Radio Shack to become The Shack?

Not a good idea, IMO

[weeks]

Here's the link:
[engadget.com...]

I don't know how much there is to this. The links provided are not convincing. (Oh, it's on Wikipedia? Then it MUST be true....sheee....)

Today it is very, very, very hard to create a new brand. It is almost impossible without spending tens of millions and the risk is very high you will fail. That is probably the most remarkable thing about Twitter. Twitter is a new brand.

I don't care if it's called BuggyWhip Shack, it's a brand people know and trust. Do not mess with it.

[lawman]

I never went in to Radio Shack looking for a radio. What's their problem with the name "Radio Shack"?

[LifeinAsia]

I think they just want to do advertisements with Shaquile O'Neil.

I agree- bad move. True, the "radio" part kind of makes it sound dated (and "radio shack" itself gives me visions of a WWII radio shack in the middle of the Pacific). But "shack" by itself gives me the impression of low quality.

I would have liked "Technology Shack" better or "Tech Shack").

[swa66]

Seems simple enough:

[radioshack.com...]

Just an event I guess, not a major rebrand as far as I can see there.

In the long run it's maybe not bad to have a backup name in case your current one get's bad somehow.

But to rename something as well known as radio shack you'd need a lot of time and patience to go slow, or lots of money and smack it out. Oh wait they have one: "Tandy", they used it in Canada and Europe AFAIK (the T in TRS-80 also stood for Tandy).

[LifeinAsia]

the T in TRS-80 also stood for Tandy

We always thought the TRS stood for TRASH. :)

[lawman]

Haha, yep I started out with a Trash80 Model I. Maxed it out to 48k ram.

[Leosghost]

Tandy ..I remember the ads on the back pages of the "kit" press magazines ..buy all the bits to build something to tell your ma when it was raining by sounding a buzzer so she could bring the washing in off the line ..

like trying to rebrand lego ..why bother ?

[dbcooper]

PCWorld: Name Change Won't Save RadioShack

[pcworld.com...]

[Automan Empire]

Ham radio slang (shack=room with all one's ham equipment) now more anachronistic than Morse code.

I used to ride my bike there in the late 70s/early 80s to buy discrete components like resistors and quad NAND gates. I wrote my first BASIC code on a display TRS-80. There were three thriving electronics places in that neighborhood; by the late 80s it was down to one. As my grandpa and I lamented one day, nobody builds things from discrete components anymore; you just buy the chip.

[lawman]

I must not have much of a life. I know what discrete components are.

[Leosghost]

Nope ..we are all just down here in foo ..showin our age

[LifeinAsia]

I know what discrete components are.

It's the discreet components that hard to figure out.

[Marcia]

The Shack name sounds like a seafood joint.

[wyweb]

Or an after hours beer joint.

[swa66]

Domainname wise they don't seem to own their new name without "the", nor with a dash (all in .com of course).

Is choosing a company name so that you can have all versions of the domainname that hard?

[mcavic]

Is choosing a company name so that you can have all versions of the domainname that hard?

You seem to imply that meaningful unregistered domain names still exist.

[tangor]

I remember "shacking up" with fond memories. But that was some time ago, when I had the energy to participate. :)

[weeks]

Radio Shack is
The Shack
I understand that Pizza Hut is going to become
The Hut.

So, Holiday Inn will be
The Inn?
Waffle House will be
The House?
Miller Beer will be
The Beer?
WebmasterWorld will be
The World?

(I recall that Circuit City was going to do something along the lines of The City. Oh well, nevermind...)

[Leosghost]

Could one even trademark "the beer" or "the shack" or "the hut" ? ( inspite of the fact that they appear to be trying to push themselves as "the definitive" ..in peoples minds ..

For possible trademark registration purposes ( would their applications not get thrown out of most juristictions ..for being too "catch all" )..

they all seem a bit too generic to me

[goaliegirl]

"The Shack" doesn't really lend itself to "[overpriced] geeky electronic things" either.

[phranque]

they all seem a bit too generic to me

you mean like "Windows"?

[Leosghost]

yeah but microsft already had that sorted ..how many pizza restaurants already call themselves the hut ( I knew of at least 1 in the south of France as long as 10 to 15 years ago ..catering to the English tourist trade ..and they were a registered business and thus would get prior claim to the trademark ..if they havent already got it) in Europe at least ..

BTW I still wish that google had called their OS "doors" as kaled suggested here a few years ago :)

[swa66]

You seem to imply that meaningful unregistered domain names still exist

I did not have trouble for at least 3 companies I (helped) start to get good catchy names that were fully available domainname wise. Sure some good names are already taken, but there is indeed plenty left as long as you take into account the availability of the name in all TLDs you care about in the decision process.

If you narrow it all down to a list of 3 and only then go look if the domainname is still free: you'll most likely fail to find any of them with available domainnames, but if you scrap those that are not free as a first step it's easy enough.

[mcavic]

I don't know how much there is to this. The links provided are not convincing.

I was there the other day, and they answered the phone "Thanks for calling The Shack" or similar. It's catchy as a slogan, but I can't see it as a brand name.

[D_Blackwell]

Yes, it's a brand everybody knows, but a name that doesn't really serve it well. Kentucky Fried Chicken has been easing into KFC for a long time now. Everyone my age will have to die off to take completely. Always was and always will be Kentucky Fried Chicken for me - and I never really liked them much. Outside of the recognition the actual name 'Radio Shack' is old news, old days, old ways. Not good. The Shack should be shucked and chucked.

Frankly, given the square footage of the average store I'm amazed that they didn't go bust long, long ago. One Best Buy or Circuit City would hold about 100 Radio Shacks. Oh, yeah - isn't Circuit City available now? That would be a good name. Except for the baggage of going bust, great name recognition from Day 1. No, 'working it in over time'.