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TRAER – On Friday, Oct. 4, Whannels Hardware and Cellular officially cut the ribbon on its new Verizon Wireless store located at 512 Second Street in downtown Traer.

Those in attendance for the ribbon cutting included (pictured, l-r), Jay Whannel, Liz Whannel, Traer Mayor Pete Holden, Austin Crowder, Mackenzie Raubs, and Traer Chamber of Commerce’s Meghan Renslow and Lisa Eikamp. The Whannels, Crowder, and Raubs are all on staff at the new store.

After the ribbon cutting, the store hosted an open house, welcoming the public into the completely remodeled space. As part of the celebration, the Tama County Cattlemen’s Association cooked up lunch outside along the sidewalk.

The changeover from being an authorized U.S. Cellular dealer to a Verizon dealer has been more than a year in the making following the unexpected news in September of 2023 that U.S. Cellular was pulling out of the Traer location.

Business hours for the new store are Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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For more information on the store, refer to the business’s Facebook page – Verizon Authorized Retailer, Traer.