RadioShack Is Closing 200 Stores—Here’s What You Need To Know

RadioShack is closing roughly 200 stores around the country as its parent company prepares to file for bankruptcy.

The Wall Street Journal spoke with sources who are familiar with the situation and is reporting that RadioShack’s parent company General Wireless Operations Inc. could file for bankruptcy this month.

Unfortunately, it appears workers at hundreds of RadioShacks around the country could be out of work soon because of the company’s financial struggles. The company also recently laid off dozens of employees at its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.

.@RadioShack location on the North Side of Chicago. GOB signs were not up late Thursday. pic.twitter.com/DGB8xYkWM7

— Randall G. Reese (@Chapter11Cases) March 4, 2017

There are currently roughly 1,500 RadioShack locations around the country. Though a company spokesman declined to comment on the situation, people have been snapping photos of large “Store Closing” and “Entire Store on Sale” signs at their local RadioShacks and sharing them with the Consumerist.

Since the company isn’t talking, it’s hard to tell exactly which stores are closing. But the Consumerist heard about store closings from readers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, Oregon, Washington and California.

Employees of at least one RadioShack store appear to be transferring to another location, which is great news. One woman shared a photo of a typed sign at her local RadioShack that said, “Andrew & Andrew will be transferred to Crossgates Mall! Come pay us a visit, we will be more than happy to help you out!”

Saw some sweet robotics kits at radioshack yesterday. Yep, radioshack is apparently still a thing pic.twitter.com/6ePEtRoDw9

— Kyle Waring (@kylewaring) March 8, 2017

If you’re a huge RadioShack fan, you may be out of luck, depending on which stores the company decides to shutter. In the meantime, though, it looks like the company is slashing prices on tech gear at the locations that are closing, so now might be a good time to shop for bargains.

Founded in 1921, RadioShack gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s but hasn’t been able to keep pace with other consumer technology companies in recent years. RadioShack faces stiff competition from Apple, Amazon and other companies.

There were more than 5,000 RadioShacks around the country in 2013, but the company decided to close more than half of those stores in 2015 when it filed for bankruptcy the first time.

At that time, RadioShack sold its name and roughly 1,700 stores to Standard General. They also made a deal with Sprint so that the wireless carrier had a prominent presence in many RadioShack stores.

RadioShack isn’t the only consumer electronics retailer that’s struggling. Best Buy recently released a gloomy first quarter forecast and HHGregg filed for bankruptcy after announcing it would close 88 stores and three distribution centers.