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A (Brief)
History of RadioShack
Radio Shack started in 1921 in Boston, Mass.,
by London-born Bostonian brothers Theodore and Milton Deutschmann. These
young immigrant brothers wanted to provide amateur and ham radio equipment
to the public; much of it was leftover Army gear. At the time, this radio
technology was cutting-edge and the field was wide open. To pursue their
interests, the brothers opened a retail store (a block from the site of the
Boston Massacre).
William Halligan, one of Deutschmann's first employees and later the founder
of Hallicrafters, suggested the name, “Radio
Shack”.
 Did
you know that a "Radio Shack" was the term used for the room that housed a
ship's radio equipment? (as shown to the left).
The brothers thought the name was fitting since their store would supply the
equipment for ship’s radio officers, as well as
ham radio operators.
But it wasn’t until 1939 that Radio Shack
introduced its first catalog when it entered the high-fidelity music
equipment market.
Where it all began! The first Radio Shack catalog (1939) shown to the right.
Below that, a 1946 Radio Shack catalog released after World War II (with
applicable cover theme).
 In
1947, it opened the nation's first audio showroom; providing amplifiers,
speakers, turntables & phonograph equipment, etc. And by this time the
company had an extensive mail order business and expended to nine retail
electronic stores.
In 1954, Radio Shack began to sell their
private-label products under the brand name Realist. However, the company
was later sued. As a result, changed their brand name to Realistic.
By the early 1960s, Radio Shack had expanded
to nine retail stores (plus a mail-order business) and was a leading
distributor of electronic parts and products to do-it-yourselfers around the
world.
But the growth of the Radio
Shack chain was short-lived as
management made a mistake: The stores began selling on credit and soon had a
pile of uncollected receivables.
And in the late 1960s, with the
bank on their back, the company was practically bankrupt.
 Enter
Charles David Tandy. Tandy, owner of the leather goods company, Tandy
Corporation,
 saw
the potential of Radio Shack and the future of retail consumer electronics.
In 1963, seeing an opportunity, he bought the company for $300,000.
Tandy began to phase-out its
non-electronic product lines. And in 1975, Tandy Corporation became
exclusively an electronics company.
The '70s proved to be a decade of incredible
growth for Radio Shack. Some called Radio Shack, "The McDonalds
of Electronics" or the "Walmart of Hi-Tech". Not only did Radio Shack grow
in number of stores, but in the quantity, quality and sophistication of its
products. The incredibly popular citizen-band (CB) radios, were one of its
top selling items. (The company pitched the CB as a "survival tool
for the energy crunch of the '70s"). Tandy's own CB handle was "Mr. Lucky."
Following the highly successful CB radios in 1977, Radio Shack introduced
the first high volume produced personal computer: the TRS-80® microcomputer
- Only $599.95.
This computer was the creation of a 24-year-old engineer named Steve
Leininger.
In contrast to build-it-yourself units
available at the time, the TRS-80 was fully wired, tested, and ready to use.
To the right, is
the first appearance of the TRS-80 Computer
within a Radio Shack catalog. It appeared as an insert within the 1978
Radio Shack catalog. (Click to enlarge.)
At the time, The TRS-80 was a
state-of-the-art computing device - at an economical price. This led
to overwhelming customer demand. Over 200,000 TRS-80 Model I computers were
sold between 1977 to 1981. And during the '80s, as the company
advertised, Radio Shack was "the biggest name in little computers".
It's been said that Radio Shack has done more than any company - more than
Apple or IBM - to bring the computer to your home and office.
Also during the '80s, Radio Shack introduced
the first affordably priced stereo receiver with digital technology, the
first mobile/portable cell phone that could be installed by the customer,
and the first satellite TV system that could be installed by the hobbyist.
In 1999, Radio Shack launched
its website, www.RadioShack.com. And in 2003, discontinued printing of their
full-line catalogs :-( and concentrated their marketing media towards their
website.
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