Where AT&T is expanding retail presence in Michigan |
Posted: July 8, 2018 |
Where AT&T is expanding retail presence in MichiganGRAND RAPIDS, MI -- AT&T is expanding its retail presence across Michigan. The second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, based in Dallas, has opened 21 stores across the state in the last 15 months. But most are not corporate-owned locations. Nearly two-thirds of the 152 stores are authorized retailers, which operate similar to franchises. Over the weekend, Billy Reffitt had a grand opening for his new AT&T store located in Plainfield Township, at 5300 Northland Drive. The nearly 1,300-square-foot store is owned under his company, Great Lakes Mobile. He has opened four stores in Michigan in the past five months. The others are located in Marshall, Battle Creek and Traverse City. He previously owned 11 AT&T stores in Indiana before selling them to GameStop. Reffitt says he has been in the cell phone industry since 2003 when he went to work for Centennial Wireless, which was acquired by AT&T in 2008. He eventually rose to a district manager for AT&T before leaving to open his own stores in Indiana in 2011. Reffitt sees potential in the Michigan market. "There is a lot of areas that the customer base is a little bit underserved," Reffitt said. Customers won't be able to tell the difference between a corporate-owned and authorized dealer other than the sign on the door, he adds. "There used to be a big difference. Now employees have the same training," Reffitt said. He is counting on customers to pick AT&T stores like his for the expertise, over going to national retailers like Costco, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Sam's Club that carry AT&T phones and products. "The biggest benefit is you are talking to someone who is really an expert for the carrier," Reffitt said. "It's hard enough to just keep up on AT&T than to master all the carriers. You are getting the best advice (on AT&T products) when you come to an AT&T store." Recent new store openings across counties such as Oakland, Wayne, Kent and Calhoun coincide with AT&T's upgrades in the local wireless network infrastructure in those geographies, the carrier said. The improvements include new cell sites, greater wireless capacity and increased data speeds. "AT&T continues to invest in Michigan," said Jim Murray, president of A&T Michigan. "This new store for Grand Rapids, and ones like it in neighboring communities, help better connect residents with devices and services they are asking for."
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|