News Feature | August 9, 2013

Radio Shack Opens Third "High-Touch" Concept Store

Source: Retail Solutions Online
Sam Lewis

By Sam Lewis

New stores deliver unique shopping experience

Radio Shack opened its third high-touch store in Long Island on Saturday, August 3. Strategically located in a high-end destination community, the new store format is part of Radio Shack’s efforts to reinvigorate its stores and reposition its brand.

The retailer, which operates 4,300+ stores in the U.S., opened its first concept store a little more than a month ago on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This opening marked the start of a strategy to make a big impact on the electronics shopping market and improve the Radio Shack customer experience. Soon after, the electronics retailer remodeled a popular mall location in Newport Center in Jersey City, NJ, into a concept store as well.

All three of these new concept stores feature interactive areas, like the speaker wall, where shoppers are able to connect their mp3 players and other mobile media devices, to experience technology. “Our latest concept stores demonstrate how readily the new RadioShack platform comes to life in different ways, creating a completely new brand of experience for consumers,” said Joe Magnacca, chief executive officer of RadioShack.

The opening of these concept stores is highlighted by the scheduled October opening of a Radio Shack store in Fort Worth, TX. This 2,300- square-foot store is aimed to promote the interactive store experience to an already thriving commercial area. “This store will be our showcase in Texas,” said Magnacca. “Sundance Square is a perfect social location that encourages people to browse, shop, and enjoy, which works for an interactive store experience.”

Another addition Radio Shack has been working on is the low-touch concept store. These stores will provide customers with a cleaner, more “shoppable” environment with open floor plans, low-profile fixtures, and better product placement — while still allowing customers to interact with technology through headphones, speakers, and mobile phone displays.