With the demise of Circuit City, a funny thing has happened. Radio Shack, one of the very first electronics retailers, is now poised for a comeback.

I remember my first computer, Tandy/Radio Shack’s TRS-80 Color Computer, and what an amazing machine that was at the time. However, as the 80s and 90s passed, Radio Shack seemed to fall from grace. It became relegated to second tier in the electronics retailing world and was frequented mostly for audio adaptors and tinkering supplies.

Oddly, over the years, Radio Shack has always come through in the clutch. They’ve seen trends come and go and gadgets fall in and out of style. But if you needed a bare circuit board, a soldering gun, a guitar patch cord, or an RCA adapter, you had somewhere to turn. Even late on a Sunday afternoon.

Last Sunday, I needed a couple of 2GB notebook memory chips. It was a computer emergency. Best Buy, the one remaining “big box” electronic retailer, was out of stock. (The rest of their memory supply was pretty sparse as well.) I was desperate. Target? Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart carried the chips online, but not in the store. Staples? Online only. Office Max? Out of stock. Suddenly, a revelation came to me: Radio Shack.

“Could Radio Shack really have it?” I thought. After all, its a pretty small store with limited items. Of all the places I searched, they had it in stock and available until 5:00 pm on a Sunday afternoon. Plus, on sale for $39/each, they easily had the best price around.

With competition dwindling, the once-snickered-at little Radio Shack is once again becoming one of the only games in town.

I say Radio Shack is back with a vengeance and once again, they saved the day.

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