P’ville Verizon Retailer Hopes to Make Transition to Next Phase
The end-of-year holiday season is often a poor time to be faced with uncertainty and change.
Tom Kim hopes that for him it’s a case of one chapter closing as another opportunity presents itself.
On Jan. 1, Kim, an authorized Verizon retailer who runs his shop on Wheeler Avenue in Pleasantville, will no longer be affiliated with the telecommunications firm. What that means is he will be unable to sell Verizon products and devices and cannot honor warranties to fix them once 2016 ends.
“It was a corporate decision,” said Kim, a Pleasantville resident who has operated the store since February 2003. “The store is not struggling in terms of business, from my perspective. But what they perceive as profit from their end is different from what my end is.”
He bargained for more than the two-month notice that Verizon provided him after being contacted in October, but that proved to be fruitless.
Despite the upheaval, don’t expect Kim to pack up his belongings and leave downtown Pleasantville once the calendar changes to 2017. He has decided to turn the store into a mobile device service and repair shop and will also sell accessory phone products. The 14 remaining months on his lease for the storefront at 69 Wheeler Ave. will serve as a trial run to see if he can successfully transition to the new business.
Other than phones, Kim expects selling all the other products that people need or like to have, including chargers and cases. The public has frequently stopped in to have cracked iPhone screens repaired, so he hopes to capture some of those customers whose warranties have expired.
“I’ll see if there’s any market for it,” said Kim, who before selling and servicing Verizon products worked in the retail video game business. “People buy phones from us because they get service when they have issues with the device. If they have a technical glitch we help them out here. So, I guess for my customers if they have some needs for those areas I’ll be able to help them. I won’t pack up and disappear.”
Customers that have active Verizon warranties, can visit one of the other area retailers, he said. The closest shops are in Thornwood, Ossining and Bedford.
Kim, who became a Verizon retailer on the suggestion of a friend when he wanted to own his own business, said he is extremely grateful for the loyal customers that have visited his shop during the past 14 years. Many are residents of Pleasantville and neighboring communities that he has had the chance to get to know, he said.
Hopefully, he’ll see some of them again. With a nearly 14-year track record in the community, he doesn’t believe he’s starting completely from scratch.
“Back in 2003 when I started, this store had zero Verizon customers,” Kim said,
“so it’s not like we’re starting all over again, but this will take some time, and I’m not sure if this is going to succeed, but I’ve been here and I still have a year and two months left on the lease.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/