The Fort Morgan Times

Viaero marks 30 years with opening at a new location

Ribbon cutting, open house held at store on Fort Morgan Main St.

- By Katie Roth

Viaero Wireless held its grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 22 for its newest location at the southeast corner of Main Street and East Platte Avenue. Viaero was also celebratin­g the 30-year anniversar­y of its Fort

Morgan flagship store.

Founder and president of Viaero Wireless Technologi­es, Frank DiRico, even made time to attend the event and had the honor of cutting the ribbon himself. He recalled buying the first Viaero building back in 1989, long before the company spanned four states and DiRico grew to own about 70 stores and 1,000 cell towers.

“I bought the old fish and chip restaurant 30

years ago — it was 1989, so 32 years ago — where we (have) got our sales office now. We had one store and one cell site. It took me that long to come down to Main Street. We should’ve come down here a long time ago,” said DiRico.

Viaero Wireless Technologi­es has continued to grow over the years and has recently launched three new divisions: Viaero Fiber Networks, Industrial Communicat­ions West, Industrial Tower West.

The newest store, though, at 100 East Platte Avenue was designed with the community in mind. Because the company does not use third-party vendors, customer service questions can be dealt with by dialing 611 from a Viaero phone or in a physical store.

Director of Sales Operations Luke Dillie played a key role in the design process of the new store, focusing on an open floor plan and an industrial feel.

“Normally retail stores don’t do a lot of windows because you want (space) for merchandis­ing, but we went (with) as minimal merchandis­ing as we could to really celebrate being in downtown,” said Dillie. “We really wanted kind of an industrial look. One of our sister companies is Industrial Communicat­ions, so we wanted something that really spoke to the product and customers and our market. We didn’t want to do carpet. A lot of our customers who come in work agricultur­ally, so if you have carpet, you’re constantly vacuuming it. We wanted something that was easy, durable and trustworth­y. There’s a lot of wood elements. A lot of metal. Just to relate to our customers and community.”

The new store also includes a conference room, so Viaero’s fiber and business teams can meet customers in store, in addition to the retail team.

Viaero is happy to have a more convenient location that is easily accessible for the community and encourages everyone to stop by during regular store hours, Monday-Friday

from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 ?? Katie Roth / Fort Morgan Times ?? President and founder of Viaero Wireless Frank DiRico attended the store's opening and had the honor of cutting the ribbon.
Katie Roth / Fort Morgan Times President and founder of Viaero Wireless Frank DiRico attended the store's opening and had the honor of cutting the ribbon.
 ?? Katie Roth / Fort Morgan Times ?? Viaero Wireless celebrates its 30th anniversar­y and its newest store opening on Main Street.
Katie Roth / Fort Morgan Times Viaero Wireless celebrates its 30th anniversar­y and its newest store opening on Main Street.
 ?? Katie Roth / Fort Morgan Times ?? Viaero employees and guests chat at the July 22 open house and ribbon cutting event.
Katie Roth / Fort Morgan Times Viaero employees and guests chat at the July 22 open house and ribbon cutting event.
 ?? Katie Roth / Fort Morgan Times ?? Instead of having copious amounts of product in the store, the designers wanted to celebrate the new Main Street location with large windows and an industrial feel
Katie Roth / Fort Morgan Times Instead of having copious amounts of product in the store, the designers wanted to celebrate the new Main Street location with large windows and an industrial feel

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