RadioShack Corp., a haven for do-it-yourself enthusiasts, will soon meet its end. After years of trying to find its niche in the “connected era,” the company is now taking its last breaths.

According to reports from Bloomberg, RadioShack will be selling half of its stores to Sprint Corp. and closing down the other half. The stores sold to Sprint will carry the buyer’s name, which means RadioShack will cease to exist even as a brand. Also, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it will be suspending trading of RadioShack’s stocks immediately.

In a timeline created by Bloomberg, it was revealed that as a DIY store, RadioShack became big. Geeks had somewhere to go to purchase things for their projects. Then it became lucrative when it started selling TRS-80 personal computers. But with newer and more powerful computers coming out from competitors, RadioShack eventually had to let go of its personal PC business.

The mobile era was also promising for RadioShack, as it took cuts from wireless carriers and from sales of each unit. But the time it took to sign up each new customer (about 45 minutes) led to potential customers walking out the door without ever being helped. The stores just did not have enough employees to accommodate incoming customers. So wireless carriers soon took RadioShack out of the equation, and consumers looking to buy a new phone began to go directly to the telecom giants.

As for RadioShack, while it focused on signing up new customers for carrier contracts, other parts of its business soon started to suffer. Its staff was no longer able to help DIY-ers find the things they needed. What was once a geek’s haven became foreign ground.

It’s ironic that RadioShack is reaching its end at a time when DIY projects are re-emerging, especially with the Internet of Things (IoT) taking centerstage. There are now IoT solutions that can be created or enhanced by tinkerers in their own homes just by purchasing a few parts from DIY shops like RadioShack. But RadioShack’s people failed to leverage the IoT hype.

The company started as a small brick-and-mortar store that expanded when business became lucrative. So now that it’s closing down shop, which small brick-and-mortar store has the potential to succeed in this age of advance technology?

Alternatives to RadioShack

Fry’s Electronics

Fry’s Electronics is a retailer for software, consumer electronics household appliances and computer hardware. It also provides in-store computer repair, as well as custom-built computers. What makes Fry’s stores stand out is that each store has its own theme, including sci-fi, Silicon Valley, the Industrial Revolution, Aztec-inspired and many others. Fry’s had 34 stores in nine states as of August 2014.

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You-Do-It Electronics Center

Established in 1949, You-Do-It Electronics Center has been the go-to store for DIY-ers in New England for years. It offers products from Arduinos, batteries, battery chargers, wires, cables, antenna, wire strippers, terminal strips, and other things necessary for DIY projects.

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Curacao

Curacao is a retail department store with a dedicated electronics department. It was founded in 1978 with retail stores in California and Arizona. You can purchase televisions, smartphones, tablets, computers, computers parts and accessories, cameras, camcorders, and other consumer electronic products.

photo credit: R via photopin (license)