Verizon opens new concept store on Mass Ave

I was recently invited to the grand opening of a new concept Verizon Store on Mass Ave in Indianapolis. Admittedly, I didn’t know what to expect. I mean how different could it really be?

Turns out it is pretty different – and I really liked the change. Here are a couple of the things that particularly caught my eye:

Devices organized by brand

Instead of a smartphone section and a tablet section, the devices were organized by brand. So if you know you’re an Apple fan, you can just go straight to the Apple section to view the new iPhone 8, the latest generation iPad or the iPad Pro.

If you’re a Samsung person, you can go straight to the Samsung section to see the Galaxy S8 line of smartphones, the new Galaxy Note 8 or the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Cases and accessories

A similar idea is used for smartphone cases and accessories. Gone are the days of searching through a rack of smartphone cases and selecting your favorite only to realize it doesn’t fit your phone.

Now, the cases are organized first by operating system (iOS, Android) on separate racks and then by manufacturer and model of phone on each shelf. This makes it super easy to narrow down the selection of cases that are designed for your phone.

Further, the cases on the shelves are unboxed which means no more guessing what the case will feel like or having to ask a store employee to open the box for you so you can get a better look. Even better, when you find a case you like, you can lift up the shelf to retrieve a boxed version of your case ready for purchase.

Other category-specific shelves include chargers, headphones and fun “Play” accessories like the DJI OSMO or a Samsung Gear Virtual Reality (VR) headset.

A place to just hang out

Finally, the new stores have a large high table with several chairs around it near the back of the store. Here, you can pop in to charge your device with the supplied charging cables and electrical outlets or just hang out and talk to one of the available Verizon employees.