C Spire opens doors for new state-of-the-art retail store in Madison designed to showcase customer-inspired communication services and technology products

The new store, located at 701 Baptist Drive, Suite B, shares space with iconic Starbuck's Coffee and reflects extensive research by C Spire designed to deliver on the company's customer inspiration promise and bring to life a shopping experience like no other by creating a more interactive and inviting store environment.

C Spire held a store grand opening with an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting, reception and celebration featuring company executives, Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler and local business and community leaders.  Food, prizes and giveaways, including a virtual reality demonstration by Lobaki and a special guest appearance by Pepper, the company's humanoid robot, were part of the party atmosphere and program. 

"Like all of our markets, Madison is unique - so we design our retail experience around the people who matter the most to us – our customers," said Jacob Thomas, regional manager for C Spire.  "We looked at how consumers and businesses shop and use technology and designed our store to reflect that reality."

Thomas said the new Madison store delivers an interactive shopping experience that mirrors how customers live, work and play and will help the company move closer to its goal of becoming known as one of the nation's premiere retailers.

No detail escaped the focus of the team responsible for bringing the company's vision of a reinvented retail experience to life.  Colors, store layout, designs, materials and service delivery all were scrutinized with the goal of appealing to a multi-generational cross section of consumers.  The store is highlighted with a rustic, crafted metal art piece shaped as a letter C to remind employees about the company's iconic brand, Thomas said.

"C Spire is customer inspired and we want customers to feel that from the moment they walk through our doors," Thomas said.  "Our new retail design makes it easy for customers to learn more and fully immerse themselves in a personalized and relevant shopping experience."

Enhanced Service Experience

What consumers won't see in the new Madison store is the traditional retail "cash register" counters. Instead, those have been replaced with round "learning tables" that encourage natural conversations with C Spire team members, who are equipped with tablets supported by a point-of-sale system that offers flexibility for helping consumers anywhere in the store.

Customers also won't see printed product information common in most stores.  That's been replaced by digital signage, e-brochures and interactive video monitors, offering consumers the information they want and need literally at their fingertips while giving C Spire the flexibility of updating messaging faster and more efficiently.

Store Details

The Madison store's hands-on design aims to engage shoppers and provide a "try before you buy" customer inspired service experience, according to Jonathan McLaurin, market manager for C Spire in Madison.  McLaurin and his seven-member staff are trained to assist consumer and business customers with individual purchasing decisions, customer-inspired service and technical support.  Store hours are Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"We're proud of our new store, but we're even more excited about continuing to contribute to the economic development of this region," McLaurin said, noting that C Spire has operated in the area since 2004. The new store builds on C Spire's capital and network investments in Madison County, including availability of 4G LTE, Gigabit speed internet and related services and an array of voice, data and cloud services for businesses.  

Butler praised C Spire for its continuing commitment to the region.  "We're excited about this latest C Spire investment and the key role the company plays in helping meet the communication and technology needs of consumers and businesses in Madison," she said. "C Spire is helping us fulfill our mission to provide a high quality of life for everyone who lives and works in our community."

C Spire contributes over $ 73 million in economic impact annually to the city of Madison and Madison County through direct employment and property, school and sales taxes.  With 740 employees, the company is one of the largest employers in the county.

Local business leaders echoed Butler's praise of the company's decision to continue its investment in Madison. 

"C Spire's efforts to expand its retail operations and broadband services in Madison are critical to our future," said Elizabeth Fulcher, executive director of the 1,301-member Madison The City Chamber of Commerce.

"Business development and expansion, along with advances in available technology that include provision of broadband speeds for wireless and fixed voice and data services and applications, make Madison ideal for future economic development," said Jan Collins, executive director of the 220-member Madison County Business League and Foundation.  "We appreciate C Spire's continued investment here."

For more information on C Spire's retail operations, network expansion and overall community investment, visit www.cspire.com.

About C Spire
C Spire is a diversified telecommunications and technology services company that provides world-class, customer-inspired wireless communications, 1 Gigabit consumer Internet access as well as a full suite of dedicated Internet, wireless, IP Voice, data and cloud services for businesses.  This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire.

SOURCE C Spire

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http://www.cspire.com