"Gentlemen and gentlewomen of a certain age harbor fond memories of trips to RadioShack. In days of yore, ham radios and homemade guitar amplifiers would emerge from the mysterious jumble of wires and audio components hawked by this unpretentious electronic retailer.

Among younger generations with a much different view, the business enjoys a nickname: “S–t Shack.” Definition as per the Urban Dictionary: “derisive term describing the quality of products, the prices, and the people that go there.”

Whatever one’s view of this American institution with about 27,000 employees, it is near death. On Thursday, RadioShack warned that it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“We may not have enough cash and working capital to fund our operations beyond the very near term, which raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern,” the company said in a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Translation of “substantial doubt about our ability to continue”: Don’t be caught with the ticker symbol “RSH” in your 401(k). This language is the closest a company comes to shouting “We surrender!”

The analysts piled on. After all, as Fortune pointed out, if the stock trades below $1 for 30 days, it will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

“We believe the company will default or restructure in some form that is tantamount to a default within the next six months,” said Standard and Poor’s.

“It would surprise me if we got to Nov. 1 without a bankruptcy,” Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc., told Reuters.

“I don’t think that the chances are great that RadioShack survives,” said David Tawil, president of hedge fund Maglan Capital."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morni.../for-radioshack

I have fond memories of the place. I built a tape deck system in my shitty Ford that put Delco Bose systems to shame. Then RS started marketing to hipsters and dopes instead of nerds and geeks and they sunk. They should have died years ago.

BTW, Sears and JC Pennies along with a whole host of familiar names will be folding soon. They have been on life support for years too.

Quote: ThirstyMan wrote in post #3

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I'm pretty sure Sears owns Costco which is doing well, no?

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