Xfinity, Comcast's digital platform for TV, Internet and voice services, is opening at least four area retail stores, following the lead of Apple and Microsoft, which are investing in storefronts to engage customers in exploring equipment and services.
As the Daily Record has reported, Xfinity is opening at southeast Beach and Hodges boulevards in South Jacksonville and at River City Marketplace in North Jacksonville.
The company recently filed plans for two stores in Mandarin and Ortega.
Metro Property Services is the contractor for the Mandarin location at 11112 San Jose Blvd. for 4,461 square feet and in Ortega at 6331 Roosevelt for 4,698 square feet of space. Each is valued at a $250,000 project cost.
The Xfinity retail stores are the cable company's area locations where customers can pay bills, interact with Comcast employees and explore the company's products and services.
The stores appear to be a step beyond the existing Comcast Service Centers, where customers can pay bills, manage their accounts, subscribe to additional services and pick up, return or exchange Comcast equipment. Those locations can be found at comcast.com.
Media reports about Xfinity stores in other cities quote Comcast officials as saying the interactive displays of Xfinity's cable, television and Internet packages, as well as add-on services like home security and monitoring, represent a new way for the company to reach its customers.
"Play with interactive displays of Xfinity cable and television. Move between your favorite show and a Skype session right on the TV. Show an incredibly fast download of a movie using Xfinity Internet. Monitor a staged Comcast home remotely using Xfinity Home. Receive a voicemail via text on your laptop. Do all of this right in front of a customer!" says a job listing for an Xfinity store.
It says sales consultants will work directly with customers in a retail location and also will help customers to interpret and clarify their account statements and pay their bills in the store.
Core responsibilities are to engage customers in a retail location and drive sales of Comcast's services, including HDTV, high-speed Internet, home security, wireless cards and digital telephone services.
Comcast Corp. is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.
The xfinity.comcast.net site describes Comcast Cable as the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the Xfinity brand and also provides the services to businesses.
In Jacksonville, the retail locations so far are:
• Pablo Creek East, 13740 Beach Blvd., in Suite 413, near Petland.
• River City Marketplace, 13141 City Station Drive, No. 151.
• Claire Lane Center, 11112 San Jose Blvd.
• South Ortega Marketplace, 6331 Roosevelt, No. 11.
Beverly Hills Wealth Management opens in Five Points
Beverly Hills Wealth Management, founded by Beverly Hills and Jacksonville businesswoman Margaret Black-Scott and run locally by Nancy Overton, will officially open its Jacksonville office in Five Points on Tuesday. The office is in the Five Points Theatre Building at 1022 Park St., in Suite 307.
Black-Scott expanded the West Coast investment firm, founded in 2010, to Jacksonville a year ago. She and Overton set up temporary offices until choosing permanent space.
Black-Scott ran Jacksonville's Morgan Stanley Dean Witter office before being transferred in 1996 to run the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. office in Beverly Hills. She was later promoted to direct its Western Division, one of four U.S. divisions, and retired as managing director and vice chairwoman of Morgan Stanley & Co.
Black-Scott is a trustee at Jacksonville University, where she earned an MBA.
Deutsche Bank volunteers
As Deutsche Bank continues to expand in Jacksonville, the company also continues to volunteer.
According to the bank, it has made employee donations, event sponsorships and Deutsche Bank Foundation grants in the area, and its Jacksonville employees have contributed more than 10,000 hours of public service to nonprofit organizations and Title I elementary schools.
Deutsche Bank Jacksonville led the development of the Jacksonville Military Veterans Coalition, which provides job opportunities for veterans and education for employers on the value of veterans; collected nearly $100,000 in employee donations (before Deutsche Bank's matching funds); and partnered with 75 local nonprofit organizations and one Title I elementary school.
Tucker Rocky files build-out plans
As the Daily Record reported Oct. 3, Tucker Rocky/Biker's Choice, which distributes motorcycle and ATV aftermarket parts, accessories and apparel, is almost doubling its size in Jacksonville and adding a dozen jobs.
Contractor Pattillo Construction Corp. plans a $96,000 renovation for additional space toward the expansion. Plans show interior modifications in an existing building to include a new training room and breakroom, three new warehouse doors and canopies, and other modifications.
The Fort Worth-based Tucker Rocky adding 90,000 square feet of space to its 100,000-square-foot distribution center in Westside Industrial Park at 8700 Jesse B. Smith Court.
"Improved business conditions and accelerated customer orders have strained warehouse capacity," Chief Financial Officer Jay Goldstein said previously by email.
Sunday smiles
The weekly church bulletin from the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception Downtown usually offers "funnies" and Sunday's was this one:
A little boy was kneeling beside his bed with his mother and grandmother and softly saying his prayers. "Dear God, please bless Mummy and Daddy and all the family and please give me a good night's sleep."
Suddenly he looked up and shouted, "And don't forget to give me a bicycle for my birthday!!"
"There is no need to shout like that," said his mother. "God isn't deaf."
"No," said the little boy, "but Grandma is."
@MathisKb
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