AT&T recently announced the construction of a 2,200-square-foot standalone store where an outdoor sporting goods retailer once stood on Seymour’s east side.
The company recently began construction of the store at 1510 E. Tipton St., the site of the former Bassmasters Sport & Tackle.
Jake Short, a regional manager with AT&T, said the store is tentatively set to open April 2.
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The company offers mobile device services, television, internet and mobile internet.
This is the second standalone store that a cellular company has constructed in three years in Seymour. TCC, a Verizon Wireless company, constructed a store in 2015 a little more than a block northwest the site of the new AT&T store.
T-Mobile and Cricket Wireless also operate stores in Seymour.
Short said he wasn’t sure how long AT&T has operated its store in the Village Center shopping center but estimated about 20 years. It’s the only location the cellular provider has had in Seymour.
“This will be the first time we’ve physically moved to a new store,” he said.
The new space will allow the company to offer more products on location.
“We will acquire more inventory with the store,” Short said. “People won’t have to special order items, and we will have more of those items on hand to be able to serve people in a greater capacity.”
The store’s space also will allow for more hands-on interaction for customers prior to purchasing products, something Short said the smaller store would not allow.
“They will be able to demo every device we have and really get the full experience so they’re not having to do research online and get that full experience right here in the store,” he said.
The move also will create an additional position at the store, which has five employees.
“We will have plenty of staffing so there are not long wait lines and people can be seen relatively quickly,” Short said.
Having the store on a corner lot on a main thoroughfare also will be a benefit, Short said.
“It’s going to be easy to find,” he said, adding many AT&T customers or potential customers now travel to Columbus. “I think a lot of people don’t realize we’re tucked in this corner.”
Bassmasters opened in 1980 and closed 33 years later on Nov. 30, 2013.