Cingular Wireless North Shore Mobile Werks has closed its location at 1635 Orrington Ave. and moved its employees to a North Shore Mobile Werks at 1975 Green Bay Road, leaving another vacancy on Orrington Avenue.
The cellular store on Green Bay Road had been in business for 10 years. Dan Hirsch, owner of both North Shore Mobile Werks locations, said the Jan. 31 move came after the Orrington location began to lose business to an AT&T Wireless store at 1620 Chicago Ave.
"It wasn't a good business decision to (remain open on Orrington)," Hirsch said.
Hirsch also said the quality of the buildings around the Orrington store was declining. Multiple storefronts on Orrington between Church Street and Davis Street now show "For Lease" signs in darkened windows. Several other stores recently moved from the area, including Border's Books and Music and Chicago Style Carry Out.
Hirsch said all the employees from the Orrington store were offered jobs at the Green Bay store.
"Over the last half year or more there's been a decline in business (on Orrington Street)," Hirsch said. "It looks like a bomb hit it."
Weinberg junior Ryan Hass said he didn't go to the phone store often, but he had visited it in the past.
"I went there my freshman year," Hass said. "My cell phone broke and I had a question on how to replace it."
David Bouchard, a Weinberg freshman, said he uses Cingular's services but has never been to the Orrington store because he got his phone from a store in his hometown.
"I didn't even know (the store) existed," Bouchard said.
--Lee S. Ettleman
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