The retailer has shifted its focus to new technology products and will launch three Carphone Warehouse stores in Birmingham in the new year as the first step towards creating a wireless-led format.
One source close to Carphone Warehouse said a new standalone store format has been mooted, with one potential name being Wireless Warehouse.
Carphone Warehouse finance director Roger Taylor said: “There will be a fundamentally new store concept, of which one part of the evolution may be what is on the sign at the front of the store. As to what the name is on the sign, we have made no decision.”
However, he added that Carphone Warehouse would be “a big name to change”.
He said: “We are clear what the brand stands for today. What we are trying to work out is how to extend that brand into talking around a wider breadth of products and services. We don’t know what the answer is.”
It is understood that Carphone is considering a number of trial options, including more defined areas within its stores for its wireless and broadband products.
The retailer, which was due to reveal its interim results as Retail Week went to press, will open three Carphone Warehouse-branded stores in Birmingham in the new year. The branches will combine its increasing range of wireless products, which will be made accessible via broadband, and push its Geek Squad trouble-shooting service.
The roll-out of the new-format stores follows the trial of a mock-apartment in its Oxford Street store, demonstrating the latest in wireless products for the home. Items on show included Slingbox – which allows shoppers to stream TV onto their mobile phone or computer – and Apple TV.
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