Entrepreneur operates four Verizon Wireless Zone stores

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Verizon Wireless Zone store owner Steve Piper is pictured with Naperville store manager Frank Sanchez. Piper is expanding his business area to include new stores in Plano, Naperville and other communities.

Updated: December 5, 2011 5:29PM

Steve Piper, owner of four Verizon Wireless Zone franchised stores including Plano, opened his first location only a year ago. His stores sell Verizon carrier service exclusively, but all types of phones and accessories from Apple and Android to Samsung, LG and Blackberry.

Before becoming a Wireless Zone premium retailer, Piper founded and ran an audio/visual company that serviced meetings and conventions at hotels and resorts. After he sold it to his partner, he spent some time with his family and started looking for the right opportunity, and the right time, to get back into business.

“I was waiting for the recovery to start,” he said. “We seem to be in a slow recovery now, and rents are still negotiable.”

Piper said he looked for a business that was more recession-proof than many products.

“I wanted a business that was not discretionary,” he said. “Cell phone service is one of the last things that many people would give up.”

A friend of a friend of Piper’s was in the cell phone business. Piper started looking at the industry and discovered the Wireless Zone, well known in the eastern U.S but relatively new to Illinois. Founded in 1988 in Connecticut as the Car Phone Store, there are now more than 400 franchised Verizon Wireless stores.

Said Piper, “I’ve built a business from scratch before. Now I wanted to be a small guy with all the advantages of a big guy, the advertising, the marketing and structure. A brand name that would mean more than Steve’s Wireless Store. The S&P 500 has been flat for a decade. I decided to invest in myself and get a chance to influence the outcome.”

Piper said Verizon Corporation has the leading technology, the best reputation, and has invested in its network infrastructure.

“They have a lead that’s tough to overcome,” he said. “They’ve got 4G LTE service (10 times faster than 3G) in over 140 cities. AT&T is just rolling out five. I think Verizon is the right horse to hitch my wagon to.”

He said he has been the beneficiary of a lot of training.

“We are experts in all things Verizon,” he said. “It’s hard for me to believe that a person in a big-box store selling four or five carrier plans offers the same knowledge as us. “This business is constantly changing — the prices, programs, products. Staying current is a full-time job for all of us.”

The Verizon Wireless Zone stores offer, with a Verizon carrier plan, free phones or phones variously priced up to $399.

“We have phones for everyone,” he said. “Tell us how you want to use your phone and we’ll discover what’s right for you. We specialize in making this stuff easy. Get familiar with texting, phone calls and email; come back and we’ll show you some apps.”

Piper and his employees offer one-on-one instruction or in-store classes on their products and services.