RadioShack "Express Stores" to Open in HobbyTown USA Locations

According to a July 13 article in the New York Post, RadioShack is planning to open "express stores" within HobbyTown USA locations. The nearly century-old, twice-bankrupt retailer has signed a deal with HobbyTown USA to put a mini RadioShack outlet in some 50 HobbyTown USA stores across the country that would
sell items that might appeal to radio amateurs and experimenters. Those locations will be identified with RadioShack signage. HobbyTown markets remote-controlled cars and boats as well as drones and other hobby-related merchandise.

RadioShack shuttered all of its company-owned retail outlets. Its last unsuccessful effort to bail itself out of debt involved a deal with cellular provider Sprint. HobbyTown USA has 140 retail outlets, and, according to the Post article, RadioShack eventually could carve out a presence -- on the order of 500 square feet -- in all of them. Stores in HobbyTown USA's headquarters town of Lincoln, Nebraska, as well as in Parker, Colorado, and Mooresville, North Carolina, will be among the first to host RadioShack express concessions.

"HobbyTown is purchasing the RadioShack merchandise and offering it to its hobbyist customers who need the tools, wires, and other accessories that RadioShack makes," the Post article said.

The article quoted Steve Moroneso, chief executive of General Wireless Operations Inc. -- an affiliate of hedge fund Standard General, which acquired RadioShack in 2015 -- as saying that RadioShack's strategy now is not to own brick-and-mortar stores. RadioShack came out of bankruptcy in January with 400 dealers, an online retail presence, and a distribution center. General Wireless
acquired the 1,743 retail outlets that survived RadioShack's 2015 bankruptcy.

Moroneso also told the Post that there is "plenty of interest from dealers who want to open a full-line Radio Shack."

Original article: http://www.arrl.org/news/radioshack-express-stores-to-open-in-hobbytown-usa-loc ations

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