RadioShack’s New Owners Don’t Really Care About Buying The RadioShack Name
Consumerist
by Laura Northrup April 13, 2015
> RadioShack still exists. Well, stores that say “RadioShack” on them
> still exist, but those are a joint venture between the Shack’s new
> owners and Sprint. While the stores have kept their doors open,
> there’s one thing missing from the business plan: this new venture
> doesn’t own the RadioShack trademark yet. They aren’t too worried
> about it, though.
>
> While the chain’s stores have either been closed and liquidated or
> reborn as SprintShacks, those stores and their inventory were one
> small part of the bankruptcy auction. The sale was controversial
> because other creditors objected to lender Standard General using
> RadioShack’s debt as auction currency, but the deal will keep about
> 1,400 stores open for now. That’s good. However, Standard General
> doesn’t own the RadioShack brand name. That part of the business goes
> up for auction in May.
>
> The Wall Street Journal points out that the joint venture’s leaders
> have declared that they don’t necessarily need to own the RadioShack
> trademark to carry out their future plans: they have the right to use
> the RadioShack name for six months if they don’t purchase it. Maybe
> they could just slap “Sprint Gadget Hut” signs on the front of their
> stores and call it a day. The RadioShack name has brand recognition,
> but does that consist of anything more than nostalgia at this point?
> Is that nostalgia worth $20 million? That’s how much the name was
> reported to be worth before the auction.
>
> Another part of the business that hasn’t yet been sold is the
> RadioShack dealer network. While this part of the company’s business
> is relatively small compared to the 4,000 stores that it had at the
> beginning of this year, that’s still hundreds of retail outlets,
> mostly in small towns, that are successful and bring RadioShack
> merchandise to new markets. While e-commerce has changed small-town
> shopping, sometimes you need a really specific electronics item on
> short notice. The dealer network will go up for auction in May, and
> independent RadioShack dealers and franchisees are worried about what
> new ownership could mean for them.
>
> Customer information still isn’t part of the auction, though: for
> now, you don’t need to worry that your name and address that are on
> file from when you returned some batteries eight years ago will be
> sold.
Link:
RadioShack’s New Owners Don’t Really Care About Buying The RadioShack Name
be happy..............
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