Comcast to open Xfinity retail store next week
Comcast will open a new Xfinity retail outlet next week in East Brainerd to give consumers hands-on access to Comcast’s Internet, the X1 entertainment platform, Xfinity Mobile and digital voice, and Xfinity Home products as the cable TV giant battles to grow business in an increasingly competitive telecom world.
The new Xfinity store at 1926 Gunbarrel Road will replace the customer service facility at Comcast’s Chattanooga headquarters and the smaller, 1,500-square-foot Hamilton Place mall store that opened last August, although the mall store will stay open for the next five months until its lease runs out.
“With the introduction of this new, larger retail space across the street, we will not need the existing location at the Hamilton Place mall,” Comcast spokeswoman Sara Jo Walker said Thursday. “This new location provides easier access for customers and visitors, and more space to offer a better customer experience.”
The move is part of Comcast’s multi-million dollar nationwide campaign to improve and simplify the customer experience. The new store features flat-screen HD TVs and comfortable seating areas so visitors can sit and view the X1 entertainment operating experience. The store also features an iPad bar for visitors to try Xfinity’s mobile apps that let customers watch live TV, stream On Demand content, download movies and TV shows, and manage and monitor their homes while on the go.
“This investment is just one way we are re-imagining the experiences we deliver to our customers,” said Vic Pascarelli, Comcast’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Our new storefront brings the same approach of innovation and simplicity that our customers love about our products.”
The Xfinity store is one of the anchors in a new 14,100-square-foot center built at 1926 Gunbarrel Road on the site of what was Yessick’s Design Center. The $7 million complex, built by developer Bassam Issa, will also include three new restaurants in the Chattanooga market — Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, Mission BBQ, and Uncle Maddio’s Pizza.
Issa said the entire 14,100-square-foot center should be open in April.
The new Xfinity store, which opens March 29 for the first time, will employ eight full-time and two other management employees and will be open Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Along with product and service demos, customers will be able to pay bills, pick up and return equipment and get assistance from trained sales consultants, Walker said.
Comcast invests more than $120 million a year in Tennessee through its cable TV, broadband and other telecom services and products.
In the past couple of years in Chattanooga, Comcast has deployed a high-performance 10-gigabit network for the business community, launched Gigabit Pro, a two-gigabit residential internet service, and a one-gigabit internet service. Comcast has also added over 10,000 outdoor Wi-Fi hotspots across great Chattanooga.