INKREDIBLE REFILLS 5,000 INKS A MONTH !

[Anonymous]

Coup for ink refiller
A
Chattanooga entrepreneur says he and his partner have grown their sales
tenfold since last year by inking a deal with Bi-Lo to serve the
grocer’s ink refilling operations at all 222 stores across the
South.”They came to us and said ‘Can you do this?’ ” said Tim Wallis,
chief manager and co-owner of Inkredible Cartridge. “It gives us better
retail service and better inventory as well.”

Inkredible
Cartridge twice a week refills empty ink cartridges that grocery
shoppers drop off at Bi-Los. Inkredible Cartridge fills between 4,000
to 5,000 Bi-Lo cartridges per month, Mr. Wallis said, which accounts
for about half of Inkredible’s business.The refill store at 6025 East
Brainerd Road next to Firehouse Subs handles the Bi-Lo account as well
as walk-in customers. Inkredible Cartridge has a Hixson store that does
only walk-in business.Titus Arthur, a technician at the Inkredible
Cartridge, refills an empty cartridge at the company’s East Brainerd
Road store.The East Brainerd refill store, which last year was part of
the Cartridge City franchise, pioneered Bi-Lo’s cartridge refill
program during a test run starting in 2006 at Chattanooga Bi-Los, said
Mr. Wallis, whose partner in the venture is Dave Taylor.”We’re always
trying to find ways to give customers the one-stop shopping
experience,” said David Ryan, manager of Bi-Lo’s miscellaneous income
department, which oversees ink refilling, DVD rentals and other
nongrocery programs. Bi-Lo has stores in Tennessee, Georgia, South
Carolina and North Carolina.The cartridges are refilled the day they’re
received, Mr. Wallis said, and shipped back to the grocery store with a
turnaround of two business days. Inkredible Cartridge hired shipping
company Unishippers Association, Mr. Wallis said, to ensure the
cartridges are shipped from and to Bi-Lo in an expedient manner.”At the
next shopping trip the customer can pick it up,” Mr. Wallis said.
“Bi-Lo is aggressively courting busy moms.”Bi-Lo was interested in
contracting with Inkredible Cartridge not only to distinguish itself
from other grocers, Mr. Ryan said, but because the refiller cleans and
tests its cartridges.”We’re offering customers a good, quality
product,” he said.Because of the Bi-Lo account, Inkredible Cartridge
went from four full-time workers to nine full-time positions, Mr.
Wallis said, although the company has two vacancies.Inkredible
Cartridge’s business could continue to increase, Mr. Wallis said,
because Bi-Lo officials are helping the ink refiller contact officials
with Bruno’s Supermarkets, which last year split from Bi-Lo.

[Author]

January 11, 2008 at 1:22 PM