As part of a movement designed to improve the shopping experience, Sprint Corp. said it is overhauling many of its company-owned retail outlets.
The changes include implementing in-store repairs for select handsets, new software that allows store staff to more quickly assess and manage handset issues, a designated host to greet and assist customers as they enter the store and complete redesigns of select locations. Sprint also said the changes would allow customers to make reservations to meet with a store associate as well as accessory express lanes designed for those customers who do not require detailed consultation and assistance typically provided through the activation process.
Sprint said the redesign, which was done with the help of Los Angeles-based Richard Altuna and local Kansas City firm Rees Masilionius Turley, will include a more open floor plan with merchandise arranged to ease customer browsing and selections. Altuna has previously designed retail locations for Pottery Barn, Gap, Origins and the NBA store.
Sprint also said the stores will incorporate “significant atmosphere enhancements,” including background music that customers can download as ringtones.
The new store layout will also incorporate windows, allowing customers to see Sprint service technicians repairing customer devices. The carrier said the change was based on customers often feeling uncomfortable with wireless phone repairs or being skeptical that work was being done.
Sprint noted that five stores have already been redesigned, with plans to retrofit 100 of its existing retail outlets and complete 35 to 40 new builds incorporating the new floor plan.
In an unrelated announcement, wireless retailer Spring Communications reported a deal with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. to double the number of Spring locations selling Cingular services in Utah and Colorado. Spring said it currently operates 45 retail locations throughout Utah and Colorado, and it plans to open as many as 50 additional retail locations in the region as a Cingular authorized agent.
Spring also said it plans to unveil a new look for its locations beginning March 1 incorporating the Cingular brand.
The store changes follow Cingular’s acquisition last year of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., which provided the carrier with a broad footprint in both Utah and Colorado that it lacked prior to the deal.
