New Format For FedEx Kinko’s
FedEx Kinko’s expands nationally with smaller, more efficient store format.
Susan Fishman

Since June 2006, FedEx Kinko’s has opened 120 new locations and is expanding on a national basis in order to gain traction in each local market.

In mid first year of a 5-year expansion plan, FedEx Kinko’s, an operating company of FedEx Corp., is rolling out a new format. Since FedEx acquired the major copy print company 3 years ago, the new FedEx Kinko’s stores were averaging 6,000 square feet or so. The new format will run roughly 1,800 square feet but still offer all the same services and products as the traditional store, plus more.

“FedEx Kinko’s provides points of access into Express, Ground and the other FedEx services,” notes Tom Leverton, FedEx Kinko’s senior vice president of operations growth and development. “The closer we can get to the customer, the better service we can provide.”

The expansion is also the result of a heavily fragmented copy print market, he says. “We have a tremendous opportunity to grow just within copy print, and convenience of location is one of the primary considerations when people choose a copy print provider.”

FedEx Kinko’s wanted to get closer to small- and medium-sized business customers and traveling professionals and, to do that, needed to go to smaller communities.

“So we needed to dramatically reduce the cost of our stores,” explains Leverton. “Our new model allows us to go into places we couldn’t go before with a more efficient model.”

The smaller concept is designed to manage growth efficiently by reducing costs associated with construction, equipment and overhead. Construction costs for the new centers are approximately 50 percent less than a traditional center.

The new prototype for FedEx Kinko’s is 1,800 square feet, but contains all the services and products of the company’s larger stores.

Since June 2006, FedEx Kinko’s has opened 120 new locations and is expanding on a national basis in order to gain traction in each local market. The end goal is to open 2,000 stores over 5 years. The company expects to open 200 of the new centers across the United States by June 2007, which will increase the number of FedEx Kinko’s centers to 1,700 worldwide.

A FedEx Kinko’s can be found in outparcel, as well as inline, locations in service-oriented shopping centers and lifestyle centers, but the company is still discovering which locations work best, according to Leverton. “The key for us is the demographics of the local area more than the type of center in which we sit,” he says. “Because Kinko’s is a destination, when customers become aware of us, they will seek us out. So we are really trying to optimize our site selection based on demographics.”

The new stores feature enhanced pack-and-ship stations and twice the number of office products. In addition to the new features, they also will offer the same services as a traditional FedEx Kinko’s, including full-service and self-service copy and computer rental services. The expanded offering of office products will provide customers with more choices and convenience in their supply needs. The centers will carry an enhanced selection of business papers and writing instruments, as well as new technology offerings such as DVD media, thumb drives, and mobile-phone accessories. The enhanced pack-and-ship stations will feature more shipping supplies and materials, making it even easier for customers to pack their items on-site and ship via FedEx Express or FedEx Ground. In addition, the centers will be adding notary services, allowing customers to print, notarize and ship critical documents worldwide.

FedEx Kinko’s selected the store model after a year of researching and testing several concepts. The final design was both well received by customers and cost effective for the company.

“In 1,600 to 2,000 square feet, our real goal was to create more of a neighborhood feel to the stores, to provide a more one-on-one experience,” Leverton notes.

Upon walking into a new FedEx Kinko’s store, customers are greeted by an employee just 5 to 10 feet away behind a counter, where production machines for on-the-spot jobs are also available. Retail offerings are located at the front of the store and, though the square footage has been cut by more than half, the number of retail items has increased from about 400 in a traditional center to about 700 in the smaller format. Self-serve copy machines and computer rental stations can be found at the back of the store.

Leverton says that FedEx Kinko’s is only able to embark on its expansion because of the acquisition 3 years ago. The two companies had a similar goal in mind — more points of access — but as FedEx Kinko’s grows, it’s going to be able to take advantage of some of the other things that FedEx has enabled it to do, such as launching new e-commerce solutions, investing in new products like direct mail for small businesses, and enhancing its signs and graphics capabilities. “This is when the rubber meets the road with a lot of the benefits that the acquisition of Kinko’s from FedEx promised,” he says.


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