Total Wireless recently opened a new prepaid cellphone store in Painesville Township. Located at 1520 Mentor Ave., between Charley’s Cheesesteaks and O’Reilly Auto Parts, the store offers smartphones, tablets and home internet plans. Customers can also bring their own phones to the prepaid netwo rk, which is owned by Verizon Communications. “We noticed that Painesville didn’t have a lot of prepaid stores,” said franchise district manager Vincent Nickolette. “Verizon is a premium brand and Total uses Verizon towers.” He said the store featured Apple iPhones ranging from the 13 to the17, Samsung phones and Motorola phones like the foldable Razr. “The prices on these are highly competitive because we do not require a contract prepaid,” Nickolette said. He added that the store has a third-party company that provides financing. Total Wireless is pictured at 1520 Mentor Ave. in Painesville Township on Feb. 4. (Bryson Durst -- The News-Herald) Store manager Dominic Scott said that a promotion allows customers who bring their phones from a non-Verizon company to get a $50 monthly plan for $25 a month, with auto pay. Total offers a $40 monthly base plan, along with $50 and $60 plans. All three plans offer unlimited 5G data, talk and text, while the $50 and $60 plans have 5G ultra wideband data. The $60 plan offers unlimited hotspot data as well. Nickolette said that the franchise also owns Total Wireless stores in Cuyahoga County. Some of its stores were previously tied to other prepaid carriers. “We noticed that Total was going to have a big impact on the community the way that they structure and price,” he said. “We thought it was a better opportunity for us to grow as a privately-owned business.” According to Nickolette, Total also plans to open a store in Painesville City in the coming months. ...read more read less