Antennacraft story?
How is Antennacraft wrapped up in the Radio Shack bankruptcy?
Someone in 2005 says Antennacraft is a division of Tandy, but Wikipedia implies that Antennacraft is independent of Radio Shack. "The chain has long carried store-branded versions of products from various original equipment manufacturers, including rebranded One-for-All universal remotes, AntennaCraft aerials and Channel Master antenna rotors." |
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"Antennacraft Must Sell or Close" The articles may be now behind a paywall. The quote below is from Google Cache. Quote:
Antennas Direct, please go ahead. |
Antennacraft is a wholly owned unit of TE Electronics which has Radio Shack as its managing partner.
There won't be any white knight from here, sorry. There's nothing in their product line that interests us and, without thousands of retail stores to push the product through, there's no real match to our business model. Here's another article: http://www.4-traders.com/RADIOSHACK-...lose-19850571/ and this news report from a local radio station's site: http://www.kbur.com/2015/02/10/dmco-...ll-be-counted/ Perhaps Winegard, just down the street, might do something, I don't know. Just speculating.... |
I can see someone buying the name and intellectual property to fold into an existing product line and distribution base, but not the inventory and manufacturing. Unless they could get it for a song.
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FYI, the manufacturing facility and all its tangible personal property (included) brought $690K in the RSH BK auction. A manufacturing company just down the street, KPI Concepts, bought it.
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Guess we will have to wait and see if KPI Concepts use the facilities for making antennas, or for manufacturing other products? |
KPI bought only the property, building, and the gear.
The intellectual property, inventory, work in progress, and parts/materials/supplies were not included. Only the real estate and all the "stuff" (from the manufacturing equipment to the parts bins to the microwaves in the lunch room) inside the building was sold to KPI. |
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Beginning to look like Antennacraft has gone the way of nearly all the TV antenna manufacturers of the past. |
Nope. The Asset Purchase Agreement stipulates that the seller (RSH) can enter the premises over the near term to remove inventory, etc.
I guess Standard General or Salus Capital still owns it (IP, etc). Since they're going to operate mini Shacks inside the remaining 1500-1700+ stores that are going to be headlined by the Sprint name, maybe they'll be selling whatever they can there. Just guessing.... |
Antennacraft inventory is already starting to dry up. Solid Signal is currently listing both the HBU-11 and HBU-55 as out of stock - discontinued.
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Well, the boss got a call last week from someone trying to peddle all the manufacturing gear that was inside the building as KPI didn't want it, they only wanted the building and land and have no interest in producing antennas.
That pretty much puts the final nail in the coffin of AntennaCraft as it has been known for a long time. What will happen with the name and any intellectual property, only time will tell. |
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http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/KPI-Concepts-042215 The image below contains some relevant excerpts from the newspaper article. http://forum.tvfool.com/attachment.p...3&d=1429712675 Looks like, Antennacraft has gone the way of many other fine TV antenna manufacturers. . |
Very unfortunate. For me they've been the best antennas I've used since I had my Channel Master 4251 7 foot dish and the top of the line VHF only Crossfire back in the late 80's and early 90's.
Hard to believe but now there is not one single American made VHF only antenna left on the market now that Antennacraft is gone. I wonder if Channel Master, Winegard or Antennas Direct will step up and offer a couple of antennas that are for VHF only? |
It's not hard to believe at all. If there was money to be made manufacturing large high-VHF antennas here in the states, Winegard would not have discontinued that product line (as well as numerous of their other models). The vast majority of American consumers, when faced with the choice of installing a large antenna, will simply opt for the alternative of cable or satellite. There simply aren't enough motivated purchasers remaining to justify the product lines that don't sell enough to pay for themselves.
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Yep, but when they come face to face with the REALITY of what their specific situation actually requires for reliable reception, they tend to back off from what that situation requires. I deal with it every day from customers and prospective customers who re trying to get started but didn't have an inkling of what it would involve.
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HBU55 for $40
I went to my local radio shack today with everything on clearance. If you are in MD near Edgewood, you can get a HBU55 for $40, they had two. It looks like big stuff from the back room is starting to get put out on display in the main retail space. They had a pile of tripods and some mast sections. Selection will vary by store but it may be worth checking your local radioshack. |
FWIW, Standard General now owns the trademarks and intellectual property of Radio Shack as well as their customer data.
Wall Street Journal article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/standard...and-1431520464 |
I went too late, all the local "shacks" near me have either been closed up or fully converted to Sprint phone stores. I had to order some twin lead cable from eBay. None of them have anything left for over the air reception anymore.
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I saw the High VHF antenna supply coming some time ago, so I designed a very good four element HVHF antenna for my customers. Building in small batches, but I will offer to anyone needing a very good antenna for channels 7-13. 3/8" solid rods, 14 gauge aluminum mast, and stainless steel hardware. 30" boom. Contact me if you need one.
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