RadioShack is staging a comeback.
The 97-year-old toy company is bringing its signature electronics back to stores across America in a new partnership with HobbyTown after emerging from bankruptcy — for a second time — as a shell of its former self late last year.
The company, now owned by General Wireless Operations, is installing new RadioShack Express "stores" inside 100 HobbyTown locations, the companies announced Thursday.
It's the first big move since the consumer electronics chain emerged from its second bankruptcy in 2017, giving it more exposure to many of the suburban markets it had to give up when it shuttered more than 1,000 stores that year. General Wireless bought RadioShack's assets, including rights to the brand, after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2015 and took it through a second bankruptcy in 2017.
Left in the dust by other electronics retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, and soured by a partnership with Sprint, RadioShack is now focusing on its e-commerce platform and its 400 dealer locations.
It currently sells radios, batteries, consumer electronics accessories and electronic components parts.
"We are excited about the HobbyTown partnership, as it will allow us to re-engage and directly serve our core hobby and DIY communities," said Steve Moroneso, CEO of General Wireless Operations, in a press release.