uSprint Partnering With UK Tech Retailer To Open Up To 500 New Stores In The U.S.r

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  (Misfit Photographer)

  There could be a few more Sprint stores in the neighborhood soon, as the wireless company announced plans to partner with one of the U.K.’s biggest technology retailers to open new locations stateside.

  CNET reports that Sprint entered into a joint venture with Dixons Carphone to open up to 500 stores in the U.S.

  The plan is for Dixons Carphone to open and manage about 20 Sprint-branded stores in Chicago and Miami starting in early August.

  If the first stores prove to be successful, the company will set things in motion to open hundreds of other stores.

  Sprint and Dixons will each hold a 50% stake in the joint venture, which could result in an investment of up to $31 million, if all things work out.

  This, of course, isn’t Sprint’s first foray into partnering with other retailers. The company announced earlier this year that it would team up with RadioShack to re-open stores that will be part phone store, part RadioShack merchandise.

  While Dixons Carphone is currently the largest tech retailer in the U.K., it’s a rather new entrant in the arena. The company was formed from a merger between Carphone Warehouse and retail group Dixons just last year.

  Carphone Warehouse previously attempted to enter the U.S. tech retail market in 2008 through a partnership with Best Buy. The larger U.S.-based retailer eventually purchased the U.S. stores from Carphone, CNET reports.

  Before that foray, the pre-merger British company unsuccessfully attempted a U.S. market entry in 1987 by buying retailer Silo, but ended up selling the stores for a loss just six years later.

  UK’s biggest tech retailer joins forces with Sprint to open 500 stores in US [CNET]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist