RIP Radio Shack

I’m sure most of you reading this right now already know this, but recently, Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy and is closing most of its stores. Some stores are going to be converted into Sprint/Radio Shack hybrid stores, but all of the Radio Shacks in the Greensboro, NC area are unfortunately closing for good.

I figured that this would be a fine time to look back at the Radio Shack that was formerly at Carolina Circle Mall. Radio Shack was one of the original 22 stores to open at the mall on August 4, 1976 and was located on the second level right by Belk. Radio Shack was very successful at Carolina Circle and was one of the mall’s main-stays for many years.

Radio Shack’s Carolina Circle Mall location closed in July 1996 and moved down the road to a new shopping center that was built on Cone Blvd. at Church St. that same year. Eventually, that Radio Shack also closed sometime in the early 2000s.

“Shalimar Photography”, a photography oriented store, opened in Radio Shack’s former spot at Carolina Circle Mall sometime in the late ‘90s and lasted a few years until the very early 2000s. The entrance to Shalimar Photography is in the photo to the left.

I vividly remember my dad always taking me to the Carolina Circle Mall Radio Shack to buy certain pieces of electronics and electronic components. The item I remember the most that he bought at that Radio Shack was a handheld CB radio that he kept in his 1986 Nissan Pickup truck in the early ‘90s. I think he actually still has that CB radio somewhere.

So I am sad to say goodbye to all of the Radio Shacks closing in 2015. As a vintage computer fan, I’ll always remember them for their Tandy line of computers, most notably the Tandy TRS-80 and the Tandy 1000. To close this, here is a picture of the inside of the Radio Shack at Carolina Circle Mall taken in 2003. You can still see the neon sign that said “The Technology Store” in the background.