Polk County Itemizer-Observer • February 11, 2015 3A
Polk County News
New networking
group set to meet
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The Itemizer-Observer
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dallas TV and RadioShack owner Tony Teal said the Dallas franchise, for the most part,
will not be affected by the Chapter 11 bankruptcy RadioShack announced Thursday.
Dallas RadioShack isn’t
going away, says owner
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
WEBSITE
RECORDED
By Jolene Guzman
RAIN
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Rainfall during Feb. — 4.10 in.
Rain through Feb. 9 — 7.31 in.
DALLAS — With Thursday’s
announcement that Ra-
dioShack had gone into Chap-
ter 11 bankruptcy, rumors
have been swirling about
what will happen to the com-
pany and its network of stores.
For the local franchise,
Dallas TV and RadioShack on
Jefferson Street in downtown
Dallas, the answer is clear.
“I own this store, so noth-
ing is going to happen here,”
said owner Tony Teal.
RadioShack merchandise
accounts for between 8 and
15 percent of the store’s total
sales annually. Teal said his
store is unlike other franchis-
es in that he kept the scope
of the business wide, offering
car audio, cellular phones
and electronic repairs,
among other services.
“A lot of RadioShacks have
really focused on the niche
markets … I think it may
have come back to haunt
them a little bit,” Teal said.
RadioShack announced last
week it had entered into bank-
ruptcy and would be selling
between 1,500 and 2,400 of its
company-owned stores. The
remainder of the 4,000 com-
pany-owned stores will be
slated for closure, according to
a RadioShack press release.
The buyer, Standard Gen-
eral, has a tentative agree-
ment with Sprint to open
“store within a store” retail
models for up to 1,750 of the
acquired stores. That agree-
ment is still subject to nego-
tiations and court approval,
the announcement read.
More than 1,000 franchise
stores — like the Dallas store
— and RadioShack’s foreign
operations were not includ-
ed in the Chapter 11 filing.
Teal said there is a lot
speculation and little solid
information about what will
happen with the company at
this point.
“Right now, they haven’t
filed for bankruptcy Chapter
13, which is the bad one,” Teal
said. “They have just filed for
Chapter 11 restructuring. Ra-
dioShack has a massive distri-
bution chain and a ton of real
estate, so I think unless they
literally run out of money …
even to unwind it, it would
take a couple of years.”
Teal added that other
companies in addition to
Sprint are rumored to be
looking into the company.
The biggest concern if Ra-
dioShack were to go out of
business would be finding
another vendor for the parts
he buys from the company.
RadioShack is one of 10 to 12
companies the store buys
from and Teal would have to
switch to another vendor,
likely one that he already
deals with.
“We probably won’t have
to find much in the way of
new vendors to buy from,”
Teal said.
DALLAS — Jeremey San-
tee-Malloy, a commercial
loan officer at Citizen’s Bank
in Dallas, just moved to In-
dependence in November
and quickly realized there
was no networking outlet
for young up-and-comers.
Thursday, Santee-Malloy
and a group of like-minded
professionals between the
ages of 21 and 45 will try to
change that with the first
meeting of the Dallas Area
Chamber of Commerce’s
“Young Pros Networking
Group” at Old Mill Feed &
Garden in Dallas.
Santee-Malloy said the
other young professionals
he talked to supported cre-
ating a group not just for
Dallas, but all of Polk Coun-
ty. They took their idea to
Chelsea Metcalfe, the exec-
utive director of the Dallas
chamber, who agreed to put
the group under the cham-
ber’s umbrella. The group is
also working with the Mon-
mouth-Independence
Chamber of Commerce to
promote membership.
“The idea is hopefully to
not only get young profes-
sionals to meet other busi-
ness owners or young pro-
fessionals in the area, but to
create that networking
group so you know who to
go to when you want to refer
a client to someone,” said
Santee-Malloy, who is serv-
ing as the group’s president.
Furthermore, Santee-
Malloy said he sees a great
need for a group such as this
in Polk County.
“This community, in
terms of business owners, is
aging,” he said. “There’s a
lot of business owners who
are going to be retiring in
the near future or already
have. There’s a large wave of
young professionals com-
ing up in the ranks who are
taking over businesses from
their parents or just newly
Check It Out
What: Young Pros
Networking Group.
Where: Old Mill Feed
& Garden, 1313 Main St.,
Dallas.
When: Thursday, 5:30
to 7 p.m. Meetings will
be monthly on the sec-
ond Thursday of the
month, including March
12 at Harvest CrossFit
and April 9 at Citizen’s
Bank, both in Dallas.
For more informa-
tion: Jeremey Santee-
Malloy via email to jsan-
tee@citizensEbank.com.
established in the area and
taking on greater responsi-
bilities within their organi-
zation. It seems very impor-
tant for them to get to know
others in the area.”
Meetings will be monthly
with a different business
hosting them. They will in-
clude two casual “network-
ing” sessions divided by a
tour and overview of the
host’s business and other
activities. Attendance at
meetings is free and busi-
ness hosts don’t need to be
chamber members. So far,
hosts are lined up through
September.
The group is geared to
those between the ages of
21 to 45, though no one will
be checking IDs, Santee-
Malloy said.
“We are open to anyone
and everyone,” he said. “It’s
just an opportunity to get to
know people.”
Santee-Malloy said he’s
hoping to see strong atten-
dance at the first meeting,
and that the group wel-
comes feedback and sug-
gestions.
“Feedback is always a
good thing, whether it’s
good or bad,” he said. “It
lets us know how we can
grow and change to best
suit the needs of the people
we are trying to serve.”