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New Rapid Refill COO Sees Huge Growth Potential
Minneapolis,
MN, OCT, 2006 — Big-name printer and copier makers say they don’t feel
threatened by companies such as Rapid Refill Ink, the franchised
retailer that specializes in the remanufacturing, refilling and sale of
inkjet and laser toner cartridges to both consumers and businesses. But
don’t tell that to Steve Hockett, the company’s new 45-year-old chief
operations officer“Consumers vote with their wallets all the
time,” Hockett said. “They will go wherever they believe they are
getting good quality, convenience, service and pricing. The ink
cartridge refilling industry is huge and growing dramatically. Rapid
Refill Ink has the opportunity to establish itself as the leader in our
industry with a commitment to those values.”Hockett recently joined
Rapid Refill Ink after serving as president of FranChoice Inc., a
company that matches prospective franchisees with franchisors. Prior to
joining FranChoice, Hockett spent 15 years with Great Clips, the
franchised hair salon brand where he was vice president of operations.
Since it began franchising in 2004, Rapid Refill Ink has grown to 55
locations throughout the United States with an additional 20 to 25
stores expected to open by year’s end. Hockett expects Rapid Refill Ink
to add 150 locations in 2007 and 250 in 2008. Having assumed many of
the day-to-day responsibilities of Rapid Refill Ink president and
founder Dan P. White, the aggressive growth strategy dovetails well
with Hockett’s experience. During Hockett’s tenure at Great Clips, the
franchisor grew from 200 to 1,700 salons. “I see a lot of parallels to
Rapid Refill Ink,” Hockett said. “It’s a small-box, franchised retail
concept that is customer-focused. It is also in an emerging sector of
franchising in much the same way that hair care was 20 years ago.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, 308 million remanufactured
cartridges are expected to be sold in 2006. A typical Rapid Refill Ink
store carries 1,100 different inkjet cartridges and 200 models of laser
toner cartridges, with overall savings on remanufactured cartridges
ranging between 30 and 70 percent. “There are no secrets in this
business,” Hockett said. “It’s a matter of taking care of customers and
solving their problems. A customer wants ink when they need ink. They
don’t want it next week. They want it today. Rapid Refill Ink fills
that need with its convenience, value, selection and service.”
Franchisors such as Rapid Refill Ink are planning to make a dent in the
revenue streams of larger tech companies who derive dependable revenue
streams from the sales of ink and toner cartridges. According to
figures cited by Lyra Research Inc., in a WSJ online story,
“franchisors are ramping up sales at a rate of 10 percent a year,
compared with growth for big tech companies along the lines of six
percent a year.” “From an operating profit perspective, Hewlett-Packard
has essentially become an ink company that builds hardware to deliver
their ink,” Hockett said. “That is a pretty substantial change from the
way things were 10 to 15 years ago.” The industry was abuzz recently
when Hewlett-Packard accused another national reseller of refilling
used printer cartridges with ink that relies on a formula for an
HP-patented ink brand. It was not an official legal action, but HP
asked the company to stop using inks with the same chemical composition
as one of its patented brands.
While
the action was seen as an attempt to crack down on the cartridge refill
industry, Hockett said it posed no concern for Rapid Refill Ink.
“HP’s
focus is on defending its patents, which makes a lot of sense,” Hockett
said. “From Hewlett-Packard’s perspective, some concepts are getting
too close to the line in regards to patents. The companies that will
succeed are the ones who will stay away from infringing on any patents.
That is Rapid Refill Ink’s plan.” Hockett said he views Rapid Refill
Ink as a “strong and sound” company. He said he sees no need for
dramatic changes. His short-term focus is to solidify the company’s
marketing, real estate and operational support departments to support
his long-term goal of aggressive growth. “We want to strengthen the
areas that are necessary to develop a thriving retail concept while at
the same time recruiting franchisees who are focused on helping us grow
the Rapid Refill Ink network,” said Hockett, who added that the company
is in the process of moving its headquarters from Springfield, Ore., to
Minneapolis. Rapid Refill Ink will celebrate the third anniversary of
its franchising program in January 2007. While the emerging cartridge
refilling industry features a number of franchised competitors, Hockett
said Rapid Refill Ink is well-positioned for growth. Says Hockett, “We
have an opportunity to create a global brand name very quickly. The
same printers we use here in the U.S. are used around the world, so
this is a concept that can just explode across America and across the
world. The demand is there, the need is real and we plan to build a
system to deliver value driven printer ink solutions worldwide.
Potential franchisees are attracted to Rapid Refill Ink because it has
momentum and solid fundamentals in place. The market is huge and no one
dominates it. The opportunity is there for two or three concepts to
grow fast and become recognized brand names. Rapid Refill Ink will be
one of those. We want to be the leader in the industry.
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