Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 03/05) - Roy Williams may have locked the door on his 30-year venture for the last time, but don't throw away those warranty cards just yet.

His old store, The Source by Circuit City (formerly RadioShack), will re-open as Roy's Audiotronic - right across the hall in the YK Centre.

The new store is still an authorized The Source dealer and sells the gadgets that company has become known for, but also carries "high-end" electronic equipment.

"As a mom and pop store, we have to look for the next wave to survive and stay competitive," Williams said, who owns the store with his wife, Maureen Crotty-Williams. "With 10 employees, it is hard to compete with big-box stores."

As new contracts were being signed when RadioShack changed its name to The Source by Circuit City earlier this year, Williams was able to negotiate to maintain the dealership, while at the same time gaining the freedom to branch out.

Canadian-owned Audiotronic approached Williams three years ago to join them. He eventually signed the deal in April.

"Corporate RadioShack thought they'd one-up-me, well, I can one-up-them," he said. "Plus, I felt I had another store in me."

Last year, RadioShack opened a company-operated store in Centre Square Mall, without asking or telling Williams before the decision was made.

While he said sales have not been affected by the competition, a number of elements helped him decide to branch out.

"Audiotronic is a Canadian company and treats people with respect," he said. "Customers will now have the best of both worlds."

The introduction of Audiotronic to Yellowknife will mean lower prices thanks to increased buying-power, he said.

And customers in Yellowknife, and throughout the North, will now have two catalogues to browse.

The new store has almost an additional 1,000 square feet of retail space and a large area in back for storage and repairs.

A new sound room features a living room atmosphere with couches where customers can try out top-of-the-line speaker systems.

New counters and display units built by Energy Wall and Building Products house big screen plasma TVs and MP3 players.

People at Audiotronic headquarters in Quebec are so pleased with the look of the new store, Williams has been invited to speak at a partners' meeting in Montreal next week about his venture.

They don't appear to be the only ones pleased with the design.

"I consider Roy an anchor of the mall," said Kelly Hayden, vice-president of Northern operations for WAM Development Group, the company that owns YK Centre.

"His ideas for his store helped spur on renovations for the mall."