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hurple

(1,359 posts)
23. I worked at a Radio Shack for years
Thu Mar 19, 2026, 01:02 PM
19 hrs ago

I worked through college and after, until I moved to my "career job." (In the IT field)

I was there through the transition to sales-driven employees. The things they did to push employees to sell more more more was insane. They paid us like we were waiters, below minimum with commission (supposed to) make up the difference. But the commission was so low, it rarely did. Plus, during the 4th quarter (xmas season) they cut commission in half because "you sell more then, because of xmas shopping."

Everything had a commission, even those $0.50 fuses!

It was insane.

But, there were occasional benefits. I became top salesperson in my region one quarter because a customer came in who was opening a new store in the shopping center where we were located and bought an entire POS system from me, and a security system, and everything else his store would need (phones, stereo system, etc). That won me a spot on the annual top performers cruise that RS had every year.

Then a week after the cruise I was fired because on night near closing, when I was alone in the store (a no-no according to policy, but my then-manager was a dick.) a group of kids came in and part of them kept me busy on on side while the rest stole a bunch of scanners on the other side of the store.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

It certainly was a big help to me over the years... hlthe2b 22 hrs ago #1
Lafayette Electronics closed its doors even earlier -- corp. mismanagement. eppur_se_muova 21 hrs ago #2
I miss Lafayette, Mock Electronics, and W&W here in Huntsville. House of Roberts 21 hrs ago #4
I Liked Lafayette Better! BBbats 17 hrs ago #28
Back in those days, you could go in there with a thing you needed to replace, House of Roberts 21 hrs ago #3
take a pic, and mopinko 20 hrs ago #6
My husband still misses that store. He could get components for his various projects. Ritabert 21 hrs ago #5
the ceo in the late 60's mopinko 20 hrs ago #7
Tried to buy a replacement cable to a radio Orrex 20 hrs ago #8
Corporatism proved once again... GiqueCee 19 hrs ago #10
Remember Heathkits? James48 20 hrs ago #9
Built two Heath Kits in 1969, a radio receiver and an amplifier. PufPuf23 19 hrs ago #16
Heh. I remember that particular Pacific Stereo well.... 68er 17 hrs ago #27
Amazon needed to have been busted up decades ago Blue Full Moon 19 hrs ago #11
Bozos bagimin 19 hrs ago #13
Remember RadioShack wayback when it had government surplus. Sneederbunk 19 hrs ago #12
I miss it very much. Nobody fixes anything, anymore. Buddyzbuddy 19 hrs ago #14
Find your nearest Repair Cafe, a non-profit which can work on anything from broken zippers Wonder Why 19 hrs ago #18
Thank you Wonder Why, for the information. Buddyzbuddy 15 hrs ago #33
I know because I am one of the volunteers. However, I'm on indefinite hiatus until I have my leg back. Wonder Why 11 hrs ago #36
I'm sorry to hear that. I wish you a faster painless recovery. Buddyzbuddy 8 hrs ago #42
A good friend of mine built a computer from Heathkit Norbert 19 hrs ago #15
Laz used to manage a Radio Shack in a little rural strip mall near a military base. haele 19 hrs ago #17
We purchased our first computer, the TRS 80 from Radio Shackwhen our son was 7 or 8 yrs old. scarletlib 19 hrs ago #19
There are still... 2naSalit 19 hrs ago #20
Change or die SocialDemocrat61 19 hrs ago #21
Thanks for posting. LudwigPastorius 19 hrs ago #22
The video is AI-generated and narrated, on a channel that's almost completely AI, adding about one AI video highplainsdem 8 hrs ago #41
I worked at a Radio Shack for years hurple 19 hrs ago #23
I take it that the manager did not get to go on the cruise. LiberalArkie 17 hrs ago #26
My son worked at a RadioShack for years. StarryNite 18 hrs ago #24
I had a 'Trash-80' which I liked GenThePerservering 17 hrs ago #25
If I had a time machine I would go back to the 70's and buy up all the vari-loop coils I could get my hands on yaesu 16 hrs ago #29
I miss stores like RadioShack, and this makes me feel a certain way. Mostly nostalgia. Oneironaut 16 hrs ago #30
Their electronic components were expensive. hunter 16 hrs ago #31
A very happy memory is buying a breadboard, some LEDs and other components for my son when he was in elementary school. NNadir 15 hrs ago #32
The same thing that happened to Wolf Brand Texas-Style Chili...capitalism. pecosbob 14 hrs ago #34
Another AI-generated channel. highplainsdem 12 hrs ago #35
I didn't watch the video. I rarely do. hunter 9 hrs ago #39
There are a lot of videos on YouTube about RadioShack. highplainsdem 8 hrs ago #43
It's the tech bro capitalist philosophy -- if people are buying that crap, they will sell it. hunter 4 hrs ago #44
Anyone remember when they gave a 10% discount to shareholders and lots of people, including yours truly, Wonder Why 10 hrs ago #37
The closest fucking thing now to those kits is a little motherfucking robot you can make with a Raspberry Pi at the core SoFlaBro 10 hrs ago #38
I saw a Radio Shack this week, but not in the USA IzzaNuDay 8 hrs ago #40
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