GameStop Gets Even Closer To AT&T, Offers Cricket Wireless Service In All Stores
Over the past year, GameStop has revamped itself to stay relevant: offering trade-ins for unwanted gift cards, uploading customers fingerprints to the national database and acting as a sort-of bank for some customers. Now, the retailer is further entering all facets of consumer life by selling Cricket Wireless prepaid services at all locations.
Bloomberg Businessweek reports that GameStop plans to begin offering AT&T’s Cricket Wireless prepaid services in its more than 2,800 U.S. stores next month.
Although the inclusion of prepaid wireless services at all retail stores is a first for GameStop, the company has been flirting with the wireless industry for some time – specifically AT&T.
So how does AT&T figure into the situation? A few ways. Spring Mobile, which is owned by GameStop, sells AT&T phones and plans. GameStop bought the brand in 2013 and operates a few hundred standalone stores across the country.
Additionally, GameStop is an authorized seller of Cricket Wireless, which was acquired by AT&T when the company purchased Leap Wireless International, Inc. earlier this year.
The plan to offer Cricket Wireless services at all GameStop stores seems in line with the company’s announcement earlier this year to shift focus to its other brands. Back in April, GameStop said it would be adding new shops under the Spring Mobile and Cricket Wireless brands, while closing about 125 GameStop stores.
GameStop to Sell AT&T Cricket Wireless Service in Stores [Bloomberg Businessweek]
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