This is one reason why Amazon is winning

RadioShack was known for carrying miscellaneous, hard to find parts that other stores stopped carrying. How well did that work out for them?
 
Not Home Depot. I have a serious bone to pick with their website... it is VERY inaccurate! I can't tell you how many times I have spotted something that I needed, showing as in-stock on their website, only to go there and they didn't have the item. This is unforgivable given the fact that they use a fully computerised inventory control system. It infuriates me when this happens, so much so that if I can wait a couple of days for the item, I just go ahead and order it from Amazon. I have complained to Home Depot about this on several occasions, their response? Crickets! I have finally given up on running around for hours going to several stores trying to find something when Amazon has it for a good price and I can have it in my hands in a couple of days.

The inventory numbers include stock that isn't on the shelf, but in storage on top of the racks. More than once, I've corralled someone to pull an item from storage, but that's if you can find someone, and one who's cooperative to help, which often isn't easy. Scan the rack for the corresponding shipping box, or HD SKU written on them.

Even so, the system can be wrong, and the item may not actually be in stock.

I even discovered an error on HD's site recently, where two items, of different brands, and qualities, were assigned the same stock number. The erroneous listing was for a different brand that was dropped in favor of the house brand, but because it had the same SKU as the current item, the site showed both to be in stock at the store.

RadioShack was known for carrying miscellaneous, hard to find parts that other stores stopped carrying. How well did that work out for them?

Rat Shack failed for a number of reasons, of which the one cited is minor, at best. In fact, its electronic component selection became a minor part of its business long before it failed.
 
I love Amazon. I needed a part for my chainsaw. The dealer is 30 mins 1 way. Boom. Here in 2 days. Bought an OE truck part that was the all around cheapest with free 2 day shipping and finally a dog collar/ halter thing for our puppy.

I would have had to drive pretty far to find any of these things in stores.

My first Amazon purchase ever was a video game back in 2001 or so. Hydro Thunder for Sega Dreamcast. They’ve sure come a long way.
 
RadioShack was known for carrying miscellaneous, hard to find parts that other stores stopped carrying. How well did that work out for them?
They were profitable when they actually did this, it is when they stopped selling the miscellaneous parts and became a cell phone and toy store that they went downhill.
 
They were profitable when they actually did this, it is when they stopped selling the miscellaneous parts and became a cell phone and toy store that they went downhill.
Was that coincidental? I mean, just how many people were ever buying small electronic parts for home hobby stuff.
 
RadioShack was known for carrying miscellaneous, hard to find parts that other stores stopped carrying. How well did that work out for them?
Radio Shack was doomed the day the founding family passed on. Charles Tandy was a excellent CEO. The day he passed Tandy Corporation jumped into the death spiral. Thousands of company cronies stole everything that was not bolted down.
 
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Radio Shack was doomed the day the founding family passed on. Charles Tandy was a excellent CEO. The day he passed Tandy Corporation jumped into the death spiral. Thousands of company cronies stole everything that was not bolted down.
Charles Tandy died in 1978. Radio Shack was viable and profitable until the mid 90's, well past his death. One of the first really dumb moves that they made after he died was in the early 80's when they pulled their PCs from Radio Shack stores and put them in dedicated Tandy Computer stores (later renaming them as Radio Shack Computer Centers, and then finally, Computer City) that they were opening. This decision turned-out to be a disaster. Up till then, Radio Shack TRS-80 series PCs literally owned the emerging home PC business (as high as 60% at one time), handley outselling everything else on the market combined. They initially refused to sell any other PC brands in their Tandy Computer stores, which was also a mistake.
 
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I owned a RS Franchise from 1978 to 1995. The company was still in family control for quite a while. In 1989 there was a huge shift in the board. They wanted to maximize market share at all costs in computers. As a result they made no money. Their Texas arrogance made them think they were going to be the Industry Standard. NOT! Yes they sold lots-o-puters but the victory was hollow.

The end for me came in 1995 when the Dealer profit on advertised computers plummeted from 23% to 8%. Not worth the effort and handholding in those days when most computers customers where totally ignorant of how computers really work especially in small towns. That news came Jan 2, 60 days later I sold the inventory down to $155 in 2 days and closed the doors. I had no lease.

Several years later I was talking to other RS dealers in the area, and they said it just kept getting worse. By 2005 The Dealers Store network and the cell phone commissions kept the Corp alive. It was a slow painful death. BTW the Dealer stores in small towns still exist.
 
You could write a very long history book on the numbers of retail and wholesale operations that were absolute tops in their fields that have gone long downhill.

The common denominator of quite a few was that they figured they since they were able to dominate in their field, that they would be able to do so in other fields also. It ain't that easy to do.
 
They were profitable when they actually did this, it is when they stopped selling the miscellaneous parts and became a cell phone and toy store that they went downhill.
You were describing Fry's electronics. They went out of business.

Retails are tough, the demand and market changes all the time but you are typically tied down to what you can do if you are a physical store. Sometimes the trend is to get bigger more specialized, sometimes it is to downsize and split up.

The margin is so low these days it is easier to just close the store and do web only sales.
 
You could write a very long history book on the numbers of retail and wholesale operations that were absolute tops in their fields that have gone long downhill.

The common denominator of quite a few was that they figured they since they were able to dominate in their field, that they would be able to do so in other fields also. It ain't that easy to do.

Not always that being the point where it all goes bad. One case would be Eastman Kodak. Yeah they had competition with FujiFilm, Agfa, and Ilford. However, they were still the big behemoth in the photo film world and also one of the top players in copiers and associated office equipment. Their mistake was that they invented digital photography and shelved it because they were afraid that it would cannibalize their film business.
 
Maybe in 25 years Amazon will be defunct like some other retailers.

I think of Amazon as more of a service provider than a retailer. I pay them money and they deliver stuff to my doorstop a day or two later. They provide a lot of the backbone of cloud based computer server software services with their AWS. Their biggest challenge is over-zealous legislation.
 
If anything Amazon is a policy mistake
100% of their profit is government funded
Whether it’s their warehouses built using government grants, their initial technology loans, or the Fed and DOD paying to use their servers even their shipping is government subsidized and many of their employees get government insurance.

Perhaps Amazon is a good example of communism but nothing they do makes profit without government assistance

Even their delivery fleet, self driving, drone ,EV or otherwise is due to government handouts. If the post office would get the same government investment they give Amazon we might have world class equipment buzzing around
As so many others...
 
Maybe in 25 years Amazon will be defunct like some other retailers.

Like Intel back when Andy Grove was running it. I think this will happen After Jeff Bezos is gone.
 
I believe Amazon should should pay ALL more, 401K with a nice discount on Amazon stock and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)..... employees accumulate stock based on years of service without them buying the stock. It acts as a profit sharing plan totally separate from their 401K.

The ESOP increases based on years of employment. 👍


Full Disclosure: I own a few shares of Amazon
 
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Another Amazon feature I've noticed is.. Ever since Amazon has created their own logistics/delivery service the items don't arrive damaged anymore. When it was other carriers (could be any of the big names) you'd run the risk of a smashed box, tire track marks on the box, etc.. But I've noticed I've returned a lot less damaged stuff to Amazon since they now own their own delivery service. Maybe there really is something to this vertically integrated model, (sarcasm) lol..
 
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