Amateur Radio has seen this issue for quite some time, in that the only place to get most components is mail order (online). Sure, some folks have a store that sells most anything near by - here in metro NYC (a big market by anyone’s standards) I know of only one decent electronics store, an hour from here out in the sticks. (well, sticks for NYC).
Radio Shack needs to sell things that they can sell in volume AND have a decent profit margin. TVs are one choice, but RS should know they can’t complete with the likes of Fye and Best Buy. Instead they need to focus on the smaller stuff that still costs a lot, like - ugh - cell phones. sigh.
On another post, someone stated their RS manager said they were discontinuing the line, so perhaps Jeff you are correct. I can’t resolve that with what I heard, but time will tell.
I went into ***Radio***shack the other day looking to buy a small portable FM radio (as I don’t believe in paying $300 to listen to music -cough- iPod -cough-). They looked at me funny and led me over to a corner of the store where they had a whole three types to choose from.
HSC manages to survive quite well selling electronic components. They even sponsor Team 1351 (Archbishop Mitty HS), and apparently donated something like 1.6 MILLION resistors to them.
On another post, someone stated their RS manager said they were discontinuing the line, so perhaps Jeff you are correct. I can’t resolve that with what I heard, but time will tell.
Heheheh… I had one clerk saying that they were just trying to move the product and that’s why it was on sale. He said that the product wasn’t going anywhere. I had another clerk say that the sale wasn’t even in all the stores. Then my mother had one clerk said that they were ending the line. Also, vex labs said they were talking to Radio Shack about selling all the parts in the basic kit of parts. It would be really strange for them to say that when the line is discontinued. Though I find it odd too about the date which is also when the sale is going to end. So the answer is yes. As to what question it answers. I don’t know. The good news is that I told the one clerk about the Boston regional because he was interested in it for his nephew and the new Lego robotics system is coming out soon.
At 3 of 4 stores I visited, the people there told me that Radioshack was not going to be selling vex in the future. (Note, I’ve visited another store since my last post in case anyone is wondering about the numbers in my posts)
The guy at the last store said he didn’t know anything about it being discontinued but expressed his delight in the 50% off sale in combination with his employee discount.
Now, I find it hard to believe that VEX is being completely discontinued from all stores considering how big a hit it is with FVC and FRC teams alone.
By the way, http://www.vexlabs.com is selling a lot of vex components, but at full price.
I can find nothing anywhere beside this website that indicates that Radio Shack may be discontinuing its sale of Vex products. Employees, more often than not, don’t really know what they’re talking about.
That said, the FIRST Vex Challenge alone will not support the retail sale of the Vex product just as the FIRST LEGO League competition (and its far greater number of participating teams) did not make the Mindstorms kits a success.
I have to buy anything I want from online stores because walk-in stores don’t have anything I want. I am afraid to buy and use non-VEX parts that plug into the VEX micro controller because I don’t want to murder the expensive VEX micro controller. I lost interest in the Lego Mindstorms Robot Invention Set because of limited number of I/O ports but I can build anything I want using the Lego parts. I found out that Lego will release a new version of Lego Mindstorms set but I’m afraid of buying it.
As a rookie team we were allowed to buy one kit from Radioshack in the fall at a discount. We had to go through their sales department in Texas. The person who sold me the kit called me the other day to tell me that he could get me the kits and parts at half price. He stated the following on my answering machine (this is a direct quote):
“Our intention at Radioshack is to exit out of this product line this year so we are liquidating our stock. We are contacting all of our customers and distributors to let them know.”
For what it is worth he does work at the main office and he provided this information to me without me asking so I assume he knows what he is talking about and heard this information from one of his supervisors.
wow a discontinuation would destroy FVC, what would FIRST replace it with? Its also possible that they are releasing a different product of the sort, and are just trying to discard all of the VEX kits.
why do I have to keep telling people this: YOU CAN GET VEX ELSEWHERE. VEXLABS (www.vexlabs.com), a subsection of IFI, sells vex parts, including the base kit. The RS discontinuation will not destroy the VEX challenge. It will, however, hinder the popularity of VEX outside of FIRST.
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.
That is just stupid for RadioShack for taking VEX off the shelves. Yes it may not be popularity anymore but just sell it online and make profit that way. \
As far as everyone I’ve talked to at three local radioshacks knows, the sale is a result of Radioshack hiring a new advertising and sales firm recently; effectively, said the employees (two managers and some senior salesperson guy), they were told they needed to have a major sale to boost interest, much like the constant sales circuit city & etc… always have. I was told to keep an eye out in the future for sales such as the vex one on other products, and that Vex would still be in my local stores for the forseeable future.
I sure hope they don’t totally drop VEX. I plan on getting one this week. After seeing 107’s VEX robot at MWR I was convinced of the practically limitless possibilities in VEX.
As long as Innovation FIRST is around, FVC will continue. After all they developed the components for VEX, and more than likely they licensed to Radio Shack for sale. So if Radio Shack decides to not sell VEX, then more than likely all you’ll need to do is order it from Vexlabs.com
As much as we are all confused by varying reports of RadioShack’s committment to selling Vex products, can we please keep in mind that they funded a fantastic pilot FVC program this year? Their sponsorship provided an opportunity for hundreds of students and mentors to experience a FIRST program, many for the first time!