Life without wires

Opening six new retail stores in a month's time is a lot even for seasoned franchisees, but that's what Steve Kawasmy has been doing to keep pace with the growth of his Fort Myers-based cell phone business, One Cellular Stop Inc.

Kawasmy, who holds dealership rights for most of the Aio Wireless territory from Bradenton to Naples, already has 29 stores open in the region, five in Miami and another three scheduled to open along the Gulf Coast in February. Although the 40-year-old Fort Myers resident declined to disclose revenues, although he says the business is profitable. He adds that he is investing millions in the new prepaid company with the expectation it can grab market share in the ever-competitive cell phone industry.

Kawasmy, a cell phone store owner since the late '90s, terminated a contract with MetroPCS on 19 stores in March to switch to the Aio Wireless prepaid phone company. Aio Wireless, a new brand less than a year old, is a subsidiary of AT&T. He transitioned 10 of those stores to the Aio Wireless brand and moved the other nine to higher-traffic locations before reopening them under the Aio brand.