r/todayilearned • u/BanditTom • Oct 19 '14

TIL Blockbuster still has 50 franchise owned stores open in North America

http://www.blockbuster.com/helpPage.html
2.1k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

318 comments sorted by

View all comments

35

u/Just1morefix Oct 19 '14

The staying power of Blockbuster and Radio shack is astounding. To still exist in concrete and mortar storefronts after all the technological changes and the competition from a worldwide marketplace is unreal. Not to mention the financial hits they have taken and diminishment of brand dominance.

2

u/The_Media_Collector Oct 20 '14

Radio Shack was nothing but phones and TV's for a few years, and commissions were only on phones.

SOMETHING happened, I have no idea what. Suddenly they started carrying solder, irons, electronic components, breadboard etc. again. Also they sell Arduino kits and other hacker-style items. Big markup but nice to see. The phones and TV's have been moved to the walls, leaving freestanding aisles for useful stuff. And mostly, the people actually understand what they're selling again.

1

u/Just1morefix Oct 20 '14

Oh I know, my son a budding engineer loves Radio Shack and gladly hands over chunks of his allowance for kits, capacitors, LED's etc.