Surprised at the fact they have not shuttered every single store they have. It's a irrelevant business model in todays world. However old school and out of touch they are I needed them tonight.

Last time I stepped foot into a Radio Shack was 2 years ago and it was not a good experience. Growing up, Radio Shack used to be a haven for retired math teachers to work there and supplement their pension or neighbor hood wonky types who launched model rockets and scraped together money to make circuit boards or who knows what else they did with resistors and widgets. Woz and Jobs seemed to like the place back in it's heyday.

Last time I was there I hit my breaking point as a "customer". They wanted phone numbers. email addresses. DNA samples. blood type and social security numbers- so it seemed. When I'd ask "Why" I would get "all in the name of giving good service and letting them know what I need and how often I buy it". Yeah! Right… It was a Mexican Standoff as I dodged questions and ginned up fake phone numbers and email addresses to get this overzealous clerk to just sell me my speaker wire and let me go home already. I swore I'd never, ever, EVER, never go back. (Until I needed some wonky diode or special thing only available at Radio Shack)

So there I was tonight. Expecting to be interrogated and pushed to my breaking point of "happy happy" customer service people. Please, just sell me my shit and let me go. I was ready for a confrontation at their need for all my info. I got the battery that I needed for 36 bucks which is only sold there (or my alarm company would charge me 75 bucks and another 100 to install it, so Radio Shack had me by my wallet) I stepped up to pay (in cash lest they get me credit card number and track my buying habits there too) and was shocked at the clerks comment. "That's 36.71 Sir".

"Thats it" I said, ready for a war of wills on soliciting my email address and next of kins names and addresses. I think he realized I hadn't been there in a while and he told me they are no longer doing that. Too many people were giving bogus info and it was a waste of time. Holy Lord of all things strip malls and suburban America. They finally figured it out!

Too little too late I am guessing and you'll see vacant store fronts dotting the landscape in another year or so. It's inevitable that they can't survive. In the mean time my house is once again silent. No more chirping all night from the low battery in our alarm systems back up circuit.

Peace, quiet and my personal information is safe for another day, till I go shop at Target!