Tandy to Replace House Brands With RCA

Tandy Corp. said it has chosen Thomson Consumer Electronics' RCA line to be the exclusive brand of audio and video products sold at its Radio Shack stores. Fort Worth-based Tandy will phase out its house brands of electronics--known under the Optimus and Realistic names--in the next year and replace them with RCA goods. The RCA products, which include televisions, stereos and DVD players, will be showcased in a special merchandising area--or a store within a store--in at least 4,000 of Radio Shack's company-owned stores by the second quarter of 2000. Thomson is a subsidiary of Paris-based Thomson Multimedia, a leading electronics manufacturer with products sold under the RCA, Thomson, GE, Proscan, Telefunken and Saba brands.