RadioShack Labs, a new marketing collaboration between Fort Worth-based retailer RadioShack and product development firm PCH International, has launched to help emerging companies and inventors bring their innovations to market. In an effort to rejuvenate its retail offerings, RadioShack will offer select PCH Access companies special retail terms, and create a direct path to up to 2,000 RadioShack stores and preferred positioning on radioshack.com. With PCH, RadioShack plans to implement a direct-to-store model for select products, reducing inventory requirements and increasing inventory turn in stores. RadioShack Labs is designed to enable innovative startups to sell to a significant market and will provide consumer awareness through marketing promotion as well as strong retail and online presence. RadioShack plans to have these products in a dedicated space in-store by the end of the year.
“It’s long been our belief that innovation and collaboration go hand-in-hand. As we transform RadioShack, it’s important that we simplify and streamline the channels that encourage inventors and entrepreneurs to join us in the retail environment,” said Joe Magnacca, chief executive officer of RadioShack. “We see so many exciting consumer products coming from startups and we want these differentiated products in our stores.” Through its established program, PCH Access, PCH has brought products to market such as LittleBits, a modular electronics kits, which will be in select RadioShack stores in late summer. Officials with both RadioShack and PCH International said the goal of the partnership is to identify dozens of new products per year, and to use the PCH Access program to turn concepts into products ready for national retail. Betty Dillard bdillard@bizpress.net