RadioShack’s NSFW Period Appears Over, as New Owner Plots a Brand Expansion

RadioShack appears set for a new start following a recent owner’s attempt to reinvigorate the iconic electronics brand with not-safe-for-work tweets, porn-themed memes and cryptocurrency. 

Unicomer Group, a company based in El Salvador that has snapped up the RadioShack brand in various Latin American countries over the years, now owns the brand following an auction in May for the brand’s intellectual property in dozens of countries including the U.S. It plans an e-commerce push and a program for new bricks-and-mortar dealers.

It took over from Retail Ecommerce Ventures, which bought the RadioShack brand in November 2020. REV at the time was acquiring the intellectual-property assets of brands including women’s clothing retailer Dressbarn, home decor and accessories retailer Pier 1 Imports and retailer Modell’s Sporting Goods, with plans to boost sales through e-commerce. 

But REV’s strategy for RadioShack stood out among other brand revival projects, after the chain got attention last summer for posting vulgar messages on the social-media platform then called Twitter in an attempt to get attention from younger consumers and consumers who might not have known the brand was still around. RadioShack under REV also launched a cryptocurrency-exchange platform and planned to vastly increase the inventory on its site, including merchandise related to crypto.

Many dealers were unhappy with the new strategy, saying that it was at odds with what many considered a family-friendly business. Last summer, many said they were also anxiously awaiting new contracts to ensure their future as RadioShack dealers. 

Abel Czupor, a former marketing leader for RadioShack under REV, said he believed that the strategy was on the right track and that, though it was controversial, it had the intended effect of getting out the message that RadioShack was still in business.

But the business changed ownership following an Article 9 auction run by CohnReznick Capital. An Article 9 auction can occur when a business is in default on a secured loan. That enables the secured creditor to enforce claims against the collateral, said Steven Schwarcz, a professor of law and business at the Duke University School of Law. 

Retail Ecommerce Ventures said in a statement that the company is contesting the sale and the events leading up to the sale. A spokesman declined to provide further detail on how the company is contesting the sale. 

Meanwhile, Unicomer is looking to reboot the company’s website later this year, said Rudy Siman, president of RadioShack International and new businesses, franchises and trade vice president at Unicomer. Though RadioShack once had thousands of dealerships around the world, Siman said that number now totals more than 300 locations across 24 countries.

The company intends to make more than 500 new products for sale online and available to dealers in the U.S., a rollout it hopes to expand over time, according to Siman. Those items will include more end products than the stores have typically sold, focusing more on cellphone products, headphones, batteries and adapters, for instance.

Dealers said last year it had become tough to get RadioShack-branded inventory in stock. Unicomer said it is working to make available in the U.S. a site where dealers can buy products to sell in their stores.

Unicomer plans to hire a company to help with its push into the U.S. consumer market, including through marketing leading up to the RadioShack site’s relaunch. The company also wants to set up an Amazon.com

Current RadioShack operators say they are hopeful about what the new ownership means for their businesses. Siman said the company will maintain existing dealers and is working on a program for new dealers. 

Ray Gammo, who operates two RadioShack locations in Michigan, said he is less worried about the specific products and goals of the new owners than showing consumers that the brand is still operational. 

“I just need them to come back so that the brand marketing gets out there,” Gammo said. 

As for REV’s attempt to attract younger shoppers, Gammo said he believes that the brand should instead cater to older customers who want a little extra help. 

Becky Northaven, who operates a RadioShack dealership called Sequim Electronics in Washington state, said she felt uneasy when REV owned the brand because the company never provided the store with a contract. 

“We never received anything official, which is not a comfortable place to exist for a store that says ‘RadioShack Dealer’ in super-huge letters that have been grandfathered in on the front of your store,” Northaven said. “It pushed us to push our own identity a lot harder, because I was worried about being taken down with [REV].”

Northaven said that she believes Unicomer appears to be knowledgeable and to operate well-run stores, but that she hopes it will continue to stock some of the parts and components that customers are still seeking. She said she’s still waiting to hear directly what the company’s plans are. 

“The question is how soon can we hope to hear from [Unicomer], so that we can hear what the plans are for stores like us, that have been a reliable, steadfast, RadioShack dealer for almost five decades,” Northaven said. “We want to be part of that going forward. Especially since [the company is] no longer slinging around weird, creepy insults on Twitter.” 

Write to Megan Graham at [email protected]