The locally-based company has hired the Northwest Atlantic Group, a Chicago-based retail real estate group, to oversee the site selection and leasing process.

The new VoiceStream stores will range in size from 150-sf kiosks in shopping malls to 2000-sf end-cap and in-line locations in retail centers. By establishing stores in easily accessible locations, VoiceStream will introduce its wireless products and communications services to the California and Nevada markets.

"Through this agreement, Northwest Atlantic Group will effectively serve as VoiceStream's outsourced real estate department," says Lew Kornberg, vice president of NWAG. "We strive to be integral and seamless in our role so that VoiceStream can concentrate on its core business."

NWAG was hired initially by VoiceStream in December 2000 to assess the overall quality of more than 150 locations when VoiceStream acquired Powertel, a cellular provider in the southeast United States.

This initial consulting project led to NWAG's involvement in the current and forthcoming rollout of a total of 44 stores in Louisiana, Virginia, Ohio and New York. NWAG presently serves as an adjunct to the real estate department for VoiceStream on a national basis and is managing VoiceStream's new store expansion program in established national markets.