The Curtis Mathis brand name is slated to be reappear as a private-label retail line of consumer electronics products by the end of the year, according to uniView, the current rights holder to the name.
A spokesperson for uniView said it has reached separate agreements with a retailer and a “major consumer electronics manufacturer of televisions and VCRs” to license the Curtis Mathis name for electronics products that are scheduled to appear in the fourth quarter of the year.
Citing “marketing strategies,” the names of the retailer and manufacturer were withheld.
A retailer will use Curtis Mathis as an exclusive private-label consumer electronics line, and its products will be made by the unnamed manufacturer, uniView said.
uniView will receive an initial licensing fee for use of the name with ongoing royalties for an initial period of five years, the company said. Patrick Custer, uniView chairman, said the licensing deal represents “the opportunity for significant ongoing revenue for us.”
The Curtis Mathis name is well known throughout the Southwestern U.S. as one of the original makers of TVs sets. At times the company ran its own network of Curtis Mathis retail stores, and it later developed into a major rental goods line.
Custer’s holding company (which used various names) unsuccessfully tried to resurrect the Curtis Mathis name to market televisions, video products and eventually its uniView television Internet terminal and service. Those efforts were hampered by difficulty in delivering products.
