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UNTANGLING THE WIRES

WIRELESS TOYZ SAYS ITS MISSION IS TO SAVE CONSUMERS FROM CELL PHONE CONTRACT HELL

By Molly Knight

One of the best ways to get a headache fast is to compare cell phone calling plans, not to mention the phones themselves, and then try to figure out which is best for you. Wireless Toyz says its mission is to spare people those headaches. The Farmington Hills, Mich.-based cellular superstore has no allegiance to any provider or plan, but it does have the ability to sign customers up to almost any carrier that best fits their needs. It does this thanks to nonexclusive distribution agreements with Alltel, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. Thus shoppers can, instead of driving from one store to the next in search of the best deal, find smart phones, music phones, camera phones and prepaid phones from multiple carriers all under one roof.

“A lot of customers don’t know what they want, and they’d like to see all their options and have someone to help choose for them, because it can be an overwhelming process,” said Richard Simtob, COO of Wireless Toyz. “So we spend time reviewing their bill, and then ask specific questions like, ‘Are you traveling?’ ‘Are you making most of your calls at night?’ ‘Do you send pictures over text message or use your phone to access your e-mail?’ Most service providers try to sell you more than you need, so we identify exactly what works for each person, and we try to get them on the least expensive plan possible.”

As soon as a customer selects a service provider and phone, Wireless Toyz signs that person up with a contract through that company. Simtob says customers going through Wireless Toyz get the same pricing plan and contract that the carrier offers on its own, but that his company tries to offer discounts on phones. Another benefit of going through Wireless Toyz is the ability to mix and match phones and plans.

“The chocolate phone is probably the most popular phone out there right now, but it’s only sold through Verizon in the U.S. because LG [the manufacturer] has an exclusive deal with Verizon here,” said Simtob. “But if you want that phone and you don’t want to be on Verizon, we can get it for you from Europe, where it’s not exclusive to Verizon, and put that phone on a T-Mobile or Sprint plan for you, for instance. People love that. ”

Apparently so. Since its inception in 1995, Wireless Toyz has expanded to about 190 — all owned and operated by franchisees — across 24 states. Simtob says the company will open about 80 additional units this year and 120 more next year. The company’s ultimate goal is to have 1,000 running by 2011. “By then, we’ll be close to being in every state,” said Simtob.

The stores measure roughly 1,500 square feet, and the company looks for high-traffic outdoor centers, Simtob says. “We like to go in front of Wal-Mart, especially,” said Simtob. “We’ll take a corner near a stoplight or an anchor.” The company is currently focusing on two markets: the Midwest (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio) and the West (California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Texas.)

Tommy Yaldo sold liquor stores and wine shops before he became a franchisee with Wireless Toyz. He opened his first store in 2003 in Pontiac, Mich. “It seemed like a cool idea and a great investment,” said Yaldo. “And once I saw how committed and specialized the customer service was, I decided to join the company.”

It has proved to be a good decision. After the success of his Pontiac store, Yaldo was named the company’s Rookie of the Year for 2003. He has since gone on to open two additional stores in Michigan, one in Florida and nine in Las Vegas, where he currently serves as the company’s area developer.

“The stores work because all my employees are 100 percent committed to doing their jobs,” said Yaldo. “My main manager makes $52,000 a year in salary before commissions. Compare that to a kid working at Verizon or Cingular for $10 an hour, and you’re going to see a major difference in the kind of customer care you get.”

But Wireless Toyz is not just competing with big-name service providers. There are some 30,000 independent cell phone vendors in the U.S., says Simtob. Best Buy offers Sprint and Verizon plans, Circuit City sells Verizon and RadioShack handles Cingular and Sprint.

Simtob says Wireless Toyz is a cut above because of its customer service. “Those places offer the products, but their salespeople aren’t cell phone people,” he said. “They’re electronic experts who sell TVs and stereos all day. We deal with fewer customers with more-intense needs.”

The Wireless Toyz target customer is a middle-class male or female, 25 to 45 years old. “We’re basically looking at 70 percent of the population,” said Simtob. “And once they’ve come in and bought from us, they don’t usually go anywhere else.”

Wireless Toyz is focusing exclusively on the U.S. for now, with no plans to go overseas, Simtob says. Not that people are any less crazy about cell phones abroad. In 2004 the number of mobile phones in the U.K. — 61.1 million — surpassed the number of people living there — 60.6 million. And it is estimated that there will be some 400 million subscribers in China by next year. As of last year, there were about 2.1 billion users worldwide. One thing is sure: As technology advances, cell phones will get more complex. But Wireless Toyz is up for the challenge, Simtob says. “We’re absolutely ready for the next generation of products,” he said. “This is certainly an exciting market for growth.”