RadioShack moving to Fry’s Marketplace Plaza

The RadioShack on Smith-Enke Road in the Cobblestone plaza is moving to an open suite in the Fry’s Marketplace Plaza by Cost Cutters.

Franchisee Ronald Beasley has owned and operated the RadioShack since it opened in 2005 and said rising costs motivated him to make the move.

“Commercial taxes have risen every year since I’ve been in Maricopa,” Beasley said. “The rent for this space has gone up each year by 3.5 percent, and it doesn’t make sense for me to have this big of a space for my store. I don’t need it.”

Beasley has been working for four months to get a deal done to move into a smaller, cheaper space in the Fry’s Marketplace Plaza. The new location should be open on Aug. 14.

“The move will help me regroup and do more for the community,” Beasley said.

Beasley is a dealer franchisee, which means he has the ability to sell items and offer services that you would not typically see at a RadioShack store.

“We offer home installation, computer repair, ink cartridges and garage door openers among other things,” Beasley said.

He also sells remote-control planes, boats and rockets, as well as gun ammunition.

Beasley has had to get creative and experiment with what items could lead to a profit.

“We were making $500,000 a year until Walmart opened, and they took away 50 percent of our sales,” he said.

Barro’s Pizza, which has been next door to RadioShack since it opened in 2007, is expanding and will take over the space being vacated by RadioShack.