News

First 'Verizon Experience' store built around interactivity

October 30, 2006

DALLAS — Visitors to the nation's first Verizon Experience store, located in Southlake, Texas, will encounter a comprehensive display of high-tech communications and entertainment products and services for the home, business and mobile consumers.

The 5,000-square-foot flagship store in the Southlake Town Square opens Oct. 31 and will allow customers to play, connect, watch and listen to Verizon Wireless' and Verizon Communications' broadband-rich, entertainment-oriented and productivity-enhancing wireless and wireline services.

"We're seeking to retain and win over customers' loyalty amid the most competitive period in our industry's history," said Bob Ingalls, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Communications. "The Verizon Experience store will demystify how technology improves productivity and makes buying decisions simpler than ever by delivering a shopping experience unlike any other among our peers and competitors.

"We have millions of customers who enjoy ordering Verizon products over the Internet or on the telephone, but we have just as many who want to touch and feel our services in the same way people visit a retail store to see the quality of their new high-definition TV before making a purchase," Ingalls said. "Our new store allows customers to roll up their sleeves and have a fun experience determining what it would be like to use our services."

Verizon's newest retail-marketing foray brings together the services offered by Verizon Wireless and Verizon Communications in a setting where customers can touch and try products, engage dynamic interactive displays and demonstrations, and consult with specially-trained product experts who will accompany customers as they shop for the latest in technology services.

Outfitted with a concierge, a sign-up station, and an innovative demo bar, where experts give one-on-one demonstrations of products, the store is intended to let customers experience services directly and then purchase what they like.

The Verizon Experience store will greet visitors with the very latest technology: over-sized, high-definition plasma television screens featuring Verizon's FiOS TV service; a gaming station and computers, enabling customers to test drive ultra-fast FiOS Internet connection speeds of up to 15 megabits per second (Mbps) over Verizon's 100 percent, fiber-optic network; 12 digital electronic information screens; multiple touchscreen computers that contain detailed product and pricing information; simulated broadband-speed comparisons; interactive kiosks and exhibits; a series of intuitive product demonstrations; and a technical support center.

"Customers who visit the Verizon Experience store will be impressed at the wide range of services available in one location," said Luis M. Cruz, region president for Verizon Wireless. "The flow of the store allows visitors to immerse themselves in interactive demonstrations or go directly to a specific area of interest such as music, text and picture messaging, ring-tones or personal digital assistants."