Red Bank to host Verizon retail hub

photo The former Blockbuster store is being turned into new Verizon store on Dayton Blvd.

One of the nation's largest Verizon Wireless retailers plans to open a regional hub in Red Bank.

Cellular Sales of Knoxville Inc. is spending about $333,000 to revamp a former Blockbuster store on Dayton Boulevard, said Rob Stinnett, the company's regional director.

"It's an area of town that has been under-serviced," he said. "It didn't have a distribution point to fit the needs of customers."

The site will hold a 4,500-square-foot showroom, Stinnett said. It also will have 1,500 square feet for office space as the company makes the location its headquarters for Chattanooga and the region, he said.

"It will be the hub for the Chattanooga area," Stinnett said. The opening is set for Nov. 1, he said.

"It's a lot of work to get it looking like our stores," Stinnett said.

Tiffany Deluccia, a Verizon spokeswoman, said the store will be an authorized retailer for the company.

"It will have all the Verizon products and services," she said.

Stinnett said the new full-service Verizon store will employ about 15 people.

"We want to provide the area with a top-notch store," he said.

Stinnett said the expansion is part of Cellular Sales' growth plan for the area. It already has stores off Highway 58 and Brainerd Road, he said.

The regional director said Cellular Sales has about 500 stores nationwide.

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