Wireless Toyz: Multi-carrier store says they want to be the next Starbucks of wireless.
Like many Americans, I had a cell phone problem. My fiance and I wanted to merge phone plans but we had different carriers and I was just half way through a contract with mine. We wanted to keep our phone numbers and talk to each other for free. Figuring out how to do that, however, was simply frustrating.
When we tried visiting my carrier’s location within an electronics store, the friendly agent simply showed us a brochure with their calling plans and a coverage map. We left confused. Next, I tried my carrier’s website; another 20 minutes lost.
Upon entering the local Wireless Toyz store however, I sensed there was something different. The first thing I noticed was a place to sit down. And a counter to lean against. Other wireless stores, in my experience, were too busy with commotion and I remember standing and waiting too long for an agent. I’d fidget uncomfortably, afraid to step out of line as people moved about looking at products on the walls. If there were children in the store, and there usually were, parents had to interrupt conversations with the agent as the kids were touching all of the phones. But in the Wireless Toyz store, the products were safely out of their reach and yet accessible to adults. And that’s not the only thing that was accessible.
“We can transfer your fiance’s phone number to your carrier and have him assume your contract, then open a new activation and family plan in his name and he’ll get a new phone at a discounted rate upon activation,” said territory developer and franchise owner, Elias Maizi, of Houston, Texas. Mr. Maizi had just spoken in a single breath, what I could not accomplish in hours of fruitless effort and he made a new customer.
Maizi’s loyal patrons came in that afternoon, as I interviewed him about the Wireless Toyz franchise. Each customer had a unique problem: One man’s teenage son had laundered his phone. Maizi sold him a refurbished, less expensive phone to replace it. Then a woman came in whose daughter was out of the country and needed to download video from her iPod to her phone. He sold her a USB cable and driver software. A different woman came in cursing, spitting mad at her carrier, so he recommended a new carrier and activated it in-store with her existing phone number. Then a cheerful woman bought prepaid minutes.
The issues were addressed with confident ease to the relief and satisfaction of his customers. Providing relief to the wireless customer is exactly what Wireless Toyz founder, Joe Barbat, had in mind when he launched his retail concept in 1998. After listening to the customers who came into his Michigan store, he knew he had to change the way wireless was sold.
Barbat was already familiar with multiple carriers when he was selling pagers in a small kiosk in 1995. When he was selling cellular for a single carrier, however, he noticed that customers were looking for more choices and needed a representative who would act as consultant. But taking cellular to a multi-carrier concept created a major hurdle. “We had to come to terms with leaving a trusted partner for the unknown,” recalls Barbat.
While in transition to be a multi-carrier store, Barbat’s core carrier said that they would not ‘transition’ with him. He was committed to creating a consumer-centered company to “revolutionize the wireless industry” so he says it was a complete “leap of faith but clearly the right thing to do”. Proof that Barbat made the right decision, Wireless Toyz is now gaining strength in its numbers.
In 2001, Wireless Toyz began franchising across their home state of Michigan and by 2002 nine more stores had opened with the first one outside of their home market; 32 new stores opened in 2004; 2005 brought 54 new stores and in 2006 they doubled again to operate 250 stores in 20 states. This breakneck speed of growth has placed Joe Barbat, now 31, and his Wireless Toyz stores as number 202 on INC. 500’s fastest growing companies list. “We want to be the Starbucks of wireless,” he explains.
The decision to franchise has was not only a way to fund their growth but has also created successful entrepreneurs who are now part of this growing national chain. Dedicated to training and developing their franchisees, the company offers an affordable and compelling opportunity. With an emphasis on their territory developers and franchise owners they created a territory development program that launched in 2004. This program helps location owners establish territories that are ‘geographically friendly’, along with an extensive training program to create wireless experts. The emphasis places all the new stores in a position to satisfy a weary consumer.
“People often compare buying wireless phones and services to visiting the department of motor vehicles,” Barbat says. “We are the ideal solution for confused and at times poorly serviced consumers as we help them sort out complex decisions with regard to phones, plans and services.” Don’t think of Wireless Toyz as just a cell phone retailer, however.
Wireless Toyz will continue to be a “Wireless Superstore” even as the industry evolves. For now, this means that in addition to carrying Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, Disney mobile, Virgin mobile, Amp’d mobile, Helio, and Boost mobile, they also offer satellite providers’ services including Dish Network, Sirius Radio and DirecTV making it easy for their customers to choose wireless. Wireless Toyz looks for consumers to choose wireless in every application of communication and entertainment because Barbat and his team are banking on the future of wireless technology.
In the future, Wireless Toyz will be looking into adding many wireless alternatives including, WiMax, Wifi, wireless devices for TV, Radio and MP3s, as well as wireless video and still cameras. “We want to be the first place, the destination place for customers to go to for wireless services and information. We want to be the solution to the wireless industry and that is to help consumers sort out all the many different options our industry provides and direct them to what will best suit their business and personal lives with the most affordable service provider. When customers want wireless, we want Wireless Toyz to be the first place they shop and we are confident that we will establish that.”
For Franchise Information: 1-888-48WIRELESS (1-888-489-4735)
www.wirelesstoyz.com