The company also installed Kinkonet, a system enabling companies to send in orders by computer, with Kinko's distributing the finished product, such as a training manual, to points all over the United States. A Kinko's outlet typically offered the following services in full and self-service copying, including four-color copies; desktop publishing, including laser typesetting and printing; onsite Macintosh and IBM computer rentals; office supplies and stationery; finishing services such as folding, binding, collating, and stapling; custom printing services; facsimile transmission; and mailing, pick-up, and delivery service.
FedEx drop boxes were installed in all Kinko's locations. Some outlets also offered one-hour photo service and videoconferencing. Kinko's considered customer service of such importance that each location was being "mystery shopped" on a regular basis, with anonymous shoppers grading the store on 29 different points of customer service and store atmosphere.
Even while Kinko's retail niche as a full-service copy shop was secure, new marketplaces were needed if the company wanted to continue to grow and prosper, and especially if Orfalea was to take his company public. During the latter half of the s, Orfalea began shifting Kinko's marketing strategies and re-organizing its corporate structure.
His new business plan called for actively soliciting business from Fortune companies. A newly created outside sales force hit the ground running, knocking on company doors across the county in an effort to bring in new corporate accounts. Up until this time, Orfalea had sole ownership in approximately outlets and a stake in all others, which in essence were joint ventures held in partnership with owner-operators.
The process began by rolling up what was often described as a "hodgepodge" of vastly different partnerships into a single corporate entity and centralizing all management functions at Kinko's headquarters in Ventura, California.
Corporate conformity quickly took hold as all Kinko's retail outlets were made to look like each other. Other changes were less visible, but no less significant. For the first time since its inception in , a board of directors oversaw Kinko's. Orfalea remained involved with the company's management, quickly embracing his new duties as the chairman of the board.
It required changing his focus from the day-to-day operations to what he describes as "company ambassador" responsibilities as Kinko's continued to expand overseas. In a rare interview with Your Company magazine, Orfalea reflected on the change as a positive one. I can observe how Kinko's fits into society and the global economy. Besides trying to figure out what foreign markets we should tap, I can constantly strategize and worry about how viable the organization will be in five years.
That's the important stuff. As the s came to a close, Kinko's held its own as the world's leading provider of visual communications services, document creation, and copying.
In Fortune magazine selected Kinko's as one of the " Best Companies to Work for in America," an honor Kinko's would also earn in and One of the chief reasons for making the list, according to Fortune, was Kinko's philosophy of equality for its employees, such as the fact that each of the 1,plus branches shares its profits monthly among its co-workers. The company also received accolades for its efforts to conserve. In addition to using energy-efficient lighting in accordance with the EPA's Green Lights program in nearly all of its U.
We are proud of our ability to serve him or her in a timely and helpful manner, and to provide consistency and high quality at a reasonable price. We develop long term relationships that promote mutual growth and prosperity. We value initiative, productivity and loyalty, and we encourage independent thinking and teamwork. Kinko's Inc. With more than outlets in early , located in every state of the union and four foreign countries--Canada, Japan, South Korea, and the Netherlands--it was providing photocopies, quick printing and finishing services, electronic document distribution and production, mailing services, and time rentals on personal computers, usually at any hour of the day or night.
About locations had a special room for conducting videoconferences. A private company, Kinko's does not release its sales figures. Kinko's Copies Corp. Self-described as mechanically inept and dyslexic, he was a "C" student at the University of Southern California, from which he graduated with a degree in finance in By then Orfalea had observed, "If you can't fix things and can't read things, then you can't get a job," but in fact he apparently never looked for one, for he had already concluded, as he later told a Forbes interviewer, "I'm sort of unemployable.
I'm basically a peddler. Seeking something to sell, Orfalea fixed his eye one day on the copy machine in the university library. Applying what he had learned from a marketing course that studied product life cycles, he decided, "This thing here is going to go for a long time. He supplemented his income by going from one dormitory room to another in the evenings, hawking his wares from a knapsack. When this business proved a success, Orfalea decided to open other stores on other college campuses.
Since he did not have funds to finance them and did not want to franchise them, he formed partnerships with owner-operators, retaining a controlling interest in each. These partners were other students who scouted locations along the West Coast, sleeping in their Volkswagen buses or fraternity houses. Publicity consisted of flyers stuffed in mailboxes; orders were taken and delivered personally. UPS declined to comment on FedEx's acquisition. Write to Rick Brooks at rick.
All Rights Reserved. Skip to Main Content Skip to Search. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. Dow Jones. Sponsored Offers. Most Popular News. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of , and FedEx said the acquisition would begin to add to its bottom line in fiscal , which begins June 1, Memphis-based FedEx runs the world's largest express transportation company.
Kinko's is the leading provider of copying and other business services. Smith told The Associated Press Tuesday morning that the acquisition makes sense financially and is a "good fit" for the package delivery company because it will diversify and improve access to FedEx services.
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