Tandy Corporation Superseded
Tandy Corporation
KindCompany
Founded1919
Defunct2000
StatusSuperseded
FoundersNorton Hinckley & Dave Tandy
FieldConsumer electronics
Also known asRadioShack
Sourcebitsavers.org ↗
A leather company that bought a Boston parts store and became RadioShack — the TRS-80's retail channel, which briefly outsold Apple. Renamed RadioShack Corporation in 2000.
190019251950197520002025
Created TRS-80
Tandy Leather bought a failing Boston electronics chain (Radio Shack) in 1963 for $300,000 and turned it into 7,000 stores — the world's electronics corner store. The TRS-80 (1977) sold through them and briefly outsold Apple; the Model 100 (1983) pioneered the laptop.
The chain decayed with big-box electronics and the internet. Tandy renamed itself RadioShack Corporation in 2000; RadioShack filed bankruptcy twice and exists now mostly as a licensing ghost.