Giving Your Community the Convenience It Deserves

Whether we're referring to our professional or our personal lives, "get more done in less time," is now the mantra most of us live by. The same is true for us as consumers as "one-stop-shops" and locations that host multiple retailers offering a wide variety of goods and services are now the preference for those with busy lives. A perfect example are residents of a small town who may have to travel many miles to source all of the different business services they need. In response, retailers are increasingly joining forces to establish unique, non-traditional store models.

From reaching a new base of customers, to adding new streams of revenue, "store-in-store" is one such model that is beneficial to both franchisees and the larger retail stores hosting them. Jessica Mermis, franchisee of a The UPS Store inside of a large grocery chain in Junction City, Ore., knows first-hand the value of the store-in-store model. Mermis opened her franchise location knowing it would be an effective way to draw the attention of and serve the surrounding community, while also capitalizing on the growing retail trend of maintaining a smaller brick-and-mortar presence. The awareness and foot traffic created from being inside a high volume business like a large grocery retail chain, gives her store increased visibility and unique marketing opportunities.

"Opening a non-traditional store like this one was a great decision," Mermis says. "It's the wave of the future. I want to open a few more of these!"

Starting a new business is never a guarantee, so the strong business reputations of both UPS and The UPS Store are also incredibly valuable.

"The UPS Store is attractive to new prospects because of the strength of our brand," says Chris Adkins, Vice President of Franchise and Business Development. "With more than 30 years of experience, we are the world's largest franchisor of retail shipping, postal and business services centers."

As part of its franchise sales strategy, companies like The UPS Store and various regional and national retail chains work with hotels, universities, airports, to provide the same offering of products and services as their traditional retail stores. The key difference? These types of store-in-stores are located inside of larger, heavily-frequented businesses. The benefits of this include meeting the needs of today's consumers who have a lot to get done and minimal time to do it. Everyone needs to go to the grocery store; what better shopping experience than to have the solution of all your needs in one place? Imagine the convenience and ease in knowing the next time you need to purchase your milk and eggs you can also have The UPS Store friendly associates pack and ship the package to Grandma or have those important documents printed for your business meeting instead of making a separate stop. The customer isn't the only one winning in this situation – the host retail location and franchisee also gain increased foot traffic, new customer opportunities and expanded service awareness, so it's a win-win for all involved.

The goal of having The UPS Store inside of the local grocery store, hardware or pharmacy store is to truly enhance customer experience by offering the breadth of products The UPS Store is known for: packing and shipping, mailbox services, moving supplies, packaging materials, digital printing and document services and more. Ben Hertz, Franchisee of Elmore Healthcare & Pharmacy in Elizabeth, N.J., says "There isn't another location nearby that can do what The UPS Store does. We're hearing a lot of comments like, "This was such a good idea' and "Thanks so much for doing this.'" which reinforces store-in-store as the ideal solution to help us all live by our new mantra, "Get more done in less time".

Interested in becoming a franchisee with The UPS Store? Visit theupsstorefranchise/store-in-store to inquire!