RadioShack Testing Mobile Stores: Report

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 2/12/2009

Dallas — RadioShack has quietly opened a handful of concept stores that specialize in mobile products.

The upscale shops, called Point Mobl, are about the same size as a typical RadioShack store and began appearing around the Dallas metro area in December.

According to a report in the Dallas Morning News, the stores carry a deep assortment of mobile devices including smartphones, netbooks and GPS systems, as well as MP3 players and wireless plans from RadioShack partners T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint. The stores, which feature white fixtures and clean glass, also provide custom bundles for specific mobile needs, the newspaper said.

RadioShack has declined to comment on the concept stores, which may represent a response to Best Buy Mobile, the CE chain’s successful foray into freestanding and in-store wireless shops.

Best Buy is also testing a concept called Mobile Life, a 3,000-square-foot specialty store that carries laptops, netbooks, ultramobile PCs, Slingbox, and iPod and Zune music players in addition to wireless handsets.