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According to Bloomberg Amazon is in talks to buy some of RadioShack's stores:
Amazon has considered using the RadioShack stores as showcases for the Seattle-based company’s hardware, as well as potential pickup and drop-off centers for online customers, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the deliberations are private.
RadioShack is on the verge of declaring bankruptcy, and according to other reports, it has also been in talks with wireless carrier Sprint about selling some of its stores. The deal with Amazon may not happen, but nonetheless, it shows where Amazon is headed.
To head off competition from Wal-Mart—one of the few retailers that could pose a legitimate threat to Amazon—and to expand its operation, the company has adopted a new hybrid business model, combining e-commerce with offline services.
Originally spotted at Wired, and also linked at HackerNews.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by sjames on Wednesday February 04 2015, @07:58PM
Part of the problem for all of the stores is the way they DON'T handle warranty issues anymore. At one time, if your new-ish TV broke, you take it back to the store you gought it from, talk to the manager for a minute or two and walk out with a new one of the same or similar model.
Now they want nothing to do with it. At most they'll ship it off to Asia for you where you'll never see it again. Given that, why not buy it for less online? If they would actually stand behind the product, they might remain relevant.
The simple fact is that they have cut so many corners trying to wring out more profits for less work that there's little to no point in them anymore.