Consumer Cellular, the Portland, Oregon-based MVNO that launched in 1995 targeting the 50+ demographic, is now opening its own retail stores.
For years, the company sold its service through big-box stores like Target. It’s also getting into Walmarts, with Chief Marketing Officer Craig Lister telling Best MVNO in August that Consumer Cellular is in 474 Walmart stores and committed to growing that relationship.
Now apparently it’s time to branch out into its own stores. In a LinkedIn post in September – spotted earlier by Wave7 Research – Consumer Cellular revealed that it had opened a store in The Villages, Florida.
This week, the company, which has 4 million customers, put out a press release saying it’s actually launching its first brick-and-mortar stores with two locations in The Villages, which spans over 35,000 acres in three adjoining counties in central Florida.
“Opening our first brick-and-mortar locations is a huge milestone for us. We can’t imagine a better location to launch than The Villages,” said Consumer Cellular CEO Ed Evans in a statement. “Opening two retail locations in the largest active retirement neighborhood in the country underscores our longstanding commitment to serve the 50+ community.”
Evans assumed the role of CEO when the Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR bought Consumer Cellular in October 2020. Earlier in his career, he led Dobson Communications and Syniverse Technologies.
Wave7 Research principal Jeff Moore said his firm has been reporting that Consumer Cellular will launch stores since August. Wave7 also expects a store near a large retirement community in Sun City, Arizona, will launch.
“We are expecting more stores to launch, but there is no indication that it will be a major launch, like the Total by Verizon launch,” he said.
A Consumer Cellular representative told Fierce the company has plans to open additional locations in other states but didn’t say where. The company relocated its headquarters to Scottsdale, Arizona, after the 2020 sale.
As to why it’s opening its own stores now, Moore said these retirement communities have a critical mass of prospective customers that makes a store launch attractive. It’s also not an either/or thing, as Consumer Cellular continues to be sold at every Target the firm visits and at fewer than 20% of Walmarts.
Consumer Cellular said a grand opening, complete with a ribbon cutting, is set for Friday, November 11, with a celebration continuing through the weekend at both locations that includes promotional give-aways and special offers. Residents at The Villages will be offered a chance to sign up for Consumer Cellular’s new exclusive plan for AARP members: two lines of unlimited talk, text and data for $55/month ($27.50 a line).