Verizon Wireless in Kingsport (Knoxville, Johnson City: theatre, shops, moving to)

[mezmez]

Could anyone tell me what the most popular cellular service is in the JC/Kingsport area. I am considering moving to Tennessee with my family because I can't stand Florida any longer and I would like to know if I wanted to open a Verizon store in the Kingsport area, how it would be accepted.

[AppalachianAngler]

Verizon is pretty big here, but is there not already a Verizon store there? Nextel may be the biggest, though, not really sure. Cingular/AT&T doesn't seem to be as popular (the service has some a lot of bad spots in Greeneville).

[hjlacey]

ont in the mall, and one somewhere else in Kingsport. I have Verizon and have pretty good reception around here in Rogersville

[jabogitlu]

I and a lot of others use Alltel, too.

[Trevor92]

To be honest, it probably wouldn't be easy having a successful 3rd party store in the Tri-Cities for anybody, especially on Verizon because its already a well-built out and in the top 100 US Markets. As for other Verizon locations in Kingsport, there's one in the mall and one on East Stone. It's also sold out of several other third party stores like Wal-Mart.

I'm originally from just across the VA/TN border on the Virginia side and started out with Verizon 3 years ago and switched to alltel last year. Verizon and alltel are probably the 2 most popular in the area overall followed by iPCS (the local Sprint affiliate) at least among people I know. Alltel and Verizon also have the best coverage and are the only providers to offer EVDO high-speed data.

If this is the type of field you want to stay in, I've always thought the best option would be an alltel kiosk or shop in Fort Henry Mall. Alltel is popular in the area, but is only sold out of one-stop wireless, above the movie theatre along with SunCom and Sprint/Nextel. Although there are also alltel locations on East Stone and in Wal-Mart, there's not yet an exclusive alltel location in Ft. Henry. A visible alltel location in the mall would probably give you a niche of passer-by traffic and a fair sized customer base for upgrades and new activations with very little intra-company competition. Sprint has their own kiosk in the mall. Verizon has their own store. AT&T and Sprint are also highly advertised by the Radio Shack in the mall. I'm not as sure what's in the JC mall as it's been several years since I've been there. But overall, it does seem like there's a lot of options for every provider in the area.

[LookingToGetOuttaAZ]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I and a lot of others use Alltel, too.

Have any problems with Alltel?

[jabogitlu]

Nope, Alltel has worked consistently well for me through habitation in Greeneville, Knoxville and Johnson City, as well as on frequent trips to Asheville, Nashville and Charleston SC. Plus, my phones' operating systems have never locked up, which is more than I can say for most of the Verizon phones I've seen...

[mezmez]

Thanks for all of the information. In the tri city area, are the cities sprawled out or is it a downtown area and then small shops and plazas on the outskirts of downtown? (If any of that makes sense)