*Mobile Klinik location at Park Royal, West Vancouver*

By Mario Toneguzzi

Mobile Klinik Professional Smartphone Repair, Canada’s largest and fastest growing while-you-wait smartphone and tablet repair, care, sales, and services retailer, expects its growth to accelerate after it was recently acquired by telecommunications giant TELUS.

MOBILE KLINIK IS THRIVING IN THE WAKE OF TELUS ACQUISITION

The Mobile Klinik chain currently has 83 stores in major shopping malls, select Walmart stores, and other high-traffic retail locations across the country. The chain is located in eight provinces. In September, a location will open in the Halifax Shopping Centre and it’s currently negotiating a deal for Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island.

It will continue to operate as an independent business division of TELUS, after the deal was closed on July 1.

Tim McGuire, CEO of Mobile Klinik, said the intent is to use the greater financial and human resources of TELUS to allow Mobile Klinik to “accelerate our already crazy fast-pace of expansion across Canada”.

“Our goal is to get to 200 plus stores across Canada to ensure we can be in virtually every community. Certainly every community of probably 30,000 or more in population. And to get there as quickly as we can so we can help all of our partners — whether that’s the device makers like Samsung and Apple or the carriers or the insurance companies that provide the extended warranty coverage for those customers,” said McGuire.

“We want to be able to provide them with a nationwide network of consistent, professional service in every market and therefore the faster we grow the faster we can deliver that service everywhere in Canada and the TELUS deal will help us accelerate and get there a year or two earlier.”

*Mobile Klinik location inside Walmart in Oakville, ON*

The Mobile Klinik brand, store look, strategy, and management team remain the same.

“The only thing frankly that changes in the strategy is the pace. And where we would have planned to do 30 or 40 stores by next year, we’ll probably do 50 or 60 stores instead. We’ll get to our national coverage plan a year or two earlier than we otherwise would,” said McGuire.

“Our goal is to serve as the utility for the industry. We’re the one player in every mall, the one player in every community, that all carriers, all customers, all partners can rely on and that doesn’t change in any way.”

MOBILE KLINIK WILL CONTINUE ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH WALMART

McGuire said the company will continue to partner with Walmart stores in Canada by opening locations in the mega retailer.

Mobile Klinik has six locations in Walmarts. Two recent ones were added in Milton and Oakville in Ontario. Another one is expected to open in Niagara Falls before the end of the year.

“In communities where there is not an effective enclosed mall or where we need additional store support beyond what traditional malls provide we want to go to the next biggest centre of retail activity and in most markets that’s the one big outdoor mall that has Walmart, Costco, Canadian Tire, and Cineplex,” said McGuire. “We normally would have gone to those locations and rented a store space in the mall, along with other small retailers, but given the traffic advantages and the partnership with Walmart locating inside their stores in those communities is an even more effective way to get to the place where people shop.

View this post on Instagram

Hey Oakville! We’re now open inside your @walmartcanada Supercentre! Fix your phone fast - no appointments necessary, any carrier, any device. We’re here to help!

A post shared by Mobile Klinik (@mobileklinik) on Jul 13, 2020 at 10:27am PDT

View this post on Instagram

With a snip of the (ceramic) scissors, Mobile Klinik's 50th store is now open inside Walmart Scarborough West Supercentre. Drop in. We can fix your smartphone or tablet in 60 minutes or less. #smartphonerepair #getitfixed #shopwhileyouwait #retail #nowopen

A post shared by Mobile Klinik (@mobileklinik) on May 22, 2019 at 11:23am PDT

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up with 30 or 40 Walmart locations over the next few years.”

In addition to Mobile Klinik’s core repair business, the TELUS deal will help it dramatically accelerate its certified pre-owned phone business as well in Canada because it will have access to all of the phones that TELUS customers trade in as they upgrade to new phones and new plans.

“This means a significant expansion in our ability to buy phones, refurbish those phones and re-sell them through our network and continue to make operating a cell phone more affordable for every Canadian by giving them lower cost phone options as well as our repair instead of replace options,” said McGuire.

“Particularly in these challenging economic times when people are relying on their devices more than ever to stay connected since it’s more difficult to connect in person, we believe that through the combination of our professional repair services at great value and the ability to provide lower cost devices to folks that want a certified pre-owned rather than a new device it can really help keep telephone costs affordable for Canadians across the country.”

Mario Toneguzzi, based in Calgary has 37 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald covering sports, crime, politics, health, city and breaking news, and business. For 12 years as a business writer, his main beats were commercial and residential real estate, retail, small business and general economic news. He nows works on his own as a freelance writer and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Email: mdtoneguzzi@gmail.com.

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