Visitors to get hands-on demos of XFINITY’s innovative TV, High-Speed Internet and Voice services, as well as XFINITY Home, Comcast’s home security and automation platform
Comcast today announced plans to open an XFINITY Store in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood at 1322 E. 53rd St., in Vue53, a new retail and residential development. The new 5,400-square-foot store will give visitors hands-on experience with XFINITY’s range of products and services, from cable TV, high-speed Internet and home phone services, to the company’s home security and home automation platform, XFINITY Home. The store also will feature iPads and other mobile devices visitors can use to explore XFINITY’s Android and iOS apps. Apps range from XFINITY Stream, which allows customers to watch live TV anywhere at home over WiFi; watch up to 200 live channels outside their homes; stream up to 40,000 hours of On Demand content; and download movies and TV shows, to XFINITY WiFi, which allows customers to search for locations of the network’s nearly 1.5 million WiFi hotspots in the region and 15 million across the country.
“The new store will give our employees the ability to demonstrate our latest products and services and educate visitors about how to use their range of features,” said John Crowley, Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region senior vice president. “In addition, the store has comfortable seating areas that allow visitors to settle in and experience XFINITY products and services as though they’re in their own homes.”
Along with product and service demos, customers will be able to pay bills, pick up and return equipment and get assistance from trained, knowledgeable sales and service consultants.
“I’m pleased that Comcast has chosen to locate a store in our growing Hyde Park business corridor along 53rd Street,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, a community resident. “We appreciate their investment and the jobs they are bringing to the South Side, and look forward to further community engagement.”
“We’re thrilled that the XFINITY Store is joining the strong retail roster at Vue53, which also includes a new urban format Target store,” said James Hanson, a principal of Avison Young, which co-developed the building. “One of our primary goals in developing Vue53 was to give Hyde Park and Kenwood residents access to more goods and services right in their own neighborhood. The addition of the XFINITY store is right in line with our goal.”
Hanson added that Vue53 is an anchor of the growing retail and restaurant corridor on 53rd Street and along with other new developments in the neighborhood is helping Hyde Park become even more of a “hot spot for modern design and living.”
The XFINITY Store will have around 15 full- and part-time employees. Store hours will be Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 12 to 5 p.m. The store will open later this year.
New store part of a series of investments in the City of Chicago
The new store is another in a series of investments Comcast has made recently in Hyde Park and other Chicago neighborhoods. Comcast recently completed network and fiber extensions to service Hyde Park’s burgeoning retail corridor along 53rd St., as well as around the University of Chicago. This follows recent extensions in and around the Loop, Englewood, Back of the Yards, the Peterson Pulaski Industrial corridor and a host of other locations.
In addition, Comcast has placed clusters of WiFi hotspots in locations in Hyde Park, Pullman, around Goose Island, along The 606 and adjacent to DePaul and Loyola Universities. The company also recently made gigabit Internet service available to all homes and businesses in its service area using its existing network infrastructure. This allows Comcast to bring 1 Gbps Internet speeds to residences and businesses without the need for construction. Comcast offers businesses speeds up to 100 Gbps via fiber.
With the addition of the Hyde Park Store, Comcast will have more than 200 employees on Chicago’s south side and around 1,600 across the city.
For more information about XFINITY products, services and retail stores, call 1-(800)-XFINITY or visit www.xfinity.com.
About Comcast Cable
Comcast Cable is one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. Comcast has invested in technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video, communications and home management offerings. Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
With nearly 7,000 local employees, Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region (https://chicago.comcast.com) serves customers in central and northern Illinois, including the Chicago area, Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan. “Like” Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region on Facebook by visiting Comcast. “Follow” Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region on Twitter at @ComcastILLINOIS.
