The Shack is still a shack
What's that Shakespeare said about a rose by any other name? It would still smell as sweet. Well, that seems to be what RadioShack is hoping will happen with it's rebranding campaign. But will The Shack live up to Shakespeare's promise or will it just stink?The press release says it all, right in the headline:
RadioShack Invites Consumers to Rediscover 'THE SHACK' Through New Brand Creative Platform. Integrated Media Campaign to Contemporize the Brand and Reinforce RadioShack's Authority in Innovative Products, Leading Brands and Knowledgeable Associates
I'm always suspicious of retailers that mess with a legacy name and brand. RadioShack has been around since 1921, and was bought by Tandy Corp. in 1963. In 2000, Tandy changed its corporate title to RadioShack, because it offered the most recognizable public face to the company. By all means, squander that now.
Of course RadioShack is trying to be relevant in a big-box dominated marketplace. There's been a turnaround in progress for a few years now, mostly focused on cost cutting. New merchandising initiatives are trying to reassert the retailer's leadership position in portable electronics and mobile phones.
But what kind of message does "The Shack" send to customers? How many old school retailers have tried to reinvent themselves by letting go of their most recognizable parts? What's in a name? A lot actually. I wonder how long it will take The Shack to find that out.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
8-07-2009 @ 6:26PM
K said...
Upper management doesn't givve a f**k about anything but cell phones. that's all they want pushed on the customer. Course, they treat their employees like shit anyway, so you get what you get.
8-06-2009 @ 7:35PM
startrekstngs said...
Look I don't know about you but my family and I have all ways called Radio Shack, The Shack. As for cell phones any one who doesn't go there to add a new line of service or up grade their phone is crazy. Why pay up to a hundred dollars more out the door and having to dick around with mail in rebates ( they count on you screwing up or forgetting to mail the crap in order to get a check or visa card sent). For Sprint and ATT cell phones it is the place to go. Word has it that they will soon carry T-Mobile too.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW....THE SHACK IS WHERE IT'S AT.
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8-07-2009 @ 5:09PM
Ezgoing said...
ROFLMAO ... As a former mgr, RadioShack is a terrible company and the products are sub-standard - just terrible quality in today's market. Yes, the truth hurts ...
8-07-2009 @ 5:40PM
GadgetMaster said...
Might as well call it ChinaShack ... majority of their products are manufactured in China ... as with most of what the U.S. imports ... and all are pretty much poor quality. The employees are mostly kids who are really clueless about electronics. Sad to say, but America is no longer self-sufficient as it once was ... and time will catch up with us and we Americans are doomed.
8-08-2009 @ 11:34AM
Javlouid said...
this is just dumb!
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8-07-2009 @ 2:36PM
K J Hall said...
In the '50s it was the Radio Ham Shack, on Park Row in lower Manhattan, so name changes don't seem to hurt it.
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8-07-2009 @ 2:19PM
dj said...
LOL @ "The Shack" sounds about as catchy as an STD
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8-07-2009 @ 2:21PM
joey g said...
Are they out of their corporate mind!?, Big mistake! The peeps who came up with that idea surely does not live in the real world,"TheShack"???...Even looks ridiculous in print,way to go S#% for brains!
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8-07-2009 @ 2:27PM
drumhick said...
Nice cheesy attempt at an insider marketing ploy with the first post. Look, RadioShack ceased to be "Radio" a long time ago. When I was a kid, my first major shortwave radio came from RadioShack (DX-160), and I could not have been happier. Throw this in with a lifelong interest in electronics, computers and physics---this store was the true toy store of my youth as it perhaps was for many people. Well, times did change with the growing popularity of the cell phone. As has been said many times--RadioShack just ain't what it used to be, and has been that way for years now. I don't think I have stepped foot in a RadioShack for at least a couple of years---and I don't see any reason to change that trend. So sad---perhaps the name change is fitting.
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8-07-2009 @ 2:32PM
bill clark said...
There is always an IDIOT out there that has to fix things that are not broke.
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8-07-2009 @ 5:30PM
PARKER said...
TRUE ENOUGH, BILLY BOY... CHANGING THE NAME WILL JUST MAKE IT THAT MUCH HARDER TO FIND AND I'M NOT INCLINED TO MAKE THE EXTRA EFFORT TO DO SO. AND, IF MCDONALDS EVER DECIDES TO GO WITH "MICKEY D'S"... THEY CAN JUST GO ON AND FOLD UP THEIR TENT, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED. I'LL NEVER GO BACK.
8-11-2009 @ 1:17AM
mytusense said...
I could be wrong; but this can't be good. The Shack? It doesn't really sound inviting; but, it does sound like something a youngster would want to say; i.e. "I'm goin' over to da' shack." Hunh? Well, anyway, Radio Shack was recently rated number one in their sales market. I find that hard to believe; but, oh well. I personally prefer Radio Shack; but, life's about change.
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8-07-2009 @ 2:34PM
Clarence Curry said...
Boy! This is stupid beyond understanding. Radio Shack is a place I shop, but it is certainly not a place for raising one's social status. To change the name to "The Shack" not only takes away from the limited image it has, but leads to confusion about what they sell. The last thing a retailer can afford to do, is not be clear on it's business model. I understand a desire to change the name, but not to "The Shack".
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8-07-2009 @ 2:32PM
John F.C. Taylor said...
This strikes me as being on the same level of the Quik choclate drink powder being renamed Nesquik. Or like Pepsi updating their logo. Just needless tinkering with recognizeable brand images.
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8-07-2009 @ 2:50PM
Unrepentant13 said...
No matter the name, you're still paying $5 for a battery that the POS terminal says cost the individual RS 30 cents.
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8-07-2009 @ 3:28PM
Ray said...
and is probably Made In China- which is where 90% of their junk is made!
8-07-2009 @ 3:03PM
mickey said...
The name Shack sounds like a place you were took to get a whipping, or maybe a whorehouse. I think they just uninvented themselves.
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8-07-2009 @ 3:10PM
jpc said...
Perhaps they are worried that the younger set doesn't know what the word 'radio' means....
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8-07-2009 @ 6:28PM
herb said...
As a former ham radio operator, I remember perfectly where the name "Radio Shack" originated. Ham, meaning amateur radio, was originally licensed to allow private citizens to design and build their own receiving and transmitting gear over a limited portion of the spectrum. The effect was to advance the science of electromagnetic propagation. Innovations and inventions would pop up, and the technology improved through individual experimentation.
Amateur radio equipment at one time was bulky, used huge amounts of electricity, and was generally impractical to be located inside one's house. The operator either utilized his garage, or else built a "radio shack" to house all his radio gear. Transmitting antennas were located at some remove from the house and were less likely to interfere with commerical radio or TV reception (most of the time).
The Radio Shack company used to specialize in ham radio gear and parts. It's changed a lot in the decades since.
8-07-2009 @ 7:02PM
A10SL said...
I really don't care what name you call it or give it but if you really want to serve the consumer and stay in business than you better bring your prices down cause changing a name means nothing if you just keep the same damn High prices In that case nothing will change.
I grew up in the 60's and 70's when radio shack had sales reps that new electronics but for the las 10 - 15 years radio shack hires everybody that knows nothing about electronics they don't even know or understand what the customers are asking.
But I see radio shack or the shack dissappearing soon it's just a high price store that does not serve a purpose today.
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