Verizon Wireless: Tulsa picked for new concept

Prototype cell store opening

Verizon Wireless is still a relative newcomer to the Tulsa market -- it only began offering phone service here in January.

Yet the Basking Ridge, N.J.-based company chose Tulsa as one of just 10 cities for rolling out its Evolution stores, a prototype that eventually will be adopted by Verizon stores across the nation.

"The next closest one of these right now is in Georgia," said Stephen Copley, district manager of retail sales for Verizon.

Unlike many compact cellular locations, when Verizon's new store at 10031 E. 71st St. opens Friday it will feature an open, spacious floor plan that encourages customers to browse at their leisure. At 4,700 square feet, the store is one of Verizon's largest.

"We want the customer to have more space to look around, rather than go to a peg rack and have to order something," Copley said.

As part of the browsing experience, all of the approximately 120 phones carried by Verizon are represented by active, live demonstration models, rather than inactive phones.

Jimmy Duvall, manager of corporate communications for Verizon, said customers can try out all of a phone's features, listen to music, play games and even make calls.

"As technology changes and phones get more features, stores can't rely on dummy phones anymore," he said. "You don't want people going home and being disappointed that the phone doesn't work the way they thought

The demo units include two laptop computers demonstrating cellular-based WiFi cards, and several phones connected to computers to demonstrate how they interact with Verizon's online services.

About 30 percent of the store is devoted to customer service space, with technicians available to deal with phone malfunctions or billing issues.

All Verizon stores being built nationwide will conform to the new model, Copley said. Eventually, other corporate-owned Verizon stores will switch as well.

The prototype came after Verizon experimented with several retail models and gathered feedback from customers, Duvall said. The final form combines elements from all the experimental stores.

"We found people really liked having live phones in the store rather than dummies," he said.

The 71st Street store is Verizon's second corporate-owned location in the Tulsa area; the other is in Owasso. Four independent cellular stores offer Verizon services, as well as area Best Buy and Circuit City stores.

Duvall said Verizon plans to open two additional corporate locations in metropolitan Tulsa during the next year.

"We want to target them carefully, so we won't put one on every corner," he said.

Copley estimated the cost of the new store at $750,000, well above the average $500,000 Verizon previously spent on its stores.

Duvall estimated the company has spent $41 million on its network in the Tulsa area to date.

"It's a big investment, but it shows we're committed," Copley said. "We're not going anywhere."

Store hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Robert Evatt 581-8447
robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com