Canada radio shack...

The featured brands at Radio Shack: Radio Shack, previously known as Tandy Corporation, is one of the largest electronics retail store chains operating in the United States, Europe, Central America, South America and in Canada. According to the statistical data of 2003, Radio Shack had more than 600 stores and raked in a net sales value and operating revenues worth .6 billion in that year. Two brothers, Theodore and Milton Deutschmann, in Boston, Massachutes, started the Radio Shack in 1921.

Initially, the company provided electronic equipment for amateur radio. In fact, the store was named after a small structure that housed a ship’s radio equipment. The company went into a financial crisis and had to be finally sold to Tandy Corporation, a leather goods corporation. Radio Shacks was thus renamed, Tandy Radio Shack.

Currently, the brands that feature in Radio Shack’s catalogue in the US, Europe and Canada are Presidian (video and audio equipment), Gigaware (PC accessories), Optimus (digital imaging products), Voicestar (hands-free headsets), Accurian (audio and video equipment), MyMusix (MP3 players), and Enercell (batteries and power accessories).

Radio Shack Canada division taken over by Source by Circuit City: Recently, big posters by Radio Shack offering all its goods at discounted rates in a stock clearing sale can be found in Ontario and other provinces of Canada. After losing its subsidiary, InterTAN, to Circuit City, Radio Shack is now handing over all its business to it. Presently, Circuit City is running the Radio Shacks in Canada under the name of Source.

The Source by Circuit City is now operating at 950 locations in Canada. The re-branding process of Radio Shack in Canada as the Source by Circuit City is thought to be the biggest re-branding in the history of Canadian retail. Circuit City had to plan a lot to get it right. There were approximately 900 Radio Shack stores across Canada, and the time for re-branding was very limited.

Circuit City then started to concentrate on retaining the strong selling points of the Radio Shack, and get rid of all the those ideas that didn’t do well. Subsequently, other steps were also taken, like introducing more products, better training to the sales associates to equip them with up-to-date information of all the products available in the stores. Additionally, competent marketing and advertising strategies were also designed to establish its name as a commercial electronics company. There were multi-faceted campaigns on radio, TV, newspapers, theaters, direct mail, and e-newsletters.

The Radio Shack Canada controversy in Ontario: Radio Shack had briefly reopened its stores in Canada a few years ago with its headquarters located in Ontario. However, it had to hand over its entire business of the Canada division to Circuit City after the latter purchased InterTAN, the parent company of Radio Shack in 2004. Radio Shack initially tried its best to save the Canada division by detaching itself from InterTAN, once the latter was purchased by Circuit City, by suing InterTAN for the breach of agreement. And although the court ruled in favor of Radio Shack, it eventually had to give up its business to Circuit City. However, the head office of the new Radio Shack Canada or Source by Circuit City has not changed, still located in Barrie, Ontario.