A national wireless cell phone provider is expanding its reach throughout the Port City.

Irvine, Calif.-based Virgin Boost Mobile will soon open three franchises in Wilmington, said Sam Ismail, manager and owner of the future Port City locations at 4418 Market St. in the North 17 Plaza; 5601 Carolina Beach Road, Unit B and another location near the Carolina Beach Road and Shipyard Boulevard intersection. 

Virgin Boost Mobile is a pre-pay wireless service provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sprint Nextel Corporation.

Chuck Lydon and W. Tyler Pegg of Wilmington-based Coldwell Banker Commercial Sun Coast Partners represented the landlord and tenant during the North 17 Plaza location transaction. Sloan Bodford of Wilmington-based Maus,Warwick, Matthews & Company represented the landlord during the Carolina Beach Road location transaction, while Lydon and Pegg represented the tenant – Virgin Boost Mobile.

Ismail – whose family has owned Sam’s Superette on Sixth Street for nearly 50 years, and is currently the operator and owner of Uptown Clothing on Market Street – said he hopes to have all three locations open by Sept. 10.

He added he is also looking to add two additional locations in Wilmington in the coming months.

“I want to see how these locations fare first before expanding further,” Ismail said. “Depending on how well they do, Wilmington may have five locations.”