New London - Frontier Communications opened its first retail store in the state Wednesday in the former AT&T building on State Street, returning business to a downtown storefront that had been shuttered for more than a year.

The retail store, which will be open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., will allow potential customers to test out Frontier's television, phone and Internet services.

The store, which employs six full-time workers, will not accept bill payments or service requests.

"These individuals will work in a sales capacity," Jo Montgomery, a Frontier spokeswoman, said in an email. "However, if customers come in with billing or service related questions, these individuals will gladly put them in touch with Frontier representatives who can help."

In October, the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority gave final approval to Frontier's $2 billion purchase of AT&T's landline, broadband and television businesses in Connecticut.

As part of the deal, Frontier acquired the State Street retail space and office space on Washington Street, both former AT&T buildings.

Even before AT&T was sold to Frontier, the office space at 200 State St. sat empty. In June 2013, AT&T announced that about 80 employees working in the downtown New London call center would be transferred to a New Haven office as part of a reorganization and consolidation effort.

Zach Tomblin, Frontier's area general manager for eastern Connecticut, said having customer service representatives available at a walk-in location is important to Frontier.

"We know what it meant to the community when AT&T moved the jobs here away," he said. "We're glad that we are able to have a presence in downtown New London and reconnect with the community as a corporate citizen of the city."

On Wednesday, Frontier executives said the company has no immediate plan for the Washington Street space.

"We are in the process of evaluating everything that came over to us" in the acquisition of AT&T, Tomblin said. "Certainly, we have sizeable facilities in New London and we have to consider what our options are for both facilities."

In 1957, Southern New England Telephone Co. - later a part of AT&T - demolished a First National grocery store on the site and opened the region's nerve center for direct long-distance dialing in June 1961.

The call center, which survived street name changes from State to Captain's Walk and back to State again, once was a bustling place where customers could pay off phone bills and pick up phone books.

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung