Yesterday the store shut its doors forever. Not entirely sure about the status of the other outlets around town.
The store at 5125 Sherbrooke W. was everything and nothing.
It was a place of interest and a simultaneously place to be indifferent about.
Mostly your notion of the place was dictated by whether you thought they might solve a problem that you had.
While it might seem like it was there forever, the outlet only opened in around 1998 and sometime during the course of its corporate buyout and leveraging, it became The Source, or La Source.
Whether this rebranding helped or hurt will forever remain a mystery that only God will be able to shed light on in the afterlife.
For many years you - as a customer - would walk in and a super high-tech laser beam motion detector would scream out a BEEEEEEEEEEEEEM - BAAAAAAAAAAAAM loudly announcing your arrival in the store.
Depending on your self-esteem this was either a regal reward to your epic entrance or an annoying announcement that a potential shoplifter had entered the premises.
Customers would be treated to the same noise on the way out.
For the longest time an older anglo gentleman long ruled the roost and could occasionally get a bit snippy.
Once after waiting patiently to consult his expertise he snubbed me in favour of a newer-come arriviste in the form of a wealthy woman from Westmount. I didn't complain. I liked him and that customer looked like she could irresponsibly drop a few hundred bucks without blinking.
Radio Shack was once a wonderland for technology to wide-eyed kids. It opened the universe to the possibility of creating homemade ham radios and circuit boards to build your very first robot.
But that market must have been slim so it became a place to buy gimmick alarm clocks and toys that looked vulnerable to swift breakage and... well I'm not sure because I didn't haul a ton of stuff to the cash in my various visits.
In spite of its flaws, perusing the shelves was always amusing and the store will be missed.
As for being a worker at such an outlet, I urge you to read this account from an American Radio Shack employee, possibly my favourite article published anywhere in 2014.