Published November 2002

Advantage Wireless looks
to grow in Northwest, U.S.

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

Advantage Wireless Inc. sees opportunity in the Northwest, company President Mark Gritz said.

Since its recent acquisition of 13 Washington state Consolidated Cellular stores, including five in Snohomish County, the Colorado-based wireless phone dealer has remodeled the locations, added staff and pumped thousands of dollars each month into regional advertising Gritz said.

“We’ve had good success in the region, and we’re always looking for opportunities to grow,” he said.

In May, Advantage took over the Washington locations, including stores in Everett, Lake Stevens, Marysville, Smokey Point and Bothell, from Consolidated Cellular, a Sedro-Woolley-based wireless dealer that had closed a number of its retail outlets in March.

Since then, Advantage has reopened the stores, which have been spruced up with a uniform appearance, tile in the entryway and staff sporting Advantage company attire, Gritz said. And Advantage, in partnership with its carriers, has spent some $45,000 each month in the region on advertising.

What does Advantage believe is its marketing edge?

“We have the lowest cost to get into a wireless phone in the area, so our pricing as well as service beats the competition,” Gritz said, referring to Advantage’s volume commitments to wireless providers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless on behalf of many retailers as a group.

Such group dealing enables the company to negotiate for competitive terms, he said.

Currently, Advantage’s group includes some 1,100 subdealers, 110 licensee locations and 19 company-owned stores in 32 states, Gritz said.

He added that Advantage is “always looking for additional opportunities that come up, whether that be other companies that are for sale or additional locations that we can start from scratch.”

Since Advantage opened in 1996, annual sales have grown from $8 million to $60 million last year, according to the privately held company.

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