WASHINGTON – Almost lost from the retail scene, the nearly century-old RadioShack, mocked as the "cockroach of retail," is betting on a comeback, reports The Washington Post.

Its “big new rebirthing plan,” notes the Post: “Act more like a convenience store. …Think of the new Shack like the modern equivalent of a small-town corner store: Instead of milk and medicine, it will have cellphone chargers, headphones and all the other little easily forgotten doodads that keep our Web-connected lives running.”

RadioShack plans to ditch merchandise such as cameras, laptops and tablets and rebrand the stores as “the premier community destination for consumer electronics.” In other words, the national “convenience store” for technology-specific general merchandise products (batteries, ear buds, phone chargers) often found on c-store shelves.

The Post writes that RadioShack expects its “tech outposts” to excel in smaller, more rural communities, where online shopping and home deliveries are not as common. The best stores, according to the company, were historically in rural strip malls where competition was low “and RadioShack was perhaps the only gadget game in town.”

RadioShack’s revival, however, may not be able to withstand the continued consumer shift to online shopping. "The fact that they have a new lease on life does not change the competitive dynamics here," Anthony Chukumba, a senior research analyst with BB&T Capital Markets, told the newspaper. "And to me it does not change the so many reasons that led them to going bankrupt in the first place."