LAS VEGAS--AT&T Mobility's (NYSE: T) Cricket prepaid brand will start selling its service along with smartphones and accessories in more than 2,800 GameStop retail stores nationwide beginning in October.
GameStop offers a buy-sell-trade program that will allow customers to sell their existing phones, video game systems and other electronic devices to GameStop and use the credit to buy a Cricket smartphone or accessory.
Cricket President Jennifer Van Buskirk said that the collaboration between GameStop and Cricket will help the company accelerate its retail footprint across the U.S.
In May Cricket introduced a revamped service with a new tagline, price plans and store design. At that time Buskirk said the company had 3,000 retail stores, which included existing Cricket retail outlets as well as dealer stores and converted Aio Wireless stores. Aio was AT&T's prepaid brand that the company merged with Cricket after AT&T purchased Leap Wireless' Cricket branded service for $1.2 billion in 2013.
To create excitement around the alliance, Cricket has developed a 3D interactive video game that GameStop customers can use to test their gaming skills as they journey through a rendered virtual reality experience similar to the Cricket footprint that will be within a GameStop store.
GameStop has been steadily increasing its wireless foothold. The retailer purchase Spring Mobile, a chain of AT&T authorized dealer stores in 2013. Spring Mobile operators 164 stores and plans to add 200-250 new stores by the end of the year, according to an April report in the Dallas Morning News.
For more:
- see this press release
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