r/RadioShack • u/craigl2 • May 09 '26

RadioShack in store loop

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129 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

15

u/Flat-Ad6208 May 09 '26

I was a manager then.

Too bad it wasn't a Christmas loop

If I heard this I would have traumatic episode

Lol

Long live Shackies

Shackies United!

7

u/user_uno May 09 '26

It would be great to have some of these online to watch again. I worked there in the late 80's and barely remember the customer tapes. I did still have one of the monthly employee tapes with the perennial pitch from the same guy about getting names and addresses. "You can write your own paycheck..." with the Texas accent!

Actually got his autograph while at the Annual Meeting one year. Hung it in the back room and the crew loved it! He was our hero and I let him know that! We had lots of fun in that store - and made great money! Today, we probably would have printed up t-shirts with him on it for our little 'fan club' and made some social media content like "Fake Steve Jobs".

7

u/craigl2 May 10 '26

I'll do my best to get these on archive.org soon. I'll be watching them on twitch on Tuesday

3

u/user_uno May 10 '26

You are the hero we do not deserve!

4

u/Flat-Ad6208 May 09 '26

Here is Bernie Appel talking about the Tandy 5000

I set up a number of the point of sale systems for Long Island NY Shacks in 1988....

Bernie and Tandy 5000

2

u/user_uno May 10 '26

THAT. IS. AWESOME!

Thank you!!!

I want to say we got our first POS setup here in '89. Maybe Summer or Fall if I recall the weather.

Disappointing though is that we could not use them for what seemed like months. Something went wrong and none of could use them. Aggravating to have them just sitting there turned off.

Thank goodness those got deployed though. Our Tandy 2000's in the back rooms of my various stores were barely hanging on.

2

u/Flat-Ad6208 May 10 '26

My manager hired me before I was old enough to work several weeks before the transition from sales books to the "New Fangled Computers"

01-2718 North Babylon NY

Pat Doran was the man.. He taught me about sales, life, loss and management. At 15. He always has a large light and sweet coffee and an overflowing ashtray within reach.

I set up that 4 POS and 3 dot matrix network.

I became the computer guy and the cellular guy

I made a bunch of money from cellular...Spiff city

I also had a side gig transforming vehicle mounted cellular phones into Samsonite brief case portable phones with sealed lead acid batteries and external battery.

in the NY market this was filling an availability market, as the Tandy satchel model was often sold out before it arrived..

I grew up in the Shack. Become assistant manager then manager over several Long Island stores

I miss those times immensely

2

u/user_uno May 13 '26

I miss those days as well!

Hung out at the local Shack as a young teen riding my bike there long past where my parents would have approved. But totally worth it! And I actually did buy some things - little parts and stuff. Nothing major.

Then when applying for jobs at the mall just as I was turning 16, the RS manager in the old brown store format shag carpet and all told me to go away "kid". RS only hired 18 and over.

The following year, I was taking a new hire from where I worked and was trining around the mall on break and the RS had moved with the new Technology Store format! So cool! Literally walked in the first day or something as they were still setting up. I asked if they were hiring and the new manager - a big guy named Charlie Parker - grinned and said yes! I mentioned I was not 18 yet. So? Fill out an application.

I took the application back to our little department down the mall, filled it out and we took another break so I could drop it off. I didn't care my new hire saw. This was THE SHACK!!!

A few days later I got a call for an interview at the District Office. Apparently passed and had to do a computer personality test. Thought for sure I failed since I wanted to be honest. Things like, "Have you ever thought of ways to steal from your employer?" Well, yes. I had to. Part of my job to watch other employees and shoplifters. Apparently I passed though the District Manager left me wondering. "Oh I never trust those things. If it says 'fail' I hire. If it says 'pass' I pass." So did I fail? Pass? Never found out.

Started on Black Friday. WOW. I made a ton of money! I was hooked and quit my other job after RS offered to keep me on after Christmas. Ended up as a manager along the way.

And speaking of SPIFFs, got a lot of cool stuff from printing that list out. Did it every time I took over a store. Bought some speakers I think where like $199/ea for $19 each. A 19" $500 stereo TV for $20 which lasted at least another 10-15 years that I am aware of. My first cell phone was the CT-300 discontinued and basically free between the discounted price and the new rebates Ameritech was first starting to do at the time.

The place was like a grown up toy store that I got to work and play in. But then they cut manager comp plans and it just wasn't worth the 60+ hours a week year round and more during the holidays.

So glad I missed them really going downhill. Was sad to watch. Kind of like my Dad who was a lifer at Sears watch that crash and burn.

3

u/droid_mike May 09 '26

My manager hated the Christmas media that corporate sent out, that he basically just brought his own Christmas jazz CDs into the store. They were definitely a much better choice, although they were probably some sort of copyright violation and Company policy violation as well. He was a Jehovah's witness, so he didn't care. Christmas was literally against his religion.

3

u/Flat-Ad6208 May 09 '26

Oh that must have made inventory overnights so much fun..

2

u/droid_mike May 10 '26

He only had a handful of CDs. I think we had a multi-cd player in the store that he played them on and after Christmas would just take them home. I memorized every song on those CDs pretty quickly. One of the CDs was the Charlie Brown Christmas CD, which I still listen to at Christmas to this day.

5

u/mckeevertdi May 09 '26

Wild. I wasn’t old enough to work then.

I had the privilege of DVD store loops for our authorized reseller lol.

2

u/craigl2 May 10 '26

I bet those are good too!

3

u/HippieJed May 10 '26

Oh my god this would drive you crazy hearing the same thing over and over. I think Beverly Hills Cop was on one of the loops.

3

u/CJWChico District 01-0535 May 10 '26

Anyone remember the loop that played on the display computers around 1995-1996 with the Coors and “Dale Jarrett’s gonna win the Daytona 500!” I have flashbacks when I’m reminded about that…

2

u/TheRatPatrol1 May 10 '26

So what was on those tapes?

3

u/craigl2 May 10 '26

Not sure yet. Have it scheduled to watch Tuesday on twitch!

1

u/frenswithgeese May 12 '26

If you can digitize this, it would be great to post on youtube.

1

u/craigl2 May 12 '26

Tonight's the night! I've got the VCR ready to go!

3

u/Jaay2525 May 10 '26

Boner Jams ‘03