This will all be done before the end of the year, and Verizon states 100 of these locations will be ready by the end of this month (September).
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It’s become apparent that Best Buy will soon become more of a mini-mall than it will a big box store as Verizon and AT&T add to the fray.
Meanwhile, in a review of US wireless firms, Morgan Stanley has reiterated its Overweight rating on Verizon, and an Equal Weight rating on AT&T.
These expanded AT&T shops will be in 250 Best Buy stores around the country by the end of 2015. Using HD 4K televisions, AT&T will also display to Best Buy shoppers numerous entertainment options that the carrier makes available to DirecTV subscribers. The Experience Stores will let you try Verizon’s connected devices, tablets, smartphones, apps, and services, and each one will have “dedicated and highly-trained Best Buy employees who are knowledgeable on Verizon products and services”.
“The shops allow us to offer even better service to our customers, whether they need help with their data plan or understanding how their phone or tablet can better control their increasingly connected life”, said Josh Will, senior category officer of mobile and connected home at Best Buy. “The mobile device is becoming the remote control to everything else in our lives, but it can be confusing”.
You won’t hear any arguments from us on the “overpromising” and “underdelivering” comments – what Lurie says makes a lot of sense. Reps manning the Verizon Experience stores at Best Buy will be trained in providing consumers with a great hands-on shopping experience. The popular tech retailer already has experience shops for Apple, Samsung and Microsoft in place, and now it seems like a couple new companies are about to join the fun. There’s no better opportunity to bash your competitor than at an industry trade show which produced very little actual news, so AT&T Mobility boss Glenn Lurie leapt at the chance during an interview with CNET at CTIA.
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AT&T is no slouch either, with some 5,341 company-owned and authorized retail locations under its belt.
