The holiday season is when retailers typically have their busiest activity and the opportunity to recoup losses from a year of otherwise poor performance. Seasonal hiring of part-time retail help tends to boost employment figures in the fourth quarter of the year as well.
This year, beleaguered electronics stalwart RadioShack is attempting to reinvent itself in what some analysts see as a "too little/too late" attempt to survive. The cash-starved company held a recent holiday preview where it unveiled a line of high-tech toys and gadgets meant to keep it competitive.
Noticeably absent from the presentation were the brand-new Apple iPhone 6 and 6Plus, which have dominated the tech news of late. And even if the hot new line of toys, services and branded products were to take off in time for Christmas, RadioShack's underlying problem is insufficient liquidity to perhaps even keep it solvent through year-end. Its share price is currently trading below $1.00, to boot.