The folks at InterTAN, Inc. have come up with the new name for all their Radio Shack stores: The Source by Circuit City. The logo is undeniably ugly and the name is humdrum. Radio Shack was always such a fun name for a gadget store, “The Source” sounds like they’re trying too hard to be cool. But, other than the logo, I think they could have done worse.
The thing that really got me was the transition, or lack of one. RadioShack.ca has been replaced by a media release without a link to the new site. The address is actually written in the release, but it isn’t linked. For that matter, it appears that no one’s managed to find time to add a link to the InterTAN website either. What’s up with that?
My main PC at home has been running Ubuntu since the release of Warty Warthog last October. I’d experimented with Linux desktop software in the past, but was never very successful at making it work nicely for me. Using Ubuntu has been very smooth, and upgrading from 4.10 to 5.04 also went very well. I’m enjoying my experience very much.
Obviously since it’s Linux, there are a couple things possible on Windows that I can’t do with Ubuntu. There are only two that really matter to me: Flash and QuickTime. However, I also have available an older computer running Windows XP. I use it primarily for running the CorelDraw Graphics Suite. (I’m sure I could have replaced that with Linux software like The Gimp, but I find I’m more comfortable with the Corel interface.)
The one significant problem that I have with Ubuntu appears to have surfaced only after I upgraded to Hoary Hedgehog. For some reason that I don’t understand the folder opening behaviour in the File Manager changed. Now, when I open a folder from within another folder it opens in a completely new window that isn’t in focus. I have to click the button on the task panel to see it, and switching windows with the task pane is slow. (And, as I’ll explain below, switching with Alt-Tab is also slow.)
Unfortunately, I don’t recall any problems before I upgraded so I can’t even remember how this procedure worked in 4.10. I’m not really concerned about whether the opened folders are in the same window or new ones, but having to always switch windows is frustrating.
Another problem I have is that at some point I did something to the window manager and I have no idea how to change it back. I tried to install a version of the window manager that had a feature that shows mini-versions of all the current windows on Alt-Tab instead of the usual switcher. If I recall correctly, this version was called Exposity. I don’t mind it that except that it seems to be a lot slower than it was before. Fortunately, at the moment I often need to do a lot of window switching.
The biggest difficulty for me is that I don’t know very much about administering Linux systems and don’t have the time to really learn it properly. I know enough to use the system fairly effectively, but not nearly enough to fix problems. And especially not the one’s I cause.
According to this report from CBC News, RadioShack in Canada will be no more as of June 30. A US court has sided with RadioShack Corp. in a dispute with InterTAN, the licensee of the brand in Canada. The article doesn’t specify the details of the dispute, but it would appear to have been the business world equivalent of fraternizing with the enemy: the suit was originally filed one week after US competitor Circuit City purchased InterTAN.
In hindsight, this story seems obvious and inevitable. I’d be surprised if Circuit City wasn’t aware of this possibility when they did the deal for InterTAN, and I’m guessing they may have even planned for it. However, when the purchase was originally announced I didn’t see this at all; I actually thought the RadioShack brand had been a big part of the purchase. Now I realize I was wrong.
The words “Radio Shack” still bring to mind some strong images for me, and probably other people. It’s the popular engineering shop: the place you go when you need electronic widgets and whatsits for hooking stuff together. I don’t know about the US stores, but the one’s in Canada don’t seem very interested in filling that niche anymore. And therefore it’s probably just as well for them to be called something else.
There was one other thing that caught my eye in the article. RadioShack general counsel Mark Hill said in a statement, “the most important thing to us was to protect our brand position in Canada.” Now that is probably just spin (or the counsellor doesn’t know what he’s talking about), but maybe the Shack has some designs I haven’t heard about.
In any case, as a sometime sidelines marketer, I’ll be very interested to see how InterTAN tries to sell the Canadian shoppers on whatever new name they end up using, which might just be Circuit City. There’s a good chance I’ll think their campaign is junk when I see it, but I can always hope to be proven wrong.
21 February 2005 – 9:15 pm
I’ve never been a fan (in the literal sense of the word) of professional hockey, but I have to admit I would watch now and then if the NHL was playing this year. (It may be the Canadian in me, but it’s my opinion that athletic endeavour is best served cold and with a touque.)
Recently, along with nearly everyone else, I’ve been thinking about professional hockey and things that might make it better. I don’t have any solutions, but I’ve been reading commentaries from some folks who do, in particular Colby Cosh. Recently, Cosh made this most excellent observation:
Bettman & Co. want very much to turn the NHL into the NBA, but should it necessarily settle for that when it could be transformed into Formula One or soccer?
I heartily agree with that sentiment. I really like the way a lot of the professional soccer leagues are organized in Europe with the hierarchy of divisions and the ability of teams to move up or down through the divisions. This seems to change the incentives for team owners in a positive fashion, and creates a more balanced field for new teams. Newly established clubs start in the lower level leagues and then move up (or not) according to the level of their success. Ironically, that model is far more market friendly than the centrally controlled model preferred in North America.
For some interesting examples, I recommend this article about a possible alternate team starting in Manchester if US businessman Malcom Glazer succeeds in taking over the publicly traded Manchester United. The part that caught my eye was a team started in Wimbledon when the local team there moved away. The new team remains in a lower ranked league but has progressed up the ranks since it was established. As I’ve been thinking about that I keep wondering about the possibilities for Winnipeg, Quebec City, or any of a number of other cities if hockey used that kind of model. I find those possibilities quite captivating. (Go Jets Go!)
The Source by Circuit City
The folks at InterTAN, Inc. have come up with the new name for all their Radio Shack stores: The Source by Circuit City. The logo is undeniably ugly and the name is humdrum. Radio Shack was always such a fun name for a gadget store, “The Source” sounds like they’re trying too hard to be cool. But, other than the logo, I think they could have done worse.
The thing that really got me was the transition, or lack of one. RadioShack.ca has been replaced by a media release without a link to the new site. The address is actually written in the release, but it isn’t linked. For that matter, it appears that no one’s managed to find time to add a link to the InterTAN website either. What’s up with that?