Hand & Stone, Pita Pit among franchises eyeing vacant RadioShack locations

RadioShack’s bad break has created a wealth of opportunities for other businesses. Following its bankruptcy announcement, the electronics retailer has closed thousands of stores across the country – valuable real estate franchises are eager to scoop up. As the NewsyBusiness video above illustrates, RadioShack's decline has been steady over recent years.

San Francisco Business Times recently reported on some of the companies looking to fill these vacant spaces. For example, Hand & Stone Massage CEO Todd Leff told the source his company is making use of not only empty RadioShack locations, but storefronts where Blockbuster used to operate as well.

"Nationwide, where Blockbuster and Radioshack were before — these businesses being displaced by the Internet — we're coming in behind that and occupying that space in retail centers where we didn't exist before," he said. "It's an interesting change in business."

This was echoed by Ardag Tachian, director of franchise development for MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes.

"We're looking at [RadioShack locations] across the country," Tachian told Silicon Valley Business Journal. "We have brokers sort of tasked with ID'ing locations."

Meanwhile, Graham Hanson, a real estate development specialist with Pita Pit USA, expounded on the costs involved with transforming a RadioShack location into a restaurant.

"It depends on what infrastructure is in the place when we go into it," Hanson said. "Sometimes the RadioShack has all the electrical we need, and we don't have to put in a new bathroom, just do a facelift."