By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer
Northeast residents who travel elsewhere for their office supplies and printing and shipping services can soon take advantage of a one-stop shop in the area.
As part of its nationwide expansion and store redesign, FedEx Kinko’s plans to open a location at Roosevelt Boulevard and Red Lion Road in March 2008.
The store, which will take about two months to build, is one of hundreds of redesigned, smaller centers created to cater to the needs of on-the-go professionals.
"The smaller size is for the more mobile, on-the-go professionals who are working from home and traveling," said Julia McConnell, a spokeswoman for FedEx Kinko’s.
The Northeast addition is one of hundreds of stores to debut around the country as part of the company’s five-year plan. FedEx hopes to establish 2,000 locations by 2012, with the company rolling out the next 300 stores by mid-2008. McConnell said FedEx might consider converting all of its stores into smaller centers in the future.
The Philadelphia area has nine FedEx Kinko’s stores. The closest location for Northeast residents is in Feasterville, Bucks County, where a smaller center opened on July 6.
At roughly 1,800 square feet, the new centers take up about one-third of the space of a traditional store. FedEx fashioned the smaller model to more efficiently display Kinko’s 700 office products. Additional highlights of the new centers include notary services, a better designed pack-and-ship area, and new technology products such as computer thumb drives, DVD media and cell-phone accessories.
In addition to copying and printing, other in-store services include preparing and sending direct mail, creating signs and banners, preparing business documents and personalizing products. Customers can also purchase packing and shipping supplies and send their packages from the store.
FedEx Kinko’s, which competes with stores like OfficeMax and Staples, also entered into an agreement this year with Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat to include an embedded feature in its software that connects to the store’s "Print Online" application. Documents are available for pickup or shipment from any Kinko’s center.
Customers favor the online printing feature, new center design and better range of products at the new Feasterville store, according to manager John Nickels.
"Customers like the new layout," he said.
"We’re offering a lot more office supplies while still providing all the regular services like copying and graphics."
Previous published reports have stated that the aggressive Kinko’s expansion comes on the heels of FedEx’s struggles to meet earnings goals, which rose by only 8 percent in the fourth quarter last year.
The company has cited rising fuel costs and a slowing U.S. economy as key causes of its stifled performance.
Kinko’s stores generated about $2 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2007.
The Kinko’s expansion aids FedEx’s efforts to capitalize on opportunities across all operating companies, which include building a $150 million intra-Asia hub in Guangzhou, China. ••
For more information on FedEx Kinko’s, visit www.fedex.com
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com