Ready for This Celly?
Although Voicestream Wireless, the Square’s newest cellular provider, won’t open its Mass. Ave. location for another week, its display of phones already has customers salivating. As assistant manager Joy Tommaro sits on the store’s window seat leafing through papers, curious pedestrians peer through the glass attempting to get a glimpse of the colorful posters and displays inside. One man even breezes in through the open door to examine the rate plans.
Positioned almost directly across from Johnston Gate and only a few paces down from Fleet’s massive banking center, Voicestream is sitting pretty. The non-stop river of students, businesspeople and shoppers who stride past the store each day is almost enough to guarantee retail success. Tommaro agrees, “We’ll definitely rely on foot traffic. This is a prime location.”
Voicestream is the most recent in string of cellular providers who have set up shop in the Square. Within a few blocks of the store are Cingular Wireless, located at 22 Eliot Street, and Sprint PCS, which is at the corner of Church and Brattle Streets. Both stores have had little trouble finding customers, especially the Sprint branch, which has proved to be a goldmine for the company. Mark Duncan, Director of Marketing for New England, couldn’t be more pleased. “We are very happy,” he says. “It is phenomenally successful.”
With so many students eager to reach out and touch someone and use up minutes at their parents’ expense, the market seems ripe for an all-out battle between the three wireless giants. However, none of the three players seem at all concerned about the rivalry. Cingular Manager Brian Leavitt remarks, “I don’t think that Voicestream is going to be any bit of competition for us. As far as any type of digital or wireless service, we’re going to beat them.”
Voicestream begs to differ. Since Deutsch Telecom took over the company last April, Voicestream has become the first and only American cellular provider who can offer its customers the freedom to use their phones anywhere on the Earth. Tommaro plans to capitalize on their unique position. As far as Voicestream’s global capabilities, Leavitt discounts it, saying, “You’re going to find a very small percentage of customers coming in to these stores wanting to do something on an international level.”
The other stores may have been here longer, but Tommaro is prepared to take them on. “We’re used to that. Competitors are everywhere anyway. It’s not like we own the area and expect no one to be around.” Whether Voicestream will be able to cut themselves a piece of the Harvard Square pie remains to be seen. For now, Square shoppers can rest assured that should they need a cell phone, they need not look far.