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Balsa and batteries? Why RadioShack is resurfacing in HobbyTown stores

The RadioShack brand is owned by a company formed in its first of two recent bankruptcies.

RadioShack has found a way to make a comeback, according to the brand's owners.

General Wireless, the company created out of RadioShack's first of two recent bankruptcies, has struck a deal with HobbyTown to put a RadioShack Express "store-within-a-store" concept in more than 100 locations.

While RadioShack closed its stores, some of the business never went away including 400 independently-owned dealer stores. General Wireless refocused the business to those RadioShack dealers and the brand's e-commerce business, the company said. Now it's ready to try to grow the brand again.

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HobbyTown stores are also individually owned franchise stores, similar to the RadioShack dealer stores that are mostly in smaller towns.

The two brands have the hobbyist in common. HobbyTown is where you go to get balsa wood to build that bridge or a glider science project. It's now focusing more on specialty toys and STEM products and opening inside HobbyTown stores allows it to "enhance the product selection," said Hobby Town president Bob Wilke. And it's a way for RadioShack to scale up its retail presence quickly.