the best super bowl commercial still won't save radio shack

I didn't watch the Super Bowl because I'm not into American football or any televised sports for that matter. But I did catch the Radio Shack commercial later on the internet, seen above. And yes, it is without question the best one because it's dripping with 1980s nostalgia.

The commercial went over really well and just goes to prove that the 80s really was one of the best decades.

But will it save Radio Shack? Not a chance.

Before I get into that, I actually know RS very well. My late father worked in a few of them for 15 years, starting back in the days when it was a hobbyist store, then into a mid-grade electronics and network-satellite television equipment store (there was a time when RS was pushing Dish Network like crazy), then finally into its current iteration as a crappy cell phone store.

RS back in the 80s and for most of the 90s was a great store that sold great stuff. They had all the stuff that the department stores didn't have. When you wanted stuff like power strips, calculators, batteries (including coin-style), blank tapes, computers, software, cables, radios (of all kinds) and so on, they had everything. It was amazing how much they packed into a store so small. And the merchandise was good.

Radio Shack today is nothing but a crappy cell phone and cell phone accessory store. Everything in any RS is ridiculously overpriced, and you will never get a good deal, even for anything that's discounted.

An example of how ridiculous the price of stuff is in Radio Shack

Go into an RS and buy one, yes one, 9-volt battery and see how much that costs you. Don't feel like doing that? That's fine, I'll tell you. It's FIVE BUCKS for a single, common 9-volt battery in any Radio Shack.

I can get a box of 12 industrial-grade 9v batteries on Amazon for a whole lot cheaper, as in almost 75% cheaper per battery. And it's a far superior battery than what RS sells.

All the stuff that people went to RS for back in the day is either gone or so overblown in price that it's insulting just to see the price tag.

Nobody in their right mind would ever buy batteries from Radio Shack given how much they mark them up. And bear in mind this is just one example. EVERYTHING in Radio Shack is overpriced.

There is no more need for an electronics store in America

Radio Shack is billed as an electronics store, even though it barely qualifies as one these days. And there is no need for electronics stores in America anymore. Why? Because you can get the same electronics either on the internet or at a department store.

While we don't need electronics stores, what we do desperately need to come back are hobbyist stores, which is what Radio Shack used to be. Maybe someone will open up one of those someday, who knows.

But anyway, stores like Radio Shack, Best Buy and other stores that do the electronics niche really have no place anymore. It's like I said, you can get all that stuff online or in department stores now, so why bother with the overpriced electronics stores to begin with?