I just found out that my dealership is closing down. We have two locations. One is a store and the other is a kiosk. They are about 30 miles apart. Monday, I found out that the store was closing. The lease is up at the end of March and our sales suck. They have sucked for a while and declined a lot more when AT&T took over Cellular One. However, our kiosk was going to remain open and with the money we saved from rent, electric and other bills from the store closure, we were eventually going to open a store in place of the kiosk.

However, that is no longer the case. I was just informed by my boss that as of the second week of March, we will be closing all locations. Apparently, AT&T came in yesterday to get him to sign a new AT&T dealer contract. After reading it, he realized that it was BS. First of all, he would be losing up to $125 per phone he sold. Then, he would have to meet a quota of 25 new activations a month. If he did not or if he closed the store prior to the contract ending, he would have to pay AT&T $50,000!

WTF!?!

As I have said time and time again, our dealership is SLOOOOOOOWWWWWWW. We are in a very small area. Our store is in Meadville, PA. It's a decent size town. Our kiosk is in Grove City, PA. It is a teeny-tiny town. We don't do much business, but it is enough to stay in business. At least it was before AT&T took over. Since AT&T took over, we have been lucky to do a dozen new activations a month, if that. Most of our sales are upgrades or migrations from Cellular One which are considered upgrades and NOT new activations. Again, WTF!?!

Basically, AT&T wants us to sign a contract that will force us to lose money to keep our dealer status and have to pay a $50,000 fee if we close by our choice or theirs. That's right. If they close us, we have to pay the $50,000. WHAT THE F***!!!

Our manager was already planning on leaving when we closed the store location. That would leave me and a part time coworker. She usually only works one or two days a week. With our manager gone, I would work 5 days a week and the part timer would be one day. We are closed on Sunday. With both locations closing, my part time coworker will fall back to her other job at the grocery store where our kiosk is located. Fortunately for me, my boss is great. My boss has apologized a million times and he is making room for me at the grocery store as well. He owns both the cellular and grocery store. He has told me he will get me as many hours as possible and carry my pay rate over from the cellular store. He also told me to feel free to collect unemployment for any hours under 40. That means if he can only get me 30 hours a week, I can collect for the other 10. That's pretty nice.

I am that I will no longer be in the industry. I have been in the industry for two and a half years and as much a I moan and groan about that customers and stupid policies, I really love it. I am a techie / techy (sp?) and being around new phones and devices helps to satisfy my craving for tech. I also love these forums and the wireless community. I will still read posts and follow the industry and maybe even post every once in a while.

I have thought about applying for a job at a COR store or one of the many VZW retailers in the area, but I'm also looking at other options. Hopefully, I will someday return to this great industry.