Sep. 12--RadioShack CEO Julian Day, who rarely comments on the company publicly, had some measured words about the prospect for a quick economic recovery at a New York retail conference this week, but he sounded upbeat about his own shop's prospects.

"Although the stock market and the press appear to see a recovery -- if not around the corner, next year -- it isn't clear to me personally that there's a great many forces at work that are necessarily going to have that happen," Day said. "From my point of view...there will be a recovery. I think it may be slower than people are currently hoping it will be."

Day and Lee Applbaum, chief marketing officer for RadioShack, discussed the company's recent launch of its brand transformation to The Shack, the ongoing emphasis on "mobility" in its product lineup and some of Day's accomplishments in three years as the Fort Worth retailer's boss during a Goldman Sachs retail conference Thursday in New York City.

"I think we have a very unique challenge and thus, opportunity, with this brand," Applbaum said. "The brand perception actually lags the business reality."

Applbaum said the company is not perceived as a destination for "mobility" products such as nationally known cellphone brands, including AT&T, Sprint and the recently added T-Mobile.

"Brand transformation is a long road," he said. "To unwind decades of brand misperception...you want to have some drama and some flair to it."

Thus, the Lance Armstrong connection as part of The Shack "creative platform."

As part of the transformation, RadioShack will underscore the company's mobility offerings; its place as a retailer of innovative national brands instead of the old private labels such as Realistic; and the staff's expertise as people who can get it right.

Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating of RadioShack on Thursday, prompting an 8 percent jump in the company's shares (ticker: RSH) to $17.28, a 52-week high.

The stock gave back half of that Friday, but its close at $16.58 still left the shares up 39 percent for the year.

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