Jennifer Lopez to open cellphone stores
NEW YORK "Jenny from the Block" wants the block to buy Verizon phones from her.
Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez says she's opening a chain of cellphone stores and a website under the Viva Mobil brand. The aim is to sell Verizon phones and services to Latinos. Lopez is described on her website as co-founder and chief creative officer of Viva Mobil.
The first store will open in New York on June 15. Lopez says the stores will have bilingual staff and provide a "culturally relevant shopping experience."
Viva Mobil will be an authorized Verizon reseller, with the same prices and plans as regular Verizon stores.
Marketing cellphone service specifically to Latinos has not been a winning formula so far in the U.S. One company targeting Spanish speakers, Movida Communications, raised $40 million in 2007 and filed for bankruptcy the following year.