BCE’s The Source to open 20 new stores this year as rival Best Buy pulls back

BARRIE, Ont. – The Source electronics retail chain plans to open 20 new locations this year across Canada, continuing an expansion that added dozens of stores last year.

Most of the more than 700 locations operated across Canada by The Source are much smaller than the big-box stores operated by U.S. retailers.

The Source’s expansion announcement follows the sudden closure of 15 Canadian big-box stores owned by electronics retailer Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), throwing about 900 people out of work with little or no warning.

Many of the stores doing business as The Source are former Radio Shack stores.

The name was changed after U.S.-based Circuit City acquired the Canadian operations.

Circuit City later declared bankruptcy and closed all its U.S. locations but the Canadian business survived and was acquired by Montreal-based BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE) to complement its Bell products and services.