Downtown Fort Worth is the central business district of Fort Worth, Texas , United States. Most of Fort Worth's tallest buildings and skyscrapers are located downtown.
68-512: Sundance Square began as an effort by Sid Bass to revitalize downtown Fort Worth in the early 1980s. At the time, downtown Fort Worth was in decline due to suburbanization . There were many empty gaps between existing skyscrapers and historic buildings that resulted in a pedestrian-unfriendly atmosphere. During many trips to New York City , Bass was fascinated with the urban atmosphere with retail shops, restaurants, office buildings, and museums all working together to form one cohesive experience for
136-739: A calming and cooling oasis for downtown patrons. It was used in the finale of the 1976 sci-fi film Logan's Run . (In mid-2004 it had to be closed due to several drownings. It reopened after preventive measures had been installed.) Bass Performance Hall - Bass Hall is the permanent home to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Texas Ballet Theater, Fort Worth Opera, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and Cliburn Concerts. The Fort Worth Convention Center includes an 11,200 seat multi-purpose arena . The Tower , formerly
204-740: A hotel being exceptions. Sidewalks in it are paved with brick. Lewis Faulkner, AIA Sundance Square Plaza is a 55,000 square foot plaza spanning two city blocks within Sundance Square. IT features four large Teflon umbrellas, a permanent stage built into the Westbrook building, jetted fountains that illuminate at night, various other fountains, and a pavilion that can be rented. It is bookended by two office buildings: The Westbrook and The Commerce. Fort Worth Water Gardens - A 4.3-acre (17,000 m2) contemporary park, designed by architect Philip Johnson, that features three unique pools of water offering
272-550: A lack of economies of scale led Radio Shack to exit the computer-manufacturing market in the 1990s after losing much of the desktop PC market to newer, price-competitive rivals like Dell . Tandy acquired the Computer City chain in 1991, and sold the stores to CompUSA in 1998. In 1994, RadioShack began selling IBM 's Aptiva line of home computers. This partnership would last until 1998, when RadioShack partnered with Compaq and created 'The Creative Learning Center' as
340-441: A minority. In mid-December 2008, RadioShack opened three concept stores under the name "PointMobl" to sell wireless phones and service, netbooks , iPod and GPS navigation devices . The three Texas stores ( Dallas , Highland Village and Allen ) were furnished with white fixtures like those in the remodelled wireless departments of individual RadioShack stores, but there was no communicated relationship to RadioShack itself. Had
408-647: A period of long decline for the chain, which was slow to respond to key trends— such as e-commerce , the entry of competitors like Best Buy and Amazon.com , and the growth of the maker movement . By 2011, smartphone sales, rather than general electronics, accounted for half of the chain's revenue. The traditional RadioShack clientele of do-it-yourself tinkerers were increasingly sidelined. Electronic parts formerly stocked in stores were now mostly only available through on-line special order. Store employees concentrated efforts selling profitable mobile contracts, while other customers seeking assistance were neglected and left
476-666: A profit. Its six profitable stores were sold to Fry's Electronics in 1996; the others were closed. Other rebranding attempts included the launch or acquisition of chains including McDuff, Video Concepts and the Edge in Electronics; these were larger stores which carried TVs, appliances and other lines. Tandy closed the McDuff stores and abandoned Incredible Universe in 1996, but continued to add new RadioShack stores. By 1996, industrial parts suppliers were deploying e-commerce to sell
544-401: A slow and gradual shift away from electronic parts and customer service and toward promotion of wireless sales and add-ons; the pressure to sell gradually increased, while the focus on training and product knowledge decreased. Morale was abysmal; longtime employees who were paid bonus and retirement in stock options saw the value of these instruments fade away. In 1998, RadioShack called itself
612-470: A store-within-a-store to promote desktop PCs. Similar promotions were tried with 'The Sprint Store at RadioShack' (mobile telephones), ' RCA Digital Entertainment Center' (home audio and video products), and 'PowerZone' (RadioShack's line of battery products, power supplies, and surge protectors). In the mid-1990s, the company attempted to move out of small components and into more mainstream consumer markets, focusing on marketing wireless phones. This placed
680-581: A wide range of components online; it would be another decade before RadioShack would sell parts from its website, with a selection so limited that it was no rival to established industrial vendors with million-item specialised, centralised inventories. In 1994, the company introduced a service known as "The Repair Shop at Radio Shack", through which it provided inexpensive out-of-warranty repairs for more than 45 different brands of electronic equipment. The company already had over one million parts in its extensive parts warehouses and 128 service centers throughout
748-409: Is also home to the headquarters of Pier 1 Imports , XTO Energy , and TPG Capital . Downtown Fort Worth is well-served by controlled-access highways , with freeways and parkways converging upon downtown from seven different directions: I-35W from the north and south, I-30 from the east and west, SH 121 from the northeast and southwest, and US 287 from the southeast. Other highways that serve
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#1732787336895816-591: Is west of the West Seventh District and Downtown, and is home to many Fort Worth museums, such as the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth , Kimbell Art Museum , Amon Carter Museum of American Art , Fort Worth Museum of Science and History , and National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame , among others. The district is also home to Will Rogers Memorial Center , which hosts the annual Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo . "West Seventh" can refer to
884-831: The A.D. Marshall Public Safety and Courts Building . The Fort Worth district of the United States Army Corps of Engineers is downtown. The United States Postal Service operates the Downtown Fort Worth Post Office at 251 West Lancaster Avenue. The Texas Second Court of Appeals is in the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Downtown Fort Worth. Tarrant County Courthouse stands at the north end of Main Street. It has been remodeled over
952-626: The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex . It is owned by Fine Line investments, a division of billionaire Ed Bass 's investment funds. The area includes numerous hotels, restaurants, condos, lofts, shops, museums, bars, clubs, a movie theatre, performing arts, concerts and festivals throughout the year. The former downtown Woolworth's Building, as well as Burk Burnett Building , are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . A mural on one building commemorates
1020-661: The Fort Worth Cats and Fort Worth Vaqueros FC ). Sundance Square 32°45′32″N 97°19′38″W / 32.75889°N 97.32722°W / 32.75889; -97.32722 Sundance Square is the name of a 35-block commercial, residential, entertainment and retail district in downtown Fort Worth, Texas . Named after the Sundance Kid in western folklore, it is a popular place for nightlife and entertainment in Fort Worth and for tourists visiting
1088-481: The Memorex consumer recording trademarks to a Hong Kong firm, and divested most of its manufacturing divisions. House-brand products, which Radio Shack had long marked up heavily, were replaced with third-party brands already readily available from competitors. This reduced profit margins. In 1992, Tandy attempted to launch big-box electronics retailer Incredible Universe ; most of the seventeen stores never turned
1156-623: The Tandy Computer Whiz Kids (1982–1991), a comic-book duo of teen calculator enthusiasts who teamed up with the likes of Archie and Superman. Radio Shack's computer stores offered lessons to pre-teens as "Radio Shack Computer Camp" in the early 1980s. By September 1982, the company had more than 4,300 stores, and more than 2,000 independent franchises in towns not large enough for a company-owned store. The latter also sold third-party hardware and software for Tandy computers, but company-owned stores did not sell or even acknowledge
1224-515: The Trinity Railway Express and TEXRail commuter rail lines. Bus service from Trinity Metro is free within certain downtown boundaries. The T operates a downtown bus circulator known as Molly The Trolley, which uses a bus designed to look like a historic trolley. In the future, a 27-mile commuter rail line called TEX Rail will be built from downtown Fort Worth to Grapevine and DFW Airport . The Tandy Center Subway , based in
1292-551: The Trinity River . The first part of the redevelopment plan calls for infrastructure improvements and flood protection. The second part calls for mixed-use development and sustainable growth along the Trinity River, which would result in a vibrant urban neighborhood. Panther Island is home to several attractions, including Coyote Urban Drive-In Movie Theater, Panther Island Pavilion, and LaGrave Field (former home of
1360-766: The breakup of the Bell System encouraged subscribers to own their own telephones instead of renting them from local phone companies; Radio Shack offered twenty models of home phones. Much of the Radio Shack line was manufactured in the company's own factories. By 1990/1991, Tandy was the world's biggest manufacturer of personal computers; its OEM manufacturing capacity was building hardware for Digital Equipment Corporation, GRiD, Olivetti, AST Computer, Panasonic, and others. The company manufactured everything from store fixtures to computer software to wire and cable, TV antennas, audio and videotape. At one point, Radio Shack
1428-618: The "Verizon Wireless Store" within a store. 2005 under the leadership of Jim Hamilton, marked a banner year for wireless. RadioShack sold more mobile phones than Walmart, Circuit City and Best Buy combined. RadioShack had not made products under the Realistic name since the early 1990s. Support for many of Radio Shack's traditional product lines, including amateur radio, had ended by 2006. A handful of small-town franchise dealers used their ability to carry non-RadioShack merchandise to bring in parts from outside sources, but these represented
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#17327873368951496-465: The 33-story Wells Fargo Tower (1982). From the top, they are shaped like pinwheels. The Hilton Fort Worth opened in 1921 and is where U.S. President John F. Kennedy last stayed before he was assassinated in Dallas. Fort Worth City Hall is located at 200 Texas Street and was constructed in 1971. The previous building to house those functions in located at 1000 Throckmorton Street and is now known as
1564-492: The Bank One Tower, was severely damaged by a F3 tornado on March 28, 2000 . It was converted into a residential tower in 2005. Before the redevelopment, it was covered in plywood and metal panels, and considered to be demolished. It now has a new facade and a new top feature that makes it the fourth tallest building in the city. City Center Development features two twin towers, the 38-story D.R. Horton Tower (1984) and
1632-665: The Central Library at 500 West Third Street at Taylor Street. The library opened in 1978, and an expansion was completed in 2000, making it one of the largest public libraries in Tarrant County. Logan's Run , a 1976 science fiction film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York was shot largely in Fort Worth, including locations such as the Fort Worth Water Gardens . The Water Gardens also appear in another science-fiction film of
1700-575: The City of Fort Worth approved a 30-year economic agreement to ensure that the company stayed in Fort Worth. The company sold the building and, as of 2009, had two years left of a rent-free lease in the building. The company intended to make $ 66.8 million in the deal with the city. By 2009 it made $ 4 million; by 2009 the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the company was considering a new site for its headquarters. Downtown Fort Worth
1768-527: The Flavoradio the longest production run in radio history. It was originally released in five colors in the 1972 catalog: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, avocado, and plum. For 1973, vanilla and chocolate were dropped (and thus are rare today ) and replaced by lemon and orange. At some point two-tone models with white backs were offered but never appeared in catalogs; these are extremely rare today. The original design had five transistors (model 166). A sixth
1836-513: The Flavoradio was dropped from the catalog in 2001, it was the last AM-only radio on the market. The chain profited from the mass popularity of citizens band radio in the mid-1970s which, at its peak, represented nearly 30% of the chain's revenue. In 1977, two years after the MITS Altair 8800 , Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80 , one of the first mass-produced personal computers . This
1904-705: The Fort Worth segment of the Chisholm Trail cattle drives of 1867-1875. The district is also the location of the Bass Performance Hall . Radio Shack RadioShack (formerly written as Radio Shack ) is an American electronics retailer , which was established in 1921 as an amateur radio mail-order business. Its original parent company, Radio Shack Corporation, was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, shifting its focus from radio equipment to hobbyist electronic components. At its peak in 1999, Tandy operated over 8,000 RadioShack stores in
1972-504: The Knights of Pythias Building on the U. S. Department of Interior's list of Historic Buildings & Places. Today, Sundance Square is a pedestrian-friendly cluster of blocks in a portion of downtown Fort Worth that features bars, restaurants, museums, theaters, and retail. It also has offices and residential units. Most buildings in it are either historic or reconstructed, with two modern skyscrapers designed by Paul Rudolph, architect, and
2040-940: The Near Southside takes place along Magnolia Avenue. Texas Christian University is Fort Worth's most prominent university. The 325-acre campus is southwest of the Near Southside and downtown. Neighborhoods surrounding the university are predominantly made up of historic, single family homes. In recent years, demand for more student housing has resulted in many historic houses being torn down for larger houses designed to accommodate large numbers of students, upsetting many existing residents. Nightlife options and restaurants geared to students can be found along University Drive and Berry Street. The Trinity River Vision Authority, Tarrant Regional Water District, City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Streams & Valleys Inc, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are cooperating in an effort to redevelop Panther Island, an 800-acre area north of downtown along
2108-561: The Tandy Center (now known as City Place ), operated in Fort Worth from 1963 to 2002. The 0.7 mile (1 km) long subway was the only privately operated subway in the United States. The Trinity Trails is a network of over 35 miles (56 km) of pedestrian trails along the Trinity River branching from downtown. The University of Texas at Arlington offers several undergraduate and graduate degree programs in
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2176-481: The US and Canada; it hoped to leverage these to build customer relationships and increase store traffic. Len Roberts, president of the Radio Shack division since 1993, estimated that the new repair business could generate $ 500 million per year by 1999. "America's technology store" was abandoned for the "you've got questions, we've got answers" slogan in 1994. In early summer 1995, the company changed its logo; "Radio Shack"
2244-716: The United States, Mexico, and Canada, and under the Tandy name in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The 21st century proved to be a period of long decline. In February 2015, after years of management crises, poor worker relations, diminished revenue, and 11 consecutive quarterly losses, RadioShack was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . In May 2015,
2312-459: The brand name to Realistic after being sued by Stereo Realist . During the period the chain was based in Boston, it was commonly referred to disparagingly by its customers as "Nagasaki Hardware", as much of the merchandise was sourced from Japan, then perceived as a source of low-quality, inexpensive parts. In 1959, the store moved its headquarters to 730 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston (across
2380-485: The chain, long accustomed to charging wide margins on specialized products not readily available from other local retailers, into direct competition against vendors such as Best Buy and Walmart . In May 2000, the company dropped the Tandy name altogether, becoming RadioShack Corporation. The leather operating assets were sold to The Leather Factory on November 30, 2000; that business remains profitable. House brands Realistic and Optimus were discontinued. In 1999,
2448-646: The company agreed to carry RCA products in a five-year agreement for a "RCA Digital Entertainment Center" store-within-a-store. When the RCA contract ended, RadioShack introduced its own Presidian and Accurian brands, reviving the Optimus brand in 2005 for some low-end products. Enercell , a house brand for dry cell batteries, remained in use until approximately 2014. Most of the RadioShack house brands had been dropped when Tandy divested its manufacturing facilities in
2516-511: The company in 1962 for US$ 300,000. At the time of the Tandy Radio Shack & Leather 1962 acquisition, the Radio Shack chain was nearly bankrupt. Tandy's strategy was to appeal to hobbyists. It created small stores that were staffed by people who knew electronics, and sold mainly private brands. Tandy closed Radio Shack's unprofitable mail-order business, ended credit purchases and eliminated many top management positions, keeping
2584-482: The company sold off the few remaining Allied retail stores and resumed using the Radio Shack name. Allied Electronics , the firm's industrial component operation, continued as a Tandy division until it was sold to Spartan Manufacturing in 1981. The longest-running product for Radio Shack was the AM-only Realistic Flavoradio, sold from 1972 to 2000, 28 years in three designs. This also made
2652-503: The company's assets, including the RadioShack brand name and related intellectual property , were purchased by General Wireless, a subsidiary of Standard General , for US$ 26.2 million. In March 2017, General Wireless and subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy, claiming that a store-within-a-store partnership with Sprint was not as profitable as expected. As a result, RadioShack shuttered several company-owned stores and announced plans to shift its business primarily online. RadioShack
2720-431: The downtown area include Bus. US 287 (Commerce / Houston Streets), SH 199 (Henderson Street), Spur 280 , and Spur 347 (Belknap / Weatherford Streets). The primary mass transportation hub of Tarrant County is Fort Worth Central Station , located in the eastern portion of downtown at the intersection of Jones Street and 9th Street. About two dozen bus lines operated by Trinity Metro converge at this hub, as well as
2788-701: The early 1990s; the original list included: Realistic (stereo, hi-fi and radio), Archer (antenna rotors and boosters), Micronta (test equipment), Tandy (computers), TRS-80 (proprietary computer), ScienceFair (kits), DuoFone (landline telephony), Concertmate (music synthesizer), Enercell (cells and batteries), Road Patrol (radar detectors, bicycle radios), Patrolman (Realistic radio scanner ), Deskmate (software), KitchenMate , Stereo Shack , Supertape (recording tape), Mach One , Optimus (speakers and turntables), Flavoradio (pocket AM radios in various colours), Weatheradio , Portavision (small televisions) and Minimus (speakers). In 2000, RadioShack
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2856-405: The existence of non-Tandy products. In the mid-1980s, Radio Shack began a transition from its proprietary 8-bit computers to its proprietary IBM PC compatible Tandy computers , removing the "Radio Shack" name from the product in an attempt to shake off the long-running nicknames "Radio Scrap" and "Trash 80" to make the product appeal to business users. Poor compatibility, shrinking margins and
2924-458: The expense of its core components business. RadioShack aggressively promoted Dish Network subscriptions. In November 2012, RadioShack introduced Amazon Locker parcel pick-up services at its stores, only to dump the program in September 2013. In 2013, the chain made token attempts to regain the do it yourself market, including a new "Do It Together" slogan. Long-time staff observed
2992-425: The former RadioShack mail-order business determined where Tandy would locate new stores. As an incentive for them to work long hours and remain profitable, store managers were required to take an ownership stake in their stores. In markets too small to support a company-owned Radio Shack store, the chain relied on independent dealers who carried the products as a sideline. Charles D. Tandy said "We’re not looking for
3060-402: The free vacuum tube testing offered in-store in the early 1970s, this small loss leader drew foot traffic . The cards also served as generic business cards for the salespeople. In 1970, Tandy Corporation bought Allied Radio Corporation (both retail and industrial divisions), merging the brands into Allied Radio Shack and closing duplicate locations. After a 1973 federal government review,
3128-612: The gentrifying neighborhood along West 7th Street between the Cultural District and downtown, the mixed-use development within the district, or the street itself. Most gentrification in the West Seventh District has happened south of West 7th Street. The Near Southside is an urban neighborhood just south of downtown. Many Fort Worth hospitals are in this district, including Baylor All Saints Medical Center, Cook Children's Medical Center, Texas Health Harris Methodist, and JPS Health Network, among others. Most pedestrian activity in
3196-499: The guy who wants to spend his entire paycheck on a sound system", instead seeking customers "looking to save money by buying cheaper goods and improving them through modifications and accessorizing", making it common among "nerds" and "kids aiming to excel at their science fairs". Charles D. Tandy , who had guided the firm through a period of growth in the 1960s and 1970s, died of a heart attack at age 60 in November 1978. In 1982,
3264-536: The historic Santa Fe Freight Building downtown. The Tarrant County College Trinity River campus is located in downtown, along with the Tarrant County College District administrative offices. In 2008 the Tarrant County College District purchased the former Radio Shack headquarters, built only four years earlier in 2004. The Texas A&M University School of Law campus has been located in downtown at its since 1997. On August 12, 2013,
3332-406: The name and address of purchasers so they could be added to mailing lists. Name and mailing address were requested for special orders (RadioShack Unlimited parts and accessories, Direc2U items not stocked locally), returns, check payments, RadioShack Answers Plus credit card applications, service plan purchases and carrier activations of cellular telephones. On December 20, 2005, RadioShack announced
3400-482: The name came from an employee, Bill Halligan, who went on to form the Hallicrafters company. The term was already in use — and is to this day — by hams when referring to the location of their stations. The company issued its first catalog in 1939 as it entered the high-fidelity music market. In 1954, Radio Shack began selling its own private-label products under the brand name Realist, changing
3468-484: The new field of amateur radio (also known as ham radio ). The brothers opened a one-store retail and mail-order operation in the heart of downtown Boston at 46 Brattle Street . They chose the name " Radio Shack ", which was the term for a small, wooden structure that housed a ship's radio equipment. The Deutschmanns thought the name was appropriate for a store that would supply the needs of radio officers aboard ships, as well as hams (amateur radio operators). The idea for
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#17327873368953536-558: The old west and the Chisholm Trail at the site of the historic cattle drives and rail access. The district is filled with restaurants, clubs, gift shops, and attractions such as the twice daily Texas Longhorn cattle drives through the streets, historic reenactments, the Stockyards Museum, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame , and Billy Bob's , the world's largest country and western music venue. The Cultural District
3604-539: The period, The Lathe of Heaven (1980). The interior of St. Patrick Cathedral was filmed for the 1990 comedy film Problem Child . The exterior of the Tarrant County Courthouse was used frequently in Walker, Texas Ranger . Fort Worth has several other urban neighborhoods in close proximity to the central business district. The Fort Worth Stockyards , north of downtown, offers a taste of
3672-513: The public. He did not want to relocate his business to New York City so he brought a little of New York City to Fort Worth. He employed Thomas E. Woodward, AIA, of Woodward & Taylor Architects, a Dallas architectural firm to design Sundance Square because of his experience with historic structures and commercial buildings. Lewis Faulkner, AIA was the Project Architect and Manager for Woodward & Taylor. Woodward & Taylor placed
3740-578: The sale of its newly built riverfront Fort Worth, Texas headquarters building to German-based KanAm Grund; the property was leased back to RadioShack for 20 years. In 2008, RadioShack assigned this lease to the Tarrant County College District (TCC), remaining in 400,000 square feet (37,000 m ) of the space as its headquarters. In 2005, RadioShack parted with Verizon for a 10-year agreement with Cingular (later AT&T) and renegotiated its 11-year agreement with Sprint. In July 2011, RadioShack ended its wireless partnership with T-Mobile , replacing it with
3808-597: The salespeople, merchandisers and advertisers. The number of items carried was cut from 40,000 to 2,500, as Tandy sought to "identify the 20% that represents 80% of the sales" and replace Radio Shack's handful of large stores with many "little holes in the wall", large numbers of rented locations which were easier to close and re-open elsewhere if one location didn't work out. Private-label brands from lower-cost manufacturers displaced name brands to raise Radio Shack profit margins; non-electronic lines from go-carts to musical instruments were abandoned entirely. Customer data from
3876-547: The school and campus were purchased from Texas Wesleyan University by the Texas A&;M University System for $ 73 million. The school is a unit of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas , with 452 students, as of 2018. The Fort Worth Independent School District provides public education for children who reside downtown, and has one school (Nash Elementary) downtown. Fort Worth Library operates
3944-577: The single largest seller of consumer telecommunications products in the world; its stock reached its peak a year later. InterTAN , a former Tandy subsidiary, sold the Tandy UK stores in 1999 and the Australian stores in 2001. InterTAN was sold (with its Canadian stores) to rival Circuit City in 2004. The RadioShack brand remained in use in the United States , but the 21st century proved
4012-450: The street from Boston University's Marsh Chapel ), with ambitious plans for further expansion. After expanding to nine stores plus an extensive mail-order business, the company fell on hard times in the early 1960s. Tandy Corporation, a leather goods corporation, was looking for other hobbyist-related businesses into which it could expand. Charles D. Tandy saw the potential of Radio Shack and retail consumer electronics, purchasing
4080-532: The test proved successful, RadioShack could have moved to convert existing RadioShack locations into PointMobl stores in certain markets. While some PointMobl products, such as car power adapters and phone cases, were carried as store-brand products in RadioShack stores, the stand-alone PointMobl stores were closed and the concept abandoned in March 2011. In August 2009, RadioShack rebranded itself as "The Shack". The campaign increased sales of mobile products, but at
4148-702: The worldwide RadioShack franchise. Unicomer is based in El Salvador and is one of the largest franchisors of RadioShack, with stores in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. It had purchased its first RadioShack franchise (in El Salvador) in January 1998. The company was started as Radio Shack in 1921 by two brothers, Theodore and Milton Deutschmann, who wanted to provide equipment for
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#17327873368954216-470: The years. Downtown Fort Worth is the central business district of the city, and is home to many commercial office buildings, including four office towers over 450 feet tall. Radio Shack has its headquarters in Downtown Fort Worth. In 2001 Radio Shack bought the former Ripley Arnold public housing complex in Downtown Fort Worth for $ 20 million. The company razed the complex and had a 900,000 square feet (84,000 m) corporate headquarters campus built after
4284-504: Was a complete pre-assembled system at a time when many microcomputers were built from kits, backed by a nationwide retail chain when computer stores were in their infancy. Sales of the initial, primitive US$ 600 (equal to $ 3,017 today) TRS-80 exceeded all expectations despite its limited capabilities and high price. This was followed by the TRS-80 Color Computer in 1980, designed to attach to a television. Tandy also inspired
4352-476: Was acquired by Retail Ecommerce Ventures, a holding company owned by Alex Mehr and self-help influencer Tai Lopez, in November 2020. RadioShack operated primarily as an e-commerce website with a network of independently owned and franchised RadioShack stores, as well as a supplier of parts for HobbyTown USA . On March 2, 2023, Retail Ecommerce Ventures announced that it was mulling a possible bankruptcy filing. In May 2023, Unicomer Group acquired control of
4420-525: Was added in 1980 (model 166a). The case was redesigned for 1987, making it taller and thinner, and it came in red, blue, and black. The final model, 201a, came in 1996 and was designed around an integrated circuit. They were first made in Korea then Hong Kong and finally the Philippines. The Flavoradio carried the Realistic name until about 1996, when it switched to "Radio Shack", then finally "Optimus". When
4488-466: Was one of multiple backers of the CueCat barcode reader, which soon turned out to be a marketing failure. The company had invested US$ 35 million in the concept, including printing the barcodes throughout its catalogs, and distributing CueCat devices to customers at no charge. The last annual RadioShack printed catalogs were distributed to the public in 2003. Until 2004, RadioShack routinely asked for
4556-595: Was spelled in camel case as "RadioShack". In 1996, RadioShack successfully petitioned the US Federal Communications Commission to allocate frequencies for the Family Radio Service , a short-range walkie-talkie system that proved popular. From the 1960s until the early 1990s, Radio Shack promoted a "battery of the month" club; a free wallet -sized cardboard card offered one free Enercell per month in-store. Like
4624-427: Was the world's largest electronics chain. In June 1991, Tandy closed or restructured its 200 Radio Shack Computer Centers, acquired Computer City , and attempted to shift its emphasis away from components and cables, toward mainstream consumer electronics. Tandy sold its computer manufacturing to AST Research in 1993, including the laptop computer Grid Systems Corporation which it had purchased in 1988. It sold
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