Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
RadioShack to close 200 stores nationwide
The chain, which also re-entered bankruptcy, did not identify the stores that would close but it has a large presence in the Philadelphia suburbs
For the second time in a week, a national electronics retailer announced plans to close a large number of stores.
RadioShack, with numerous locations in Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, will close 200 stores nationwide, its parent company, General Wireless, said in a statement Wednesday evening announcing the company’s filing for Chapter 11 in Wilmington, Del.
Last week, hhgregg announced it was closing 88 stores, including several in the region, in a reorganization that was taking it out of the mid-Atlantic region.
As of Thursday afternoon, RadioShack had not identified the 200 stores it is closing. Several internet news story postings indicated a number of stores in Massachusetts and Illinois were going out of business but no RadioShack in the greater Philadelphia region had indicated they were affected.
One store employee at the Exton RadioShack indicated that store would soon close but said it was due to an expiring lease rather than part of the companywide shutdowns. He said to his
knowledge the other stores in the area were remaining open. Employees at other area stores declined to comment.
It is the second time in two years RadioShack has gone into Chapter 11. During the bankruptcy in 2015, the chain closed 1,500 stores.
The nearly 100-year-old electronics retailer, once known as the place to buy batteries and obscure electronic parts, has struggled to hang on to customers as more people shop on Amazon.com and other online retailers.
It redesigned its stores about three years ago and stocked its shelves with popular headphone brands
and the latest gadgets. But that didn’t attract more shoppers.
After that, it tried to lure smartphone-loving shoppers by opening Sprint wireless carrier shops within 1,200 RadioShack locations. But that didn’t help, either. CEO Dene Rogers on Thursday told the Associated Press that mobile phone sales were “surprisingly poor,” especially in recent months.
Of the 1,300 remaining locations, Sprint Corp. said it will turn “several hundred” of them into Sprintonly stores, but declined to give a specific number.
RadioShack has nearly 5,900 employees, according to bankruptcy paperwork filed on Wednesday. The company said it will try to “preserve as many jobs as possible.”
Its stores are open for
business, but RadioShack said that anything sold at them cannot be returned for a refund. Its website, however, will continue to accept returns on items bought from RadioShack. com. The company said that those holding a RadioShack gift card have until April 7 to spend it at stores.
RadioShack, which was founded in 1921, is now owned by General Wireless Operations Inc., which bought the brand after its 2015 bankruptcy. New Yorkbased hedge fund Standard General is a shareholder in General Wireless.