RadioShack stores closing

RadioShack, which filed for bankruptcy protection last Thursday, will close many of its U.S. stores, including the Ponca City store.

The consumer electronics chain was founded nearly a century ago. In its bankruptcy filing, the company said it plans to sell 1,500 to 2,400 of its stores and close the remaining 4,000. Many of the stores will be used as mini-shops for Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier.

Sprint has a deal with Standard General to open its mini-shops in stores Standard General is buying. It would take up about one-third of the retail space in each store, and Sprint employees would sell mobile devices and Sprint plans.

Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack is also in talks about selling all of its remaining overseas assets.

RadioShack, which was founded in Boston in 1921, started as a distributor of mail-order ship radios, ham radios and parts. In the 1950s, it entered the high-fidelity business, touting a device called the "Audio Comparator," a then-novel switching system that allowed the customer to mix and match components and speakers in the listening room.

In 1977, the chain started selling the TRS-80, known affectionately by its users as the "Trash 80," making the RadioShack as important in microcomputers as IBM or Apple.