Radio Shack to discontinue VEX?

[Rickertsen2]

I'm mad a RS for spoiling everything they touch. There used to be a great store here in atlanta called Tech America. It was a very cool place about the size of a large grocery store. The isles were packed with electronic components, books, radios, oscilloscopes, and everthing else you could ever want. It was a great place where you could buy everything you needed for just about any project. The employees even knew what a 555 timer or octal buffer was. Then, my familiar store was bought by radioshack and renamed RadioShack.com. They started stocking stereo equipment, cell phones, bacically all the crap you find at a normal radio shack which you can buy anywhere else. When this happened, not many people were happy. A good many of the staff quit. Others reminisced the good old days by refusing to acknowledge the change, and insisting that the store would always be tech america. It wasn't long till corporate closed the place due to lack of sales. They never seemed to have any problems with sales before radio shack came along.

I am only 18 but in my lifetime i have witnessed a change even in the normal stores. Each year the selection of electronics components and interesting products like Vex gets pushed to a smaller corner of the store. Now, in most stores it is but a small isle consisting of a few understocked drawers with the most basic components and the space above them. O yea, and forget having any employees who understand what is in those drawers. if i wanted a Spring or Cingular phone i would goto a Spring or Cingular store. If i wanted a cheap sony stereo i would go to a Best Buy. If i wanted an HP computer i would go to a Comp USA. The only unique products they offer are electronic components. The trend is unfortunate. From what i hear radio shack was actually a pretty cool store back in the day.

I recently discovered a FRYs maybie 20 mins from me. Its alot further than the radio shacks but well worth the drive.