Usually, when shopping for a BlackBerry, you might have to hit a number of stores. Because the devices are carried by all different carriers, there is no one central place to shop around for which BlackBerry device and service works best for you. Until now, that is. If you live near Farmington Hills, Michigan, you can take a trip to the world’s first BlackBerry store, where you can find phones, accessories, software applications, and service activation from the four major carriers: Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon.
The store is the first of its kind in the $140 billion wireless communications industry, an industry-watcher said. It is not a franchise and there are currently no plans to build another one, said Nadine Stafford, marketing director for Wireless Giant.
“It’s a concept store and we don’t know where it’ll go from here,” she said, adding that the results of the retail center will be evaluated before any decisions are made. “There’s no (plans for) other stores at this point.”
A major advantage of the store is that, because they deal exclusively with the BlackBerry, sales associates can be intensely trained on the devices and service, allowing them to better serve customers. It also allows them to understand the differences in service (e.g., GSM vs. CDMA).
We’re a bit saddened by the lack of a plan for future stores, but we’re sure that if this one is a success, you’ll be sure to see more pop up around the country.
