LIHUE — What can a cell phone do for you? “The Verizon Wireless store opening in the Hokulei Village can help you answer that,” said Jeremy Birch, Verizon Wireless operations manager. “This store is designed to be interactive with the
LIHUE — What can a cell phone do for you?
“The Verizon Wireless store opening in the Hokulei Village can help you answer that,” said Jeremy Birch, Verizon Wireless operations manager. “This store is designed to be interactive with the customer and can show cell phone users what, and how, to accomplish anything the user wants to do with his cell phone.”
The Verizon Wireless store is scheduled to open Wednesday at Hokulei Village.
This store is designated as the first Smart Store on Kauai, and only the second in the state. It is about 4,000 square feet — bigger than the current 1,800-square-foot retail showroom in the Kukui Grove Center — and it is a new concept which changes the way Kauai residents can interact with wireless technology.
“The Verizon Wireless Smart Store incorporates a new approach to retail by enhancing the customer experience,” Birch said. “We will have workshops which provide a range of cell phone user experience, from the very basics to more sophisticated areas such as photography, health tracker and more.”
These areas will be set up in zones within the store, making it easy for a shopper to find what they need depending on what they want their cell phones to do.
“These are new displays which are interactive zones,” Birch said. “As an example, a person looking for active lifestyles will find all the accessories which work with their phone.”
Solution specialists are available to enhance the knowledge gained from visiting the zones.
“Cell phones can do so much for people today,” Birch said. “The solution specialist can help people discover its capabilities — to fit their lifestyle.”
The Verizon Wireless store will have a staff of 20 employees.
It will be open Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ella Bactad is the store’s general manager.
The Verizon Wireless Smart Store will celebrate its blessing starting at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday before opening at 9 a.m.
The Kukui Grove Center store will be closed.
Matt Haaland, the Verizone construction manager, said the Hokulei Village store is the third Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified store by Verizon Wireless in Hawaii. Verizon Wireless, with the Hokulei Village location, operates 11 stores in Hawaii.
The Hokulei Village store features carpeting which is created from greater than 50 percent recycled material, and the building materials used are greater than 50 percent recycled material.
The building also features energy efficient air conditioning and uses Light Emitting Diode technology for its lighting.
“As an example, each light used is equal to the light output of two incandescent lamps,” Haaland said. “We recycled as much as we can, trying to keep material out of the landfill. The original concrete floor has been recycled and now serves as someone’s retaining wall.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
