| Home |
| Search |
| Today's Posts |
|
#25
|
|||
|
|||
|
From Globe and Mail Artciles
Electronics chains retune for competition By MARINA STRAUSS RETAILING REPORTER Thursday, May 26, 2005 Canada's hotly competitive consumer electronics retailing business is bracing for more static as two major U.S. players battle over the RadioShack name and an array of merchants set their sights on snatching a bigger piece of the techno-action. The retailers are grappling with plummeting prices and tighter profit margins as the technological life cycles of many new products keep shrinking, even as demand for high-definition televisions and all things digital continues to climb. ================================================== =========== RadioShack forming Canadian subsidiary RadioShack forms subsidiary Friday, May 6, 2005 Updated at 3:28 PM EDT Globe and Mail Update RadioShack Corp. of Fort Worth, Texas, has announced it is forming a Canadian subsidiary to oversee the expansion of its chain of specialty consumer electronics stores in Canada as part of the company's planned North American expansion strategy. The announcement comes on the heels of a March court ruling in favour of RadioShack voiding a licensing agreement by InterTan Canada Ltd, which is now owned by Circuit City. The ruling prohibits Circuit City from using the RadioShack name in Canada or sub-licensing the RadioShack name to its independent dealers past June. As such, Circuit City announced last week it is relinquishing the RadioShack name at almost 900 stores in Canada in favour of a new, untested brand. The company says its has been exploring several options in Canada since winning its lawsuit against InterTan and Circuit City, and expects to have upward of 20 to 30 company-owned stores operating in Canada by the end of the year, and that most of those will be in the Toronto area. The company is also extending offers to existing independent Canadian RadioShack dealers who wish to continue operating under the company's brand name and infrastructure after June. For its part, Circuit City Stores, Inc. of Richmond, Va., issued a statement and clarification to the news release issued by RadioShack. Advertisements Circuit City said it does has not relinquished its rights to the exclusive use of the RadioShack brand in Canada until 2009. "The Texas district court has only issued a partial ruling on the legal issues between InterTAN and RadioShack," InterTAN CEO Brian E. Levy said in a statement. "Once a final ruling is issued by the court, Circuit City and its InterTAN subsidiary fully intend to appeal to protect our rights under the Licence Agreement and for exclusive use of the RadioShack brand in Canada until 2009. "While we are disappointed by RadioShack's hostility and their legal manoeuvres, we are focusing our efforts on offering Canadian consumers and our dealers an even broader range of products and more attractive value at The Source by Circuit City," he said. |
| Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
| Display Modes | |
|
|