Radio Shack Corporation announced last week that it will be closing 1,100 underperforming stores, but the Merrill Radio Shack is not among them, according to local owners Scott and Matt Voigt.
“We’ve been asked, ‘Are you guys closing?’” Scott Voigt said. “The stores affected are corporate stores and we’re a franchise store. The 900 franchise stores are not affected.”
The Voigts have held the Radio Shack franchise in Merrill for nine years. The store has done well in Merrill selling electronics and cell phones from a variety of carriers. Business is relatively stable for the Merrill store, Scott said.
“We’re not as seasonally affected,” he said. “Christmas isn’t 80 percent of our business.”
The news from Radio Shack doesn’t impact the Merrill franchise store and, if anything, it may be a positive.
“It’s maybe a more secure thing for us,” Scott said. “We know they’re probably not going to open any corporate stores in Merrill.
In releasing the news last week, Radio Shack Corporation pointed out that operating loss was $344 million in 2013 compared to an operating loss of $25 million the previous year. 
After the planned closures, Radio Shack will still have over 4,000 stores, including the more than 900 dealer franchise locations.
Radio Shack Corporation also kicked off a new brand positioning effort with its Super Bowl commercial, which implied the company has been stuck in the 1980s.
That may be true for some of the corporate stores, but Merrill Radio Shack is already up to date in its look and product offerings, Scott said.