RadioShack Corporation (RSH), Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY): Four Red-Shirt Retailers Destined to Die

Spoiler alert: Best Buy won’t be selling boats and RVs.

So why exactly did GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) hit a new 52-week high on Friday?

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME)’s been rallying given a huge short position that’s getting squeezed out, but just wait until Thursday’s quarterly report. It’s the bulls that should be getting nervous here, especially after GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) slashed its same-store sales guidance four times in its most recent fiscal year.

Have you ever read a book knowing exactly how it’s going to end?

I can do that for Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS).

It’s final chapter will end with these three words … just like Borders.

I’m not being cruel. Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is selling books at a time when digital e-readers are taking over. Yes, Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a force there with its Nook, but the market is too cutthroat for Nook to ever catch up to Kindle as the digital book platform of choice.

However, with or without this deal, what becomes of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS)? It’s in the same boat as Best Buy with stores that are too big for the downward spiral of book sales.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) has lost money in its last two fiscal years, and Wall Street sees that continuing for the next few years. Sales have been slipping, and should continue to slide. This certainly seems a lot like Borders.

Beam me down, Scotty
These four red-shirted retailers won’t perish at the same time.

RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) will be an early death. Barnes & Noble should follow shortly, especially as investors realize that its cash-sapping Nook business isn’t as valuable as Microsoft thinks it is.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) and Best Buy may last a little longer. GameStop’s model is still very profitable, and its balance sheet is solid. That may be enough to have it outlive Best Buy, even though its model will perish first.

One way or another, these confident stocks aren’t going to beam back up alive.

The article 4 Red-Shirt Retailers Destined to Die originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Rick Munarriz.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of GameStop, Microsoft, and RadioShack.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.