The last RadioShack store remaining in Summit County is closing, a store employee told the Beacon Journal on Thursday following the announcement that the electronics chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in just over two years.
An employee at the Arlington Plaza store on South Arlington Street in East Akron said she was unable to provide further details. The Wadsworth store also is closing, an employee there confirmed without giving more detail.
It was not immediately clear whether the two closings are permanent. The company did not release a list of the stores to be shuttered. RadioShack plans to sell off its entire inventory in a nationwide closing sale — after which some locations are expected to continue operating.
A representative at the Canton store said the staff there has not been told whether the location is closing permanently. Employees at stores in Brunswick and Ravenna said they anticipate their locations will continue to operate following the round of about 200 closures.
Anything sold during the nationwide clearance cannot be returned, the company said. Items bought before March 2 can still be returned until further notice, the company said on its website. Anyone with a RadioShack gift card has until April 7 to spend it.
Once known as the place to buy batteries and obscure electronic parts, the nearly 100-year-old retailer has struggled to hang on to customers as more people shop on Amazon.com and other online retailers.
It redesigned its stores about three years ago and stocked its shelves with popular headphone brands and the latest gadgets. But that didn’t attract more shoppers and the retailer filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015. After that, it tried to lure smartphone-loving shoppers by opening Sprint wireless carrier shops within 1,200 RadioShack locations. But that didn’t help either: RadioShack CEO Dene Rogers said Thursday that mobile phone sales were “surprisingly poor,” especially in recent months.
Sprint, meanwhile, said Thursday that it signed a deal to turn several hundred RadioShack locations into Sprint stores, but declined to give a specific number.
RadioShack, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has nearly 5,900 employees, according to bankruptcy paperwork filed Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.