New owner of Verizon store in Mansfield says a full remodel coming soon
A new company has taken control of the Verizon Wireless location on Lexington Avenue in Mansfield.
The store is a franchise of Wireless Zone, a car-phone company founded in 1988 that has since become one of the nation's largest wireless retail franchisors.
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The business was purchased by Richard Gdovic, president of ComServe Wireless, in a deal that will grow his Wireless Zone portfolio to 42 locations in six states.
Along with the Mansfield site, the acquisition includes stores in Lima, Ashland, Celina, Van Wort, Wapakoneta, Saint Mary's, Bryan, Kenton and Minster.
New floors, walls and furniture
The new owner has big plans for the Mansfield location after the sale becomes finalized Tuesday.
"We will rehab that store," Gdovic said. "Complete turnaround on the furniture and the fixtures, walls, paint and everything."
A date has not yet been set for the work, but the project is expected to take place soon.
Best of all, customers are not expected to be inconvenienced by the remodel, as a team that specializes in the work is expected to have it completed in just one day.
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"We will close a littler early on a Saturday evening," Gdovic said. "They will take everything out Saturday night and start doing the walls and the carpet. It will be open again that Monday."
The new management team will evaluate the store's existing hours. Gdovic said he generally expands the hours of stores once he purchases them, but isn't sure yet if that will happen in Mansfield.
"Each store is a little bit different," Gdovic said.
Another trend with new acquisitions is to increase the locations inventory.
New team members wanted
Aside from those changes, the new owner said nothing else will be visible to customers.
"The previous operators did a good job there," Gdovic said.
With expanded hours and services, though, the new management team hopes to hire new talent from the local area.
"We really have a good culture and feel," Gdovic said. "We really enjoy helping people reach their potential."
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He and his wife work in the company's corporate office in Virginia, but maintain contact with each of their nearly 200 employees.
He's been in the industry his entire life, and hopes to help others get started in the business.
"People can make a really good living with us," Gdovic said. "There's a really heavy focus on training to provide the best customer service for the end user."
ztuggle@gannett.com
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Twitter: @zachtuggle
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: New owner of Verizon store in Mansfield says a full remodel coming soon
