A RadioShack store in Dallas is in this file photo. The electronics retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015.
Four of five Chattanooga RadioShack stores, including those at Hamilton Place and Northgate malls, are among units the struggling retailer is looking at closing.
In the Chattanooga region, seven of the 18 stores in the area may shut down, according to a list of potential closings on the company’s website Friday.
In addition to the Chattanooga stores, units in Dalton, Ga., Rome, Ga., and Scottsboro, Ala., also are on the list.
The only Chattanooga store not listed is the 1904 Dayton Blvd. site.
RadioShack, which declared bankruptcy on Thursday, named nearly 1,800 stores nationally of its some 4,000 units for possible shuttering.
Neil Kagan said he has worked at the Northgate Mall store for eight years and it appeared that it had always done well.
“We have a lot of regular customers,” he said.
Possible closures
RadioShack stores in the Chattanooga area on the potential closure list: * 5084 South Terrace, Chattanooga * 3987 Brainerd Road, Chattanooga * 2100 Hamilton Place, Chattanooga * 5000 Hixson Pike, Chattanooga * 2151 E. Walnut Ave., Dalton, Ga. * 2204 Shorter Ave., Rome, Ga. * 24765 John T. Reid Parkway, Scottsboro, Ala. Source: RadioShack
But, Kagan added, there probably are a lot of unseen factors such as lease costs which are playing into the potential store closures.
Chattanooga shopping center operator CBL & Associates Properties Inc. owns Northgate and Hamilton Place malls.
Dan Summerlin, CBL’s director of corporate relations, said the company has 59 RadioShacks in its centers nationwide, but the electronics retailer isn’t one of CBL’s major tenants. The company represents just one-tenth of 1 percent of CBL’s portfolio, he said.
RadioShack stores tend to be on the smaller side at the 2,500-square-foot range, Summerlin added. He said CBL already is in conversations with wireless company Sprint about the possibility of it creating what has been termed “a store within a store.”
While RadioShack expects to close many stores, it has struck a deal to sell up to 2,400 of its units and Sprint will create the new concept in up to 1,750 of those.
Across the three-state region, potential RadioShack closings were prevalent. Knoxville has six stores on the list, and metro Nashville also has a half dozen. The Memphis region, too, has about that number.
The Atlanta area has more than a dozen RadioShacks up for possible shut down.
The Wall Street Journal reported that this weekend will see the start of a final round of sales at the stores on the list. A judge authorized the beginning of store closure sales, less than 24 hours after the Fort Worth, Texas, company sought bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.
RadioShack argued it couldn’t afford to lose a weekend of liquidation sales, especially with consumers geared up to find bargains and creditors anxious for cash.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.