Business & Tech

Huntley Businessman Finding Success in Wireless Retail

Wireless Zone Huntley owner selling new iPhone 4S and teaching people how to use it.

Steve Piper got into the wireless retail a year ago.

Today, he owns four stores.

He recently purchased the Wireless Zone Huntley at 12030 Princeton Drive, Huntley. Piper owns stores in Carpentersville, Naperville and Plano.

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This weekend, business was steady as people came in for the iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest tech toy everyone wants.

Customers were excited to pick up the latest iPhone, released on Friday. Piper’s stores sold out by Monday morning and he was awaiting another shipment this week.

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Piper was in the hospitality business, providing audio and visual materials for hotels, but sold his company three years ago. He took some time off to spend time with family and decide what he wanted to do.

It was at the start of the economic downturn so he took his time figuring out what his next step would be, he said. No business is recession-proof, but he wanted a business that had value and was a necessity, Piper said.

Wireless communication fit both categories. Statistics say 90 percent of Americans have a cell phone, he said. According to some polls, people would rather live without cable or their computers than their cell phones, he said.

With new versions of the iPhone and other products being released so often, it creates an incentive for people to always come back, Piper said.

Last year, he opened the Naperville and Plano stores. This year, he purchased the Huntley and Carpentersville stores. The Huntley store is across the street from several other wireless communication retailers. Piper doesn’t stress about the competition.

His store is also just down the road from Sun City Huntley, an active over-55 community, and the seniors there are just as interested in the iPhone 4S as every other age group is, he said. He sees a range of folks from those terrified of smartphones to some of the savviest people you’ll ever meet, Piper said.

He tries to help seniors by determining what they need and how it would be relevant to their lives, he said. For example, a senior citizen may want to keep updated with his or her investments. Piper can show the person a widget to keep track of investments.

“There are so many ways for the phone to be relevant for their lives,” he said.


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