True to its mission to make Boost Mobile more than a communications service, the company today announced it has launched exclusive retail stores that offer not only wireless products but headphones and lifestyle accessories as well.

The stores in Huntington Park, Calif.; Hialeah, Fla.; and Houston, Texas; feature furniture and interiors made of recycled materials, the company said. Conceptualized as “home bases” for the Boost brand, the three stores offer customers the chance to learn about Boost Mobile products and lifestyle in a hands-on environment, according to a press release.

Last week, the prepaid division of Sprint Nextel announced its new senior vice president and general manager, Matt Carter. He replaces Don Girskis, who left Boost to join ShoreTel as senior vice president of worldwide sales.

In an interview, Carter said he has no plans to “mess up” a good thing, but will use his ties with Sprint corporate to help guide the division going forward. “We don’t want to corporate-ize it,” he said. “It’s a great culture. The parent company appreciates what it has … As a company, we view Boost as a real boost to the Sprint culture.”

Carter most recently was senior vice president, base management at Sprint, where he was responsible for tackling the churn problem for the past 18 months. He was living in San Diego and commuting to Overland Park, Kan., until he got the call from Sprint CEO Dan Hesse about the Boost position. Boost’s headquarters are located in Irvine, Calif., so his commute time has dropped considerably. He also previously worked at Leap Wireless International.

Boost has done a good job of defining the brand, he said, and “we will continue to enhance that brand to help us continue that growth.”

Carter acknowledged that Boost might have been penalized in the past for being too successful; Sprint pulled back on Boost’s growth when iDEN network capacity couldn’t support it. But that’s not the strategy going forward. While Carter will leverage his relationships with the mother ship Sprint organization, “the Boost leadership runs Boost,” he said.

Having Hesse put Carter into the position at Boost should be seen as a vote of confidence for Boost, Carter said. “It’s a great culture. It’s an important place of growth for the company. We feel we’re in a unique position to be a pre-eminent leader” in the prepaid industry.

Boost ended the first quarter with about 4.4 million customers. Carter wouldn’t comment on recent developments at MVNOs Virgin Mobile USA and Helio but said Boost is concentrating on leveraging its own brand and operational expertise and making sure customer care is responsive.