This is bad news. When Radio Shack left Canada is was a sad day but at least if you really needed a part you could go to the Source and get it (for more $$ of course) but at least it was option. Now with Bell taking over there goes those days and I guess if I really need something I'll just wait and order it online.

I think before folks dump all over this, they should wait and see what happens. I think BestBuy has a virtual monopoly on CE in this country so perhaps Bell entering the market will give the source cash to compete more effectively.

I am really interested in what Best Buy will do. Will they drop Bell Mobility, Bell TV and Bell Internet products from their Best Buy and Futureshop stores?

So Bell are buying The Source by Cicuit City, aka Radio Shack. This will give Bell 750 retail locations across Canada to offload their satellite systems.
One would presume that the stores will no longer be able to sell Starchoice, thus making a big dent in the *C marketing operation. In my particular geographical area of NS, this will mean there will be zero retail stockists for *C.
This will undoubtedly have a negative impact on sales, and I fear for the future of the company.

It seems that some Source stores have already stopped stocking *C, and are now heavily advertising BellTV (which I bleieve they haven't sold in quite some time).
Don't worry aobut the future of *C. The only thing they are concerned about is maintaining the current subscriber base. Growth has been limited to 7-10 new subs each quarter for the past few years anyway, and direct sales are really picking up in Atlantic Canada.

You still have to market your product, even if you only wish to maintain the status quo. Churn will eventually bleed away your subscriber base. That's what Bell is trying to avoid. In Southern Ontario I never see or hear anything from Starchoice.

-Mike

Growth has been limited to 7-10 new subs each quarter for the past few years anyway, and direct sales are really picking up in Atlantic Canada.

serously only 7-10 a quarter? they should fire the marketing department! a year ago june I guess the 3 out of the 10 were me and my neighbours on each side.


to add Bell sais that they will be carrying the same product lines except the Rogers line will go. I doubt they will buy The souce and convert them all to bell stores since they have a bell store in most of the same malls.

I guess this explains why when I was at the Source last weekend they wanted to sell me everything Rogers. They tried to get me to buy a heavly discounted STB and sign up for Rogers home and get a no fee Blackberry....I gues they're looking to get rid of all their Rogers products

Sorry, I was in a hurry. That should of been 7-10k.

It seems that some Source stores have already stopped stocking *C, and are now heavily advertising BellTV (which I bleieve they haven't sold in quite some time).
Don't worry aobut the future of *C. The only thing they are concerned about is maintaining the current subscriber base. Growth has been limited to 7-10 new subs each quarter for the past few years anyway, and direct sales are really picking up in Atlantic Canada.
Of the three 'Sources' that I frequent, all have always carried both Starchoice and Bell and continue to do so today... so it isn't a quick offload...

Does anyone else find it funny that Bell, known for out-SOURCing all it's customer service(to India and other countries) is buying a retail chain called THE Source

Rogers was contemplating getting into CE retail about 5-6 years ago. To that end, they test marketed Samsung displays and DVD players in a few of their Rogers Video locations. I guess it didn't work too well!

I don't mind this. I like the idea of another store to use for pricematching. I just don't see why Bell is getting into a regular retail business.

I'm not sure I agree that this will give us another store to pricematch.

This looks like yet another monopolistic move in an already over-concentrated, monopolistic environment (other examples? Air Canada/Canadian Airlines, BestBuy/FutureShop, TD/Canada Trust etc etc etc). Our government remains embarrassingly impotent at keeping the market place competitive. Anti-trust regulators would have been all over this type of deal in Europe or the US and they would have made sure the store continued to carry all product lines (or be converted to a BellStore). No wonder we have such a discrepancy in prices between US and Canada...

Having said that, I am puzzled as to why BCE (who had been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy) thinks this a good move. Retail CE is not their core competency (if you’ve been to a Bell store you probably know first hand that it’s not a good shopping experience). Their management team is not experienced in this market. Retail CE is not part of their strategy. And as many have mentioned, there is a large degree of overlap between The Source and Bell Store location. Oh and do I need to mention that we are in a major recession? The strategy seems to be somewhere in a limbo between a Bell Store and a retail CE store (minus some products)… I’m willing to wager that this acquisition will be an utter failure!

In a world where profit is dwindelling this is a good move for Bell, although I don't know how much debt this adds to their pile. The Source was one of the profitable parts of the late Circuit City and this should help Bell out in the end although we may not see positive results for a few years. This is NOT good for Rogers as I assume they will lose presence in many remote markets where The Source was the only Rogers dealer. I used to manage one of the stores in my old city and this means there will no longer be a Rogers dealer there.

Having said that, I am puzzled as to why BCE (who had been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy) thinks this a good move.

When was BCE teetering on the brink of bankruptcy?

I presume this was a purchase designed to hem in Rogers, rather than a pure play for expanded sales locations for wireless offerings. The irony, IIRC, is that The Source has contractual commitments to Rogers until the end of 2009. In retail, that may as well be a lifetime.

On the rest of the product sold at The Source, where's the differentiation? In earlier days, Radio Shack had a decent stock of parts. But that has since diminished in importance, and in sales.

More good money chasing after bad, as the saying goes.

This sale will barely make a dent in the $1.2 Billion the Teachers pension fund has to cough up for backing out of the sale of BCE...

Bell is killing(well wounding) two birds with one stone in this one....lets not forget about StarChoice, their #1 competitor in the TV department which is owned by their other competitor Shaw.

Yeah, I agree with that assessment....Rogers' agreement with The Source expires third quarter of this year and then they get the boot. BCE also shuts down a major *C outlet and gets 750 stores as well as a company that still manages to turn a profit - no matter what we all may think of them. I'm guessing they may also consolidate some of their Bell outlets (like at Hillcrest Mall, Richmond Hill) to save some more $$$$......

And BCE isn't teetering on the brink, they are flush with ca$h..... ;)

I wonder though, what's in store for the JV & dealer stores....i.e. those stores do not have to carry Rogers atm anyway, maybe we will see some corporate stores go the other way and continue to operate and carry the same SKU's as they do today. Does Bell have the right to consolidate all stores under one main corporate structure?