Cricket Wireless holds ribbon cutting

By Phil Cobb | May 25, 2017 |

CODY THORN/DAILY FORUM
Cricket Wireless manager Carrie Hartley, center, cuts a ceremonial ribbon at the cellphone provider’s new location at 1004 S. Main St. Surrounding her are fellow employees and Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors.

Open a little more than three weeks, Cricket Wireless hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning attended by a group of Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors.

Located at 1004 S. Main St., the wireless dealer is one of the newest expansions of GMET Communications, an authorized Cricket Wireless dealer based in Texas.

The company has 105 stores in eight states, including 11 under the guidance of district manager Keeley Collins.

Collins, who works out of Kansas City, attended Wednesday’s event.

“We loved the idea of Maryville,” Collins said. “There are not a lot of options for people in Maryville for wireless service, and we wanted to bring the best network and the customer service we offer. You don’t get that at any other place. We feel like we can give you a better network than you currently have.”

Cricket Wireless runs off the AT&T network, which Collins claimed is the most reliable 4G LTE network in the United States. Oddly enough, Cricket Wireless occupies the location of a previous AT&T store.

Last September, GMET took over as the authorized Cricket dealer in the Kansas City area and inherited eight stores. In recent months, Collins has helped open stores in Cameron and Atchison, Kansas, as well as Maryville.

The addition of a Maryville location was discussed early on after GMET took over.

“Do we feel we could be able to help people, and do we feel we can bring a better service to town?” Collins asked. “That is what we are hoping for.”

The store in Maryville is staffed by four employees led by manager Carrie Hartley, a Ravenwood native.

Cricket offers a variety of phones by Samsung, LG, Apple, ZTE, Alcatel, HTC, Kyocera and Microsoft. The company doesn’t do annual contracts and provides by-the-month plans with options for unlimited high-speed data access

“We are very excited,” Hartley said. “There is nothing like us in town. You get everything you need, and you spend half the price that you would with a contract.”

The business is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.