Sprint is swooping into more than 1,500 stores owned by RadioShack, which filed for bankruptcy this week. The carrier will set up shop in those RadioShack locations and plans to turn them into co-branded Sprint/RadioShack stores. Sprint said it will occupy roughly one-third of each store, selling mobile devices and service plans, as well as RadioShack products, services and accessories.
The deal will more than double Sprint’s retail presence. The carrier currently owns about 1,100 stores. Sprint said its brand will be dominant in the RadioShack stores it occupies if the deal is completed as planned. Sprint employees will sell mobile devices and wireless service plans for Sprint, Boost and Virgin Mobile.
Sprint should benefit from the new storefronts as it encourages customers and potential customers to trade in their smartphones in order to take advantage of its promotions. The carrier shares a parent company (Softbank) with Brightstar, a leading distributor of mobile devices. An expanding retail footprint could leverage this relationship because the Radio Shack storefronts will make it easier to reach more people, and the Brightstar connection will expedite recycling and repurposing of the used phones.
General Wireless will be Sprint’s partner in establishing the co-branded stores. General Wireless is a subsidiary of Standard General, RadioShack’s largest shareholder, and will be acquiring the stores from RadioShack. Sprint said it will move into as many as 1,750 stores, a subset of the total number that RadioShack is selling to General Wireless.
RadioShack has storefronts in a variety of locations, ranging from upscale venues to areas that see very little retail traffic. The company sold 1,100 stores last year, leaving it with a total of 4,000. About 900 of those were operated as franchise locations. Reuters reports that RadioShack is now selling 2,400 stores to its investor, implying that roughly 1,600 more stores may be closed.
