American wireless carrier Sprint and British mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse have signed a deal to open several new Sprint-branded stores in the US, to be operated by the British retailer. The two firms will each invest around $32 million in the joint venture to begin with, and will each own 50 percent stake in the newly formed entity. According to a press release, the joint venture plans to initially launch around 20 stores as part of a pilot program, with plans for many more in the future, depending on how successful the partnership turns out to be. Sprint is already working with RadioShack whereby the carrier operates stores managed by the embattled electronics retailer inside over 1400 RadioShack stores across the country.
The current deal meanwhile, is in line with Sprint’s recent push to hasten its retail transformation, and is expected to aid the company’s efforts to make its products and services available at more locations in an attempt to earn a larger market share in the increasingly competitive American wireless market. In line with the company’s partnership with RadioShack, the planned stores will have Sprint employees and will be fully owned by the US carrier, with Carphone Warehouse looking after the management aspect. In addition to the partnerships with the two retailers, Sprint has also recently introduced a new free service called Direct 2 You, which entitles the company’s customers to get new phones delivered to any location of their choosing and customized to their wishes.
Speaking on the occasion, the CEO of Sprint, Mr. Marcelo Claure said, “Sprint is going to offer customers a greatly enhanced experience in buying wireless products and services. We are partnering with the world’s leading wireless retailer to improve the customer experience in our stores. Dixons Carphone has the expertise and capabilities to accelerate this important part of our transformation journey”. Meanwhile, the deputy chief executive of Dixons Carphone, Mr. Andrew Harrison said, “We are delighted to be working with Sprint and to be a part of a transformation in their business that is already making impressive headway. This is a very exciting venture for us, and is a significant step in growing our CWS business in the US. We bring specialist knowledge and skills to this relationship and will be looking to deliver innovation and outstanding customer service under the Sprint brand”.