*NEWS*INKREDIBLE REFILLS 5,000 INKS …..

[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.

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January 11, 2008 at 1:20 PM