AT&T begins Cingular store rebranding in Houston

AT&T Inc. is retooling the look and feel of its wireless retail stores to reflect a multi-faceted product offering, and introduced its first super-sized, flashy AT&T Experience Store in Houston.
The company called the 5,000-square-foot store “the first to demonstrate the benefits of housing AT&T’s product suite under one roof,” and said it features a “fully integrated media experience made possible through convergence by encouraging interaction with the company’s extensive portfolio of wireless, broadband, video and wireline service products and services.”
According to AT&T, the focal point of the store is its entertainment offering, where people can watch its video service offerings on high-definition plasma televisions and try out Web-based and wireless remote access to the services.
The store showcases six “customer experience stations,” and four-dozen screens located around the store where customers can browse through product and service options. The stations focus on the following offerings:
— Video entertainment, including AT&T’s U-verse and Homezone services.
— Wireless in the home, including remote monitoring.
— Music, including XM satellite radio on cellphones, as well as Bluetooth headphones and external speakers. Apple Inc.’s iPhone will be showcased in this section once it becomes available, AT&T said.
— Messaging and video, highlighting 3G handsets and Bluetooth accessories.
— Enterprise mobility, focusing on wireless phones and smartphones, GPS and wireless access to e-mail and Microsoft Corp. applications.
The store includes a “personal style studio,” which will feature high-end accessories. Shoppers will also be able to purchase ringtones, crystal handset designs and phone “tattoos,” which can be downloaded to a laptop in the store.
The location is the first of several stores expected to open in AT&T territory this year, with San Antonio and Atlanta up next.