I remember, when I was a kid, how much I loved going to Radio Shack. When I was about 7, my dad got me a 50-in-1 kit that had electronic components like resistors and capacitors, and little wires you could use to connect the components. I made things that buzzed and flashed, even a thing that changed an 8-bar LED into different numbers, and somehow remained completely immune to the principles of electronic engineering the kit intended to impart.
I also had a TRS-80 Model I, with the enormous 16K (yes, K) expansion pack and 250 bps cassette interface. So to some extent, I owe my entire career to the start I got from a Radio Shack product.
Sadly, RadioShack filed Chapter 11 last week, and will be closing all of its stores in the next couple of weeks. It never made the transition from being a hobby shop during its heyday in the 1980s.
I can't say that I'll miss what RadioShack became, but I feel a little nostalgic about the RadioShack I knew 35 years ago. Sic transit.