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In the latest example of what telecommunications deregulation hath wrought, consumers can buy telephone-related services and products in a retail store.
Sprint Store at RadioShack is a twist on the store-within-a-store concept, with this strategic marketing alliance bringing together the unlikely trio of RadioShack, a unit of Tandy Corp. of Ft. Worth, Texas, and Kansas City, Mo.-based Sprint Corp. and Sprint PCS-a partnership among Sprint, Tele-Communications Inc., ComCast Corp. and Cox Communications Inc. In addition to offering phones and prepaid phone cards, the Sprint store at RadioShack offers long-distance service and Internet access.
The arrangement is designed to give Sprint an unusual retail-store distribution channel with which to challenge competitors in the superheated long-distance service market, position RadioShack as a source of goods other than electronics accessories, and to introduce digital Sprint PCS phones to consumers.
"It's a way for us to get out all our products and services under one roof," said Steve Lunceford, a Sprint spokesman.
The Sprint Store at RadioShack was unveiled at more than 6,000 RadioShack stores simultaneously in late September.
In the wake of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Sprint and RadioShack were concerned about the impact the new law would have on the industry as well as on consumers. RadioShack wanted the opportunity to become America's telephone store, said Dave Edmondson, a RadioShack spokesman. Sprint was looking for a distribution channel that would extend the reach of its products and services, Lunceford said.
When the CEOs of the two companies met on a business trip, the idea for the alliance was hatched. "We decided that if we can't own a piece of the information highway, we could be an on-ramp for consumers," Edmondson said.
Edmondson said that consumers think of RadioShack mainly as a place to go for electronic accessories such as batteries and connectors. "Parts are our main...