Are you old enough to remember when Radio Shack first came to our area?
It was back in 1971 when ‘Allied Radio Shack’ first appeared in the Lorain City Directory. The store in Elyria was already open in the latter part of 1969, and Lorain’s store on Oberlin Avenue followed.
Why was it named Radio Shack?
According to its Wikipedia entry, the company was founded in 1921 with the goal of providing equipment for ham radio operators. The ‘shack’ in the name was a reference to "the small, wooden structure that housed a ship’s radio equipment.”
The company grew slowly and eventually entered the hi-fi music market. But it struggled in the 1960s and was on its way to going bankrupt. After the Tandy Corporation purchased the company, Radio Shack stores became known for its small, rented locations and private-label brands, including its own Realistic line of products.
Here’s an early ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on July 29, 1971. It’s an odd ad, with its groovy cartoon lion and offer of free batteries.
The free batteries are what I remember the most about Radio Shack from its early days. The store issued those ‘Free Battery Club' cards, which entitled the bearer to stop in and pick up a free battery once a month for a year. It was a regular monthly ritual for my buddies and me to ride our bikes over there to get our free batteries. I can still see that huge barrel of loose batteries, along with some of the other strange things in the store, like plush animals with radios inside.
During my latter high school days, I had a Realistic turntable and speakers, which eventually went off to college with me.
The Lorain store on Oberlin Avenue closed around 1986 or 87.
Amazingly, after many years of bankruptcy filings and other legal problems, the company is still around. Here’s the link to its website.
Alas, they don’t appear to be issuing new Battery Club cards.
5 comments:
I remember my dad buying one of those big turntable/cassette player recorder/cd player/radio cabinet systems from the Radio Shack on Oberlin Ave.With the super tall speakers.I think it was their house brand "Realistic".It was a good setup.We even hooked up an old 8-track player to it and played our tapes.Nowadays I don't think anybody sells a system like that anymore.Everybody wants stuff to be streamed and downloaded now.No physical media to handle.Another sign of the times I guess.
Radio Shack stores were great!.They seemed to follow the electronic trends and were really the place to get parts for audio-electronic nerds. My self included..Many speakers, amps ,tapes were made by high end manufactures and are collectable today.glad to see they have an online store and still sell boom boxes...Their electronic teaching kits were terrific for father son projects....Glad they lasted as long as they did.
I loved Radio Shack, particularly the off the wall gadgets like the wireless mikes and pocket telescope/microscope sets.
Never knew that shopping center in Elyria was Northgate. I only knew it as the Zayre or Ames plaza.
Me either.
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