Comcast Corp., the big Philadelphia-based cable, entertainment, and communications company, says it plans to open an Xfinity store on north Division Street and to move its Spokane customer service center there from its longtime location at 1717 E. Buckeye.

The planned new store will be located in a leased 3,500-square-foot space at 4423 N. Division and will be designed to provide customers with an interactive experience, similar to that of an Apple or Verizon store, says Justin Stinson, store manager.

It will feature kiosks where residential customers can try out different Xfinity products and services, such as its X1 Entertainment Operating System and next-generation Xfinity Home security and automation network, and will have large flat-screen TVs and a comfortable seating area for viewing Comcast channels.

“We’re moving to more of a consultative type of approach,” with a greeter meeting customers as they enter the store, and then guiding them to other store employees, depending on the services they need or are considering, Stinson says.

The company hasn’t announced when the store will open, but Stinson says it probably will be in mid- to late July. The store will employ 10 or 11 people, or roughly the same number of people who work in the 2,300-square-foot customer service center on Buckeye, he says.

Ken Watts, Comcast’s general manager here, says, “We’ve been adding and training staff for the last year to prepare for it.”

Watts says the new store will be more convenient for Comcast customers than the company’s current service center.

 The store will be the sixth such Xfinity store in Washington state, following the opening of similarly designed stores in Auburn, Federal Way, Factoria, Puyallup, and Redmond. Comcast currently has 14 service centers located throughout Western Washington and in Spokane, and Stinson says, “We’re looking at eventually moving all of our stores in Washington to the Xfinity model.”

Comcast representatives here decline to estimate the cost of renovating and equipping the North Side retail space to accommodate the new store, saying it varies widely from store to store depending on location.

Watts says the company hasn’t decided yet how it will use the space on Buckeye vacated by the customer service center, but says it will continue to employ upwards of 140 people at its overall “nerve center” facility there, most of them full time, in technical and sales positions. Comcast serves about 100,000 households in the Spokane area.