RadioShack sharing its space with Sprint

Sprint is a store-within-a-store at RadioShack.

When RadioShack Corp. filed for bankruptcy last winter and announced plans to close at least 1,784 of its 4,000 stores, the one at 7408 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, wasn’t one of them.

But it is one of the 1,435 RadioShack stores combining operations with Sprint as part of the agreement with General Wireless, which acquired RadioShack.

About a third of the store is now a Sprint operation, selling cell phones, accessories, and phone service plans. The rest of the space has regular RadioShack products like batteries and small electronic devices.

The new Sprint/RadioShack combination store is one of about a dozen cell phone stores in central Annandale.

Why so many phone stores all over the place? Phone service providers like to have their own retail outlets because they generate more revenue than selling through big-box retailers like Walmart, which take a cut of the profits. For business owners, are easier to establish and maintain, have less inventory, and require less of an initial investment than other stores.

Also, according to Muhammed Fawed, the retail consultant at the new Sprint store, people are always coming in to see if they can get a better deal if they switch wireless providers. Sprint also has a larger, full-service store in Pinecrest Plaza.