Sprint Corp. plans to add 38 stores in area

Sprint Corp. plans to add 38 new retail stores in the Milwaukee area throughout 2017 and 2018.

The expansion comes as the wireless provider seeks to bolster its distribution network nationally as it continues to execute a turnaround plan.

There are “around 87” Sprint and Boost Mobile stores in the area, a spokeswoman said by email. Boost Mobile is one of Sprint’s prepaid brands.

The planned growth here likely would create more than 200 jobs. Each store employs six to 10 people, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure told analysts on a conference call in January.

During the call, Claure said Sprint planned to open 500 to 1,000 stores by mid-2018.

The company has been rolling out its growth plans over the past two months with announcements for different regions, including 105 new stores in the Chicago area, 15 in south Florida and 60 in New England.

Sprint, based in Overland Park, Kan., has been adding customers, including 180,000 new prepaid customers in the quarter that ended March 31.

The company has lost money in each of the past three years, but has narrowed its annual losses, from $3.3 billion in fiscal 2014 to $1.2 billion most recently.

Meanwhile, the firm in fiscal 2016 posted its first growth in annual revenue in three years, finishing the most recent year at $33.3 billion.