Phone firm seeks more lines

Florida, and the Gulf Coast, is a major growth target for Cellular Sales, the largest independent Verizon Wireless dealer in the nation.

The Knoxville, Tenn.-based firm, with 518 authorized Verizon stores nationwide, already has a big concentration in the Sunshine State, where it has 100 stores. It has 32 Gulf Coast locations, a figure company officials say will grow by at least 25 stores over the next year. The firm opened 135 stores in total in the country last year, and will open at least that many in 2012.

“We are doing really well,” says James Thome, director of operations at Cellular Sales. “There has not been a lot of slow down.”