and components. However recent times have hit the anachronistically-named retailer hard, with bigger-than expected fiscal Q3 losses.

RadioShack is still to comment on the news stories.

Go RadioShack in Talks to Sell Half its Stores to Sprint, Shutter the Rest (Bloomberg)

Go WSJ: RadioShack May Declare Bankruptcy