Sprint Finds Another Retail Buddy To Open 500 More Stores

A year ago, RadioShack filed for bankruptcy protection, and a little less than half of their retail stores were sold to a major creditor. That creditor in turn teamed up with Sprint to re-open the Shacks with mini-Sprint stores inside. Opening new stores with a buddy has apparently worked well for Sprint, and now they’re teaming up with the biggest mobile retailer in Europe to open 500 more stores in the U.S.

If that sounds familiar, you’ve been paying very, very close attention to mobile retail news in the last year or so. Sprint and Dixons Carphone, their partner in this project, announced their joint venture last summer, but that was a pilot project to see whether Sprint/Dixons stores would work.

Dixons Carphone is the result of a merger between two UK companies, Dixons and Carphone Warehouse. When the pilot deal was announced, CNET reported that Dixons tried to enter the US electronics market by purchasing the chain Silo back in the ’80s, while Carphone Warehouse partnered with Best Buy to open stores in the UK that ultimately didn’t succeed.

The 20-store pilot in this case has succeeded, though, and the 50-50 joint venture plans to open a total of 500 stores across the United States.

Sprint Decides It Needs 500 More Stores, Partners With U.K.’s Dixons [Re/Code]
Sprint and Dixons Carphone announce 500 new U.S. retail stores [Kansas City Star]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist