Kinko’s and Federal Express Team Up to Print and Sprint

For nearly 30 years, Kinko’s of Ventura has built a reputation for providing a range of business services for customers who are in a rush. FedEx of Memphis has created a similar image, over 26 years, providing rapid letter and package delivery to its clients.

In theory they make a good pair. Company executives hope that’s the case in reality as well.

The companies have announced plans to place staffed FedEx World Service Centers in 30 Kinko’s branches by the end of the year. FedEx centers already are operating in eight Kinko’s locations, including branches in Ventura, Simi Valley and Santa Barbara.

“The brands are very well-aligned,” said Mary Pund, vice president of corporate development and treasury for Kinko’s. “Federal Express fits very well with business and commercial customer needs.”

Almost all of the 1,000 Kinko’s branches worldwide are equipped with Federal Express drop boxes, a 24-hour service the companies began offering more than 10 years ago. The new service centers, to be staffed with Federal Express employees, are intended to provide a more complete line of service at peak business mailing hours.

“We’re experimenting with the concept a little bit,” Pund said. “We’re going to be [placing] them where we have the space and the customers who need the service and where FedEx needs them located. Some will be in major metro areas, but some, like Simi Valley, will be more suburban.”

The privately held Kinko’s has 25,000 workers and operations in nine countries. Federal Express, a subsidiary of the FDX Corp. holding company, has 145,000 employees and provides delivery to 210 countries. Federal Express had revenues of $14 billion for fiscal 1999.

Glenn Sessoms, vice president of retail operations and sales for Federal Express, said the affiliation with Kinko’s is intended not only to serve existing clients but to attract new customers unfamiliar with his company’s service.

“What we anticipate is that many costumers who use Kinko’s and don’t understand how to do business with Federal Express will, in a staffed environment, be able to ask questions,” Sessoms said.

“Both [Kinko’s and Federal Express] customers look very similar--people who are busy, people who have a need for services, usually emergency services,” he said. “They are multi-tasking. They need to have a place to go to get things done.”

Sessoms said the Kinko’s locations should draw more small-office, home-office clients to Federal Express.

“Those customers really have a need for the brand services that Kinko’s and Federal Express offer,” he said. “Our brand is still primarily linked with large businesses, like Chase Manhattan, IBM, but a lot of small upstart companies need to have a relationship with Federal Express.”

Hours of operations for the Kinko’s-based Federal Express centers will be determined by the market in which they are located, Sessoms said. Generally they will operate about four hours a day, usually at the end of the workday. California locations currently are open noon to about 5:30 p.m.