Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Mar 29/00) - If comedian Bill Cosby lived in Rankin Inlet, he'd be one happy camper these days.

Well known for his affection for all things electronic, Cosby would finally be able to go to a local Radio Shack store to get his battery charged with enthusiasm.

Local businessman Jim Ramsay is behind Radio Shack's debut in Rankin.

He says plans to get the electronics store up and running in Rankin began about six months ago.

"Basically, I found Radio Shack's product line to be very comparable to the product line we were offering here at the stationary store," says Ramsay.

"You also can't overlook the area of cost and the price break on so many items local consumers will now receive by having a Radio Shack right here in their own community."

The outlet will carry or order anything Radio Shack carries as a national item.

Community response to the store's first day of business on Saturday, March 18, was overwhelming, with 20 telephones being sold in the first four hours.

The new store offers everything from satellite dish systems to phones, cables and connectors, TVs, stereos and stereo accessories and, of course, a wide variety of electronic toys.

"We will be advertising our products extensively beginning in April and we'll be getting Radio Shack catalogues out to Kivalliq businesses and to individual consumers who request it," says Ramsay.

"The store also benefits our community by the creation of two immediate full-time jobs.

"We also have future part-time positions in the works and I'm trying to extend retail hours and get a student program developed."

The new Radio Shack will only be charging local consumers a 10 per cent mark-up over the chain's nationally listed prices.

Radio Shack will be holding its official grand opening in Rankin the holiday weekend of May 19-20.

"That's going to be a big event," says Ramsay. We're going to be offering a lot of specials in the store and we'll be giving away a new TV and satellite system to a couple of lucky shoppers."