JBL EON 515XT No Bass

[light-o-matic]

What's really sad (for me and other DJ's in NYC) is what's happened to Canal Hifi, which used to be the first place I looked for stuff when I needed it right away, and they would usually do a pretty good deal. One time years ago I was trying to get a friends new sound system working for a gig the next day and he did not have half the stuff he needed.. he needed racks, he needed a power distro.. all kinds of stuff he had not thought about. We went down to Canal Hifi and in < 30 minutes walked out of there with a Motion Labs 50A CS distro and 100ft 4/8 cable with the CS connector already on one end.. where else can you do that???

But some years ago they lost or got rid of their big space in the back and now it's a tiny little place not even 1/10 their original size, with hardly anything on display. They do an online business but I don't know how well they do. I had not been there in a few years but they remembered me... they didn't have everything I needed in stock but they did give me a reasonable price on 150 ft of some nice 12/4 speaker cable, maybe 25% more than I would have paid online but it was nice cable and I want them to stick around even if they're small.

I think that is really the key to survival of local stores is that they need to select their prices and stock wisely, people will pay a premium for local but come on, don't be ridiculous. Back when Radio Shack was on the brink of extinction, I was out somewhere and I realized I did not have my USB C cable to charge my phone, only Micro (USB C was pretty new, I had just gotten the phone)... I needed the phone to be charged. So I found a Radio Shack. Sure, they had one.. for nearly $20! I paid it. But do you think I ever thought of them again when I needed a cable?? For a reasonable price I would have bought three of those cables then and there, and gone back in the future. Maybe I would have bought some other cell accessories I needed.. but after getting stung like that, you don't go back.

[Incognito]

What's really sad (for me and other DJ's in NYC) is what's happened to Canal Hifi, which used to be the first place I looked for stuff when I needed it right away, and they would usually do a pretty good deal. One time years ago I was trying to get a friends new sound system working for a gig the next day and he did not have half the stuff he needed.. he needed racks, he needed a power distro.. all kinds of stuff he had not thought about. We went down to Canal Hifi and in < 30 minutes walked out of there with a Motion Labs 50A CS distro and 100ft 4/8 cable with the CS connector already on one end.. where else can you do that???

But some years ago they lost or got rid of their big space in the back and now it's a tiny little place not even 1/10 their original size, with hardly anything on display. They do an online business but I don't know how well they do. I had not been there in a few years but they remembered me... they didn't have everything I needed in stock but they did give me a reasonable price on 150 ft of some nice 12/4 speaker cable, maybe 25% more than I would have paid online but it was nice cable and I want them to stick around even if they're small.

I think that is really the key to survival of local stores is that they need to select their prices and stock wisely, people will pay a premium for local but come on, don't be ridiculous. Back when Radio Shack was on the brink of extinction, I was out somewhere and I realized I did not have my USB C cable to charge my phone, only Micro (USB C was pretty new, I had just gotten the phone)... I needed the phone to be charged. So I found a Radio Shack. Sure, they had one.. for nearly $20! I paid it. But do you think I ever thought of them again when I needed a cable?? For a reasonable price I would have bought three of those cables then and there, and gone back in the future. Maybe I would have bought some other cell accessories I needed.. but after getting stung like that, you don't go back.

I used to fly out to New York JUST to go to Canal Hifi, between myself & my old DJ partner we spent A LOT of cash there. We had entire AS&T sound systems built for us, bought racks of Crown amps, crossovers, EQ's, etc. from them back in the early 90's when you could actually still turn an unbelievably really good profit just from DJing alone. As for Radio Shack, we used to have one locally as well but just as you experienced, they priced themselves right out of the market.

[Windows 95]

As for Radio Shack, we used to have one locally as well but just as you experienced, they priced themselves right out of the market.

Radio Shack went out of business because electronics changed. Changing fuses & vacuum tubes in your radio & TV used to be like changing your oil or an air filter in your car & truck.

Modern electronics don't use big resistors, capacitors, and other components that are easy to replace with some solder and a soldering iron. As people stopped building and repairing radios Radio Shack tried to find new markets. In the 1980s they tried be the place for computers. The 1990s the place for RC toys. The 2000s the place for cell phones. The 2010s just another place in the mall that people no longer went to.

[Incognito]

Actually, the Radio Shack we had local was actually selling electronic products such as TV's, DVD players, stereos, etc. They sold electronic component items as well but that didn't make for their bread & butter, the problem was the price point they were selling their electronic items (TV's,etc.) was well above the market price of other sellers.

[Windows 95]

Actually, the Radio Shack we had local was actually selling electronic products such as TV's, DVD players, stereos, etc. They sold electronic component items as well but that didn't make for their bread & butter, the problem was the price point they were selling their electronic items (TV's,etc.) was well above the market price of other sellers.

They've always sold stereos, radios, & TVs. But their main profits came from selling electronic components to consumers & hobbyists.

I remember in the 1970s that I could order 100 resisters from a catalog for the price of 10 resisters from Radio Shack. But since I was a kid/hobbyist I didn't ever need 100 identical resisters. I bought parts as I needed them & Rado Shack not only had any part I needed but also the tools to put them together.

I'd get Elementary Electronics & Popular Electronics every month and usually build one thing from one of those magazines every month. Prior to the 1980s the biggest floor space used in most Radio Shack stores was for things like wires, capacitors, transistors, etc. Even though the front of the store was TV, stereos, CBs, and computers.

[Incognito]

I meant to say my local Radio Shack made their primary profits off of the sale of TV's, Stereos, etc & not from electronic components. The fact that they were selling their TV's etc. much more expensive than their competitors that were selling better quality options is the reason my local Radio Shack went out of business. They sold electronic components as well but it wasn't a huge turn over inventory items even though I used to be there every Saturday buying electronic components back when I was in college studying electronics.

[Windows 95]

From 1921 to 1963 Radio Shack was mainly just an electronic parts & repair equipment store.
In 1963 they were bought out by the Hinckley-Tandy Leather Company & became Tandy Corporation. (1963-2000)

Tandy mainly mostly bought discontinued stock from other companies and rebranded them, Tandy, to sell in their Radio Shack stores. (Some of the Tandy products were cheap foreign imports designed by Tandy.) Tandy was trying to move away from being a parts store and become an electronics retailer similar to Best But or Circuit City.

In 2000 they started taking a nosedive when they became the RadioShack Corporation. The franchises became fewer & fewer, and the company-owned stores became more abundant. The franchise stores were usually owned by a TV repairman. The company-owned stores hired cheap labor that usually had no electronic knowledge.

They were doomed as an electronics store because Tandy was a cheap quality brand being sold at premium prices. And they were doomed as a parts stores because most people don't build & repair their own electronics.

If they had focused on their TRS brand and became a computer store, TRS probably could have become an Apple-style brand. In the 1980s a TRS computer had the advantage of the most extensive software library of any other brand computer.