Toner News Mobile › Forums › Latest Industry News › *NEWS*WALGREENS BLAZES INK-REFILL TRAIL
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AnonymousInactiveWalgreens blazes local ink-refill trail
For
his work as a real estate agent, Keith Carpenter prints a lot of
documents and spends more than $100 a month on ink cartridges.
So,
when he visited a local Walgreens last week and noticed a machine that
can refill ink cartridges in 10 minutes – and save customers up to 50
percent compared with the cost of a new cartridge – he decided to try
it yesterday.”I figured why not try it. And if it works, I’ll certainly
come here again,” said Mr. Carpenter, who works for DiSalle Realty CA
Walgreens on Monroe Street and one on Reynolds Road last month became
the first local stores for the chain to receive $40,000 cartridge
refill machines.
The drugstore company plans to put them in 1,500 of its 5,000 stores.
But
other retailers expect to add similar machines. OfficeMax plans to have
an ink-refill kiosk in at least one of its Toledo stores before year’s
end. Both Office Depot Inc. and Staples Inc. are test-marketing a
similar service nationally. Other stores also could add the lower-cost
service for computer printers.The price of ink per milliliter from big
printer manufacturers such Hewlett Packard has been rising 1 percent
annually, according to Lyra Research, a consultantcy.Plus, the amount
of ink in cartridges has been decreasing, although manufacturers
contend they have found new ways to maximize ink flow.Some, though,
question the quality of the replacement inks, especially for higher-end
printing such as photographs.Still, a lower cost is what caught Mr.
Carpenter’s eye. The chain offers to refill a variety of Hewlett
Packard, Dell, Lexmark, Xerox, Canon, Epson, and Okidata cartridges.The
cost is about half that for new cartridges. For example, an HP black
ink cartridge costs $33 at Best Buy but is refilled for $15 at
Walgreens. An HP 17 color cartridge is $35 new, and $16.50 for a
refill.Walgreens had been recylcing ink cartridges, giving a customers
who do so a discount for photo printing, and the refills are even
cheaper, said company spokesman Tiffani Bruce.The chain tested its
machines, and customers liked the quality, she said. Hewlett-Packard
threatened to sue the firm this year, contending the replacement inks
infringed on its copyrighted ink formulas, she added.”Our position is
the quality of our ink is comparable to [that of original ink
manufacturers],” Ms. Bruce said. “It obviously must be pretty good if
it’s so close that the manufacturer thinks there’s some
infringement.”Paul Zalecki, owner of Computer Renaissance on Monroe
Street, said inks made by refill services are very good for people who
do ordinary document printing jobs with their computers.But tests by
Consumer Reports and others have shown that refill inks fade quickly
compared with inks made by large printer manufacturers.”If you want to
print plain old black or color on documents, refills are fine,” Mr.
Zalecki said. “But if you’re going to print photos, the manufacturers’
inks have been tested to last a large number of years. Secondary inks
don’t have much of a life span.” -
AuthorOctober 3, 2006 at 11:34 AM
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