I don't know the total number of wireless locations being closed but I can tell you that it will be many. Someone said they didn't believe it because they are actively seeking to expand... Incorrect. The new corporate locations will come in 3 different size options with very limited square footage being the most common. I believe I was told something like 600 sq ft which includes the inventory room and any office space. The locations will also have very limited displays and merchandising. The customer process will be self driven and a few employees will be available to finalize the transaction. The most of the undesired retail locations will be sold off to Big 6 Agents in chunks. Let's say an area currently has 8 VZ stores. VZ will keep 1 or 2 well performing stores. The remaining 6, let's say 1 does well, 3 do ok and 2 are terrible, an interested Big 6 Agent will need to buy all 6 in that area if they want in. Moorehead and CSOK seem to be ready and willing. Make no mistake, this will happen by the end of 2017, when exactly I do not know and any loactions that VZ retains will be converted to new floor plan. National Retail Account Managers should be very concerned. They would have already eliminated all of those positions but leadership realized that many NR Partners don't know how to take care of everything at the store level. If you look now, you will see that leadership is putting more emphasis on NR Partner managers and store personnel to be self sufficient and getting the Account Managers to do more from a distance as opposed to hitting every door. Agent Account Managers that were not impacted with recent cuts should be ok at this point and more will be needed in the future once the transitions begin. I obviously can't reveal sources but I can tell you that it came from HQ.
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Yep...It will be happening. Low performing, low profit stores will close. My ex boss already gave me heads up about these new and small locations and to maybe think about reapplying. Lol.
Retail locations and remaining retail employees...You have targets on your back and the greedy company is coming for ya!
Nope I'm not a fear mongering wireline employee.
And Verizon will still have stores, just not as many of them. Relocations and remodels are focasted 36 to 48 months out. So your stores move was planned a long time ago. Lease, construction and other contracts already committed to.
I would not expect a retail employee to understand the complexities of the retail distribution business.
Oh, and if your a solutions manager or DM, I would be very concerned.
This interesting. In my town they're moving the Wireless store from a small one in a shopping mall to a huge standalone store that's wayyyy over 600 square feet, the store is a huge old Joyce Leslie. Construction is nearly done and the transition is slated to happen next quarter.
Really goes against these reports of them picking these tiny stores with no employees.
Verizon is trying to keep their customers and bring over customers from other carriers. These indirect retailer stores are notorious for poor experience and terrible management, this decision would be a really silly move, so let's hope you're just a fear mongering wireline employee.
I heard this from one of our associate directors. Confitned.
CSOK outdated business model will not help them going forward. Their call center needed profits from phone insurance vendor which will dry up. Their retail stores will be massive empty old blockbuster stores with dummy phones and too many sales reps and too little customers. Consumers demand more and they put sq footage over high tech working products to demo. How ironic that all of the old Hollywood/Blockbuster locations they converted to cellular stores will go under just like blockbusters did...both with outdated business models.
OP is correct. I have heard similar plans. I have heard larger sq footage for surviving stores as 600 sq ft is very, very small and most retail spaces don't come that small, but sell offs to indirect will be the main way to dump stores.
People laugh at me when in an earlier post I stated the severance policy was updated where if a store is sold to indirect, impacted employees are excluded from severance. This plan has been in the works for years.
We'll see who's laughing in 2017.
@1kku - That's easy. Once upon a time cellular phones was a new and exciting technology. Carriers needed points of distribution to fuel growth and provide personalized customer experience. Changing rate plans, activating service and programming new phones to work with a customer's account were all complex processes.
Fast forward to today and a Custer can do most things themselves online. Cellular is commoditized and you can get service anywhere. Accessories may be purchased at Walmart for pennies on the dollar. The carrier owned and operated retail store is an obsolete relic.
It's the same reason that coca cola makes 35% of the cans. It helps to put them in more favorable terms to resellers.
I never understood why they have company owned stores anyway.