Telecommunication giant Sprint has entered into a working relation with a company that helped another big branch launch a super successful retail operation.
Sprint Corporation whose international headquarters are in Overland Park, Kansas, is announcing a partnership with Dixons Carphone Group which is based in London, UK.
Dixons Carphone is Europe’s leading specialist electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company and is recognized as a global retail innovator with world-class retail expertise. In a former joint venture with Best Buy, the company helped launch Best Buy Mobile.
The move is expected to accelerate Sprint’s retail transformation, and is the latest inventive move to grow its number of retail stores.
In an release on Sprint’s office website announcing the event, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure explained:
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“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.”
In the same release, Dixons Carphone Deputy Group Chief Executive and CEO of CWS Andrew Harrison added:
“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.”
As part of the arrangement, in coming months Sprint will work closely with Dixons Carphone Connected World Services (CWS) division on a pilot program to build and operate about 20 new Sprint stores in select U.S. markets.
These Sprint stores will operate similarly to the third-party retailers who operate Sprint-branded wireless stores across the U.S. Sprint will own and staff the stores while CWS will manage them. CWS will also apply its expertise and best practices across all of Sprint’s sales channels.
The current customers of both Sprint and Dixons Carphone should experience same level of service they’ve always had. The new partnership should only increase the availability of in-store support.
Employees and executives should not be affected by this new agreement.
Dixons Carphone plc is a multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company. It was formed on 7 August 2014 by the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse Group.
It operates under a number of brands across the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe. These include Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse in the United Kingdom; Elkjøp in the Nordic countries and Kotsovolos in Greece. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In 2006, Sprint exited the local landline telephone business, spinning those assets off into a newly created company named Embarq, which later became a part of CenturyLink.
The company continues to be one of the largest long distance providers in the United States. In July 2013, a majority of the company was purchased by Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Corporation, although the remaining shares of the company continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Sprint Retail photo via Shutterstock
