Santa Barbara County Radio Shack locations were spared from the list of more than 1,700 the national retailer will close after filing for bankruptcy.
The longtime electronics purveyor intends to transition a portion of its remaining stores to a new owner as part of a sale, minus the company’s domestic and international franchise stores, which are independently owned and not part of its restructuring.
Radio Shack released its list of planned closures this month, omitting the two Santa Barbara locations and one each in Goleta, Carpinteria, Buellton, Lompoc and Santa Maria. Locations in nearby Ventura and Oxnard will close.
A timeframe for shutting up shop hasn’t been determined, although company-owned stores still will sell remaining inventory.
A Radio Shack spokesperson would not comment on the future of local stores not on the initial list, and store employees referred all questions to corporate Tuesday.
“We do not have employee numbers to share at this time,” the spokesperson said, directing those interested to view future updates by clicking here.
Radio Shack has signed an asset-purchase agreement with General Wireless Inc., an affiliate of Standard General L.P. that has agreed to buy 1,500 to 2,400 of Radio Shack’s 4,000 company-owned stores in the U.S.
With Sprint, General Wireless — the entity formed to acquire the stores — tentatively has agreed to establish a new dedicated mobility “store within a store” retail presence in up to 1,750 of the acquired stores.
In order to sell some of its stores, Radio Shack has filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and will work to sell its remaining assets.
The sale agreement, the details of which weren’t disclosed, is subject to court approval and other conditions.
Radio Shack reportedly has more than 1,000 dealer franchise stores in 25 countries, which would be excluded from the sale.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.