The Source by Circuit City
Encyclopedia
The Source (legal name The Source (Bell) Electronics Inc.) formerly known as RadioShack and later The Source by Circuit City, is a Canadian electronics
retail
er with over 800 locations across Canada
. Originally part of the American RadioShack chain, The Source is currently financially backed by Bell Canada
, which purchased the assets of InterTAN
from bankrupt parent U.S. retailer Circuit City Stores in 2009. The company is a unit of 4458729 Canada Inc. and is based in Barrie
, Ontario
.
The Source also includes some stores previously operated by InterTAN under separate banners such as Battery Plus, THS Studio, UpClose, and G-Wiz.
d as "RadioShack
"). The Canadian chain was originally owned by Radio Shack (U.S.)'s parent company Tandy Corporation
, but was later spun off, along with the rest of Tandy's international operations, as InterTAN
. A licensing agreement with what became RadioShack Corporation allowed InterTAN to continue to use the chain's name and logo.
In May 2004, InterTAN was acquired by Circuit City Stores. One week after the acquisition was completed, RadioShack Corporation filed a lawsuit in the 352nd Judicial District Court in Tarrant County
, Texas
to end the licensing agreement. RadioShack Corporation claimed that InterTAN had breached the terms of their agreement. On March 24, 2005, the district court judge ruled in favour of RadioShack and cancelled the agreement. The ruling prohibited InterTAN from using the brand name on their stores or in any of their products, packaging, and advertising after June 30, 2005.
On April 26, 2005, Circuit City announced that the stores would be renamed The Source by Circuit City (La Source par Circuit City in Quebec
). The rebranding process was completed in the majority of the chain's Canadian stores by July 1, 2005. Even the Radio Shack brand names on the products in the store were changed to Nexxtech and Centrios.
In February 2007, The Source announced it would close down 62 low volume stores across Canada. On March 30, 2007, Circuit City announced to its shareholders that it was seeking options including selling off the InterTAN
/The Source subsidiary to cut losses. On November 10, 2008, InterTAN sought out protection from its creditors, after Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11.
Circuit City announced on January 16, 2009, that its namesake U.S. stores would be liquidated. The Source was not affected by the announcement, and a process followed to sell the Canadian operations as a going concern.
On March 2, 2009, Canadian telecommunications firm Bell Canada
announced it would acquire The Source and continue to operate it as an independent division. The acquisition was completed July 1 for the final purchase price of $135 million dollars US, following which the chain formally removed the "by Circuit City" from its name (although the signage
of some stores still display the former name). Bell has begun selling some their communications services (Internet & Television Services). The Source currently sells Virgin Mobile Canada
(a company wholly owned by Bell Canada
) and Bell Mobility
cellular services, except in Thunder Bay, ON. Prior to January 2010, the chain had an exclusivity agreement for wireless products with Rogers Communications
.
The Source will also continue to sell a full array of consumer electronics products.
& Blu-Ray
Players, Home Theater Systems, Clock Radios, Cellular Phones, Cordless & Corded Home Phones, Toys, Sirius
Satellite Radio
, Console Gaming Equipment, Cabling Solutions (such as HDMI, DVI, RCA, Component, Composite, VGA, S-VIDEO, USB, SERIAL, etc), Bell
and Virgin Mobile
Solo Mobile mobile devices, and mobile products & Bell TV , MP3 Players (iPod
, Sony Walkman), as well as a massive selection of headphones including the new Monster and Skullcandy headphone line-up.
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
er with over 800 locations across Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Originally part of the American RadioShack chain, The Source is currently financially backed by Bell Canada
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
, which purchased the assets of InterTAN
InterTAN
InterTAN Canada Ltd. was a Canadian consumer electronics retailer that operated stores under the banner "The Source by Circuit City" and a single "THS Studio" location. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Circuit City Stores Inc., as of May 19, 2004. InterTAN is based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada...
from bankrupt parent U.S. retailer Circuit City Stores in 2009. The company is a unit of 4458729 Canada Inc. and is based in Barrie
Barrie
Barrie may refer to:* Barrie, city in Ontario, Canada* Barrie , Canadian federal electoral district* Barrie , provincial electoral district* Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, former Canadian electoral district...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
The Source also includes some stores previously operated by InterTAN under separate banners such as Battery Plus, THS Studio, UpClose, and G-Wiz.
Background
The Source began as the Canadian branch of Radio Shack (later CamelCaseCamelCase
CamelCase , also known as medial capitals, is the practice of writing compound words or phrases in which the elements are joined without spaces, with each element's initial letter capitalized within the compound and the first letter either upper or lower case—as in "LaBelle", "BackColor",...
d as "RadioShack
RadioShack
RadioShack Corporation is an American franchise of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe, South America and Africa. As of 2008, RadioShack reported net sales and operating revenues of $4.81 billion. The headquarters of RadioShack is located in Downtown...
"). The Canadian chain was originally owned by Radio Shack (U.S.)'s parent company Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation was a family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Tandy was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store, and acquired RadioShack in 1963. The Tandy name was dropped in May 2000, when RadioShack Corporation was made the official name.-History:Tandy began in 1919...
, but was later spun off, along with the rest of Tandy's international operations, as InterTAN
InterTAN
InterTAN Canada Ltd. was a Canadian consumer electronics retailer that operated stores under the banner "The Source by Circuit City" and a single "THS Studio" location. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Circuit City Stores Inc., as of May 19, 2004. InterTAN is based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada...
. A licensing agreement with what became RadioShack Corporation allowed InterTAN to continue to use the chain's name and logo.
Tarrant County, Texas
Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 1,809,034. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County is the sixteenth most populous county in the United States and the third most populous in Texas. The county is named in honor...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to end the licensing agreement. RadioShack Corporation claimed that InterTAN had breached the terms of their agreement. On March 24, 2005, the district court judge ruled in favour of RadioShack and cancelled the agreement. The ruling prohibited InterTAN from using the brand name on their stores or in any of their products, packaging, and advertising after June 30, 2005.
On April 26, 2005, Circuit City announced that the stores would be renamed The Source by Circuit City (La Source par Circuit City in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
). The rebranding process was completed in the majority of the chain's Canadian stores by July 1, 2005. Even the Radio Shack brand names on the products in the store were changed to Nexxtech and Centrios.
In February 2007, The Source announced it would close down 62 low volume stores across Canada. On March 30, 2007, Circuit City announced to its shareholders that it was seeking options including selling off the InterTAN
InterTAN
InterTAN Canada Ltd. was a Canadian consumer electronics retailer that operated stores under the banner "The Source by Circuit City" and a single "THS Studio" location. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Circuit City Stores Inc., as of May 19, 2004. InterTAN is based in Barrie, Ontario, Canada...
/The Source subsidiary to cut losses. On November 10, 2008, InterTAN sought out protection from its creditors, after Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11.
Circuit City announced on January 16, 2009, that its namesake U.S. stores would be liquidated. The Source was not affected by the announcement, and a process followed to sell the Canadian operations as a going concern.
On March 2, 2009, Canadian telecommunications firm Bell Canada
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
announced it would acquire The Source and continue to operate it as an independent division. The acquisition was completed July 1 for the final purchase price of $135 million dollars US, following which the chain formally removed the "by Circuit City" from its name (although the signage
Signage
Signage is any kind of visual graphics created to display information to a particular audience. This is typically manifested in the form of wayfinding information in places such as streets or inside/outside of buildings.-History:...
of some stores still display the former name). Bell has begun selling some their communications services (Internet & Television Services). The Source currently sells Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Mobile Canada is a cellular telephone company that was launched on March 1, 2005 as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Bell Canada. Since May 7, 2009, it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Mobility. - Pre-launch :...
(a company wholly owned by Bell Canada
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
) and Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...
cellular services, except in Thunder Bay, ON. Prior to January 2010, the chain had an exclusivity agreement for wireless products with Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...
.
The Source will also continue to sell a full array of consumer electronics products.
Product Range
The Source currently stocks a wide array of products. Most of the products are consumer electronics, including: Computers & computer accessories, Televisions, DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
& Blu-Ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
Players, Home Theater Systems, Clock Radios, Cellular Phones, Cordless & Corded Home Phones, Toys, Sirius
Sirius Canada
Sirius Canada is a Canadian company, a partnership between Slaight Communications, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Sirius Satellite Radio, which was one of three services licensed by the CRTC on June 16, 2005 to introduce satellite radio service to Canada.On November 24, 2010, following...
Satellite Radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
, Console Gaming Equipment, Cabling Solutions (such as HDMI, DVI, RCA, Component, Composite, VGA, S-VIDEO, USB, SERIAL, etc), Bell
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...
and Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile Canada
Virgin Mobile Canada is a cellular telephone company that was launched on March 1, 2005 as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Bell Canada. Since May 7, 2009, it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Mobility. - Pre-launch :...
Solo Mobile mobile devices, and mobile products & Bell TV , MP3 Players (iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
, Sony Walkman), as well as a massive selection of headphones including the new Monster and Skullcandy headphone line-up.