Radio Corporation (N.Z.) Ltd.
Cornhill Street, Wellington. (1931-1933)
80 Courtenay Place, Wellington (1933-1937)

Radio Corporation of New Zealand Ltd.
80 Courtenay Place, Wellington (1937-19??)

Brands: Acme, Columbus, Courtenay, CQ, Pacific & Stella.

Radio Corporation of New Zealand Ltd. started as a small business in Wellington and grew to one of the largest electronics firms in the country.

They produced the above brands of radios from 1931 until 1958 when they sold out to Pye

In 1930 William Marks started making amplifiers and winding transformers in a small shop in Cornhill St, and he formed W. Marks Ltd. In 1931 He manufactured Courteney radios and Stewart Hardware on Courtenay Place became the distributor. By the end of 1932 Marks had changed the company name to Radio Corporation (N.Z.) Ltd. and was employing nearly 50 staff which was producing 500 radios per month.

In June 1933 Radio Corporation (N.Z.) Ltd. moved to new larger premises at 80 Courtenay Place, as they had outgrown the original premises and held an auction for excess stock. [1]

At this time, they commenced manufacturing ‘private' brand sets including Acme, Pacific, Stella, and CQ.

In 1934 Turnbull & Jones took over the distribution of Courtenay radios, and the line of Exelrad coils and transformers, and later radio kitsets.

By 1936 the strain of short uneconomical runs for the private brand sets meant the company needed to change. It was reorganised as a public listed company and renamed Radio Corporation of New Zealand Ltd.
All agreements with private brands other than Courtenay were terminated shortly after and a new house brand, Columbus, was introduced. The last private brand sets were produced in 1937.

By January 1937 the company was listed as a public company to raise capital with one of the subscribers being W. Marks along with Directors from Turnbull & Jones and Cory, Wright & Salmon Ltd. [2]

In 1937 they set up a subsidiary company to run a nationwide chain of stores, Columbus Radio Centres, for the distribution and servicing of Columbus radios.

In 1956 Turnbull & Jones ceased trading in radios and the Courtenay name disappeared from use with the model 45 and 46 (Broadcast & Dual wave respectively) being the last models to be sold under that name.

In 1958 Radio Corporation of New Zealand Ltd sold out to Pye and by 1961 the once-massive Columbus name had disappeared from the landscape. [3]

[1] Evening Post 5 Sep 1933, Page 14.
[2] New Zealand Herald 9 Jan 1937, Page 5.
[3] The Golden Age of Radio in the Home,