Radio Shack, a retailer now better known for selling wireless phones, is getting back to its hobbyist roots.
The Texas-based consumer electronics retailer has launched as part of a campaign dubbed The Great Create. The idea is to provide an online meeting place for hobbyists to share their do-it-yourself projects with others, get ideas and watch how-to videos.
One customer who welcomes the move is Daniel Gentleman, a 34-year San Jose resident who is a longtime fan of the back of the store where hobbyists shop for miniature bulbs, fuses, connectors, motors and transistors that are kept in narrow sliding drawers.
Gentleman transformed an everyday Halloween pumpkin into one with blinking red eyes and a haunted laugh using parts that included a circuit board, resistors, LED lights and a voice recording module from Radio Shack, which featured his project on the website.
“Radio Shack’s time as a ‘cellphone store’ was sad for the DIY hobbyist.