Dell Exec to Run RadioShack

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Former Dell executive Ron Garriques is the man chosen by hedge fund Standard General to run RadioShack, following the stepping down of Joe Magnacca after 2 years as CEO.

RadioShackGarriques used to be lead the Dell communications and consumer divisions, and previously held positions at Motorola and Bell Labs. His appointment comes court approval of the Standard General plan to save 1740 Radioshack stores (from a total of over 4000) through a co-branding deal with US mobile provider Sprint.

“We plan to prove the skeptics and the people who wanted to shut this company down wrong,”  Standard General managing partner Soo Kim says. “We are committing the resources needed for the long haul.”

Standard General plans to streamline the venerable 94-year old retailer, stripping away larger items of the PC and camera variety in favor of mobile accessories and smaller items customers might not want to purchase online. The result, as the New York Times puts it, is "an electronics convenience store of sorts."

The rest of RadioShack remains in bankruptcy court as creditors squabble over dividing its remains. RadioShack Corp.  says it is shutting down the stores not covered by the Standard General deal as it liquidates all IP, trademarks and customer databases.

Go RadioShack's Blueprint for a Rebirth, Planned by a Hedge Fund (The NYTimes)