Franchise Development Leaders: Wireless Zone Franchisees Tamar Bundy and Chris Severo

Tamar Bundy doesn’t show any signs of slowing down his booming business with Wireless Zone and is looking forward to serving the Chappaqua community. Bundy’s success-story began in 2001, when he first entered the cell phone biz working as a store manager for RadioShack. Little did Bundy know that two doors down from RadioShack was his future business partner—Christopher Severo, who worked at Wireless One. The two became good friends and the rest was history. 

The pair opened their first Wireless Zone in 2004 and have since expanded to 47 locations. “I’m addicted to results, which is my ultimate motivation to continue to open up more Wireless Zones,” said Bundy. The Chappaqua market appealed to Bundy and Severo because of the neighboring businesses, which ultimately was the selling point for the two to officially sign off on the location. 

Severo and Bundy are passionate about their unique business model, which focuses on training their employees from within and giving them the opportunity to potentially become franchisees themselves. 

Bundy is enjoying the ride with Wireless Zone and can’t wait to expand even more. “We’re just having fun and enjoying what we’re doing,” said Bundy. “Our big goal is to hit 50 locations and then from there, we move on and keep going forward.”

1851: Tell us a little bit about your background:

Bundy: I started in the cell phone industry in 2001 at RadioShack as a store manager. Two doors down, a Wireless Zone opened up and I became good friends with Christopher Severo––my business partner. We started working together and Chris thought I’d do well in a higher-level position. He got corporate’s position to open our first store in 2004 and then had three in 2008. Wireless Zone’s system is very solid and we’ve opened 47 locations within the past 15 years.

It’s so rewarding to look back and see how far we’ve come. It’s also motivating because I’m addicted to results. I like seeing actual results. We have 46 managers who started off as sales representatives as Chris and I did. We want to keep adding people and teaching them our model. We give them advice and opportunities to open their own locations. 

1851: Why is the Chappaqua market a good market for your new franchise? 

Bundy: Chris has been interested in the Chappaqua area since 2009, but we couldn’t find the perfect location. So when a location opened up by Lifestyle Fitness and Whole Foods, he was able to secure a space. 

1851: Do you provide any interesting services, work with any other local businesses, charitable organizations, or prominent individuals in the community?

Bundy: Every year, we look at our scores and allocate them for a sponsorship opportunity. We usually will team up with little league teams. We’re also do annual backpack giveaways with all our locations with Culture Fit. We give school supplies to kids and also donate to the Sandy Hook Foundation. 

We plan on getting involved with the chamber in town once we open. We usually will find a police department or EMT and give a donation. We want to make this opening a fun and social event with the community.

1851: What’s next for you and your business? Do you own any other businesses or franchises? Do you have any development/expansion plans with the brand? 

Bundy: We’re just having fun and enjoying what we’re doing and our goal is to get to 50 locations. Then from there, we move on.

1851: Is there anything else that might be interesting about you, your business, or any of your team members?

Bundy: We built our model on service and it’s one of the things we preach to our employees. We like to pull people. We want people to come back and recommend us to others—that’s the goal. We want to get into neighborhoods and provide our service that will be supported by the community.