(Beginning in first paragraph, confirms RadioShack operating in some stores and adds details; updates share prices.)
By Mary Ellen Lloyd
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
RadioShack Corp. (RSH) has begun running Target Corp.'s (TGT) mobile-phone departments under a new partnership in some of its stores.
An employee of RadioShack's Kiosk Operations Inc. unit working in an Atlanta Target store said Monday that RadioShack workers in that store and two others in the metropolitan area began handling Target's mobile phone business last month. They wear black shirts instead of the red shirts normally worn by Target employees, and work within the electronics department but are dedicated to selling the phones and calling plans already in Target stores. Those include Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T phones and service plans, as well as various prepaid phones and calling cards.
Branded Bullseye Mobile Solutions, RadioShack employees are working at about 100 Target stores in California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas and Washington, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal.
Representatives for Target and RadioShack didn't immediately respond to requests for comment, but the Business Journal said Target plans to expand the concept to all of its roughly 1,700 stores in 2010.
The Atlanta worker said Target employees have continued to handle sales of digital cameras and other consumer electronics in the electronics department, although RadioShack workers receive some limited training on those items.
RadioShack has taken several steps this year to boost its wireless business, including adding Verizon Wireless last month to 450 kiosks it operates in Sam's Club stores under that retailer's brand. Wireless phones and services generate about a third of RadioShack's sales.
RadioShack shares recently traded down 1.2% at $16.69, while Target shares were up 0.9% at $48.85 in recent trading.
- By Mary Ellen Lloyd, Dow Jones Newswires, 704-948-9145; maryellen.lloyd@dowjones.com