T-Mobile has been expanding a lot in the last few years. Not just in the number of customers they’ve added, but also in their coverage and now their retail reach. Currently, T-Mobile has 3,600 stores nationwide, by the end of the year, that number should be at 4,000. If all goes according to plan. Why is T-Mobile looking to open up another 400 stores? Well besides bringing more jobs, it means that they will be able to reach more customers. Having a T-Mobile store in the community means that customers are more likely to switch or use Magenta, compared to communities that don’t have a T-Mobile store. Because if there is anything wrong with their service or devices, they can walk in and get some help.
At the Oppenheimer 19th Annual Technology, Internet & Communications Conference, T-Mobile’s VP of investor relations, Nils Paellmann spoke about the company’s retail efforts. Citing that “existing distribution sells into 230M POPs (of 311M total) and the company’s plans for expanded distribution would cover an incremental 30-40M POPs by YE2017”. This means that of the 311 million people T-Mobile covers in the US, they currently cover 230 million with retail centers, and this expansion would add in another 30-40 million. During the most recent earnings conference call, T-Mobile’s COO talked about this expansion and said that it would cover new geographies for T-Mobile. He stated that they were on track for 400 new stores this year. He also mentioned that T-Mobile expects to have 4,000 stores, while MetroPCS will expand to about 9,000 stores.
This is going to be a big deal for T-Mobile. Not just because it allows them to gain customers in new areas where it was tough to bring in new customers before, but because it also means they will be able to sell more phones, tablets and other products. T-Mobile only sells their products through their own stores. Unlike other carriers who use retailers like Costco, Best Buy, Amazon and others to sell theirs. If you want a Galaxy Note 7 on T-Mobile, you are unfortunately stuck with buying direct from T-Mobile. And of course, running into your local store to get a new phone is much cheaper than waiting for it to be shipped to your house.