The UPS Store (formerly the United States arm of Mail Boxes Etc.) is a franchised subsidiary of United Parcel Service which provides, according to its website, shipping, shredding, printing, fax, passport photos, personal and business mailboxes, and notary services.[1][2]
In March 2001, UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc.,[3] which was founded in 1980 as an alternative to the post office.[4] In February 2003, UPS rebranded more than 3,000 Mail Boxes Etc. locations as The UPS Store.[5] Each location is independently owned.[6]
The UPS Store offers shipping, packaging, printing, shredding, notary services and postal services for individual consumers and small businesses.[7][8][9] Franchise locations are typically found on or near military bases, hotels, colleges, shopping centers and convention centers.[10] As of 2021,[update] there were 5,268 UPS Store locations across the United States and Canada.[11]
Each UPS Store also serves as an access point for UPS shipping where customers can drop off packages with prepaid labels, as well as pack and ship new shipments.[12]
The UPS Store's other major industry is printing. The store offers brochures, door hangers, car magnets, flyers, yard signs, menus for restaurants, manuals, and 3D printing.[13][14]
In 2019 and 2020, The UPS Store was ranked fifth overall among the top franchise brands in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 list.[15] The company ranked third on the Franchise 500 list in 2021.[16]
The UPS Store is the world's largest franchisor of retail shipping, postal, printing and business service centers. Headquartered in San Diego, it operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of United Parcel Service Inc.
The express carrier said today it is paying $191 million in an all-cash transaction for Mail Boxes Etc., a chain of 4,300 packing and shipping centers.
Mail Boxes Coast to Coast Inc. in Encino is the largest franchiser for Mail Boxes Etc., the San Diego-based company that has gained attention with its nationwide network of post office alternative stores and steady earnings gains. Since it was founded in 1980, Mail Boxes Etc. has grown to $25.7 million a year in revenues and about $1.5 million in net income. Mail Boxes Etc. stores provide the usual postal services, such as letter mailing and private box rentals, plus other office and shipping services.
United Parcel Service Inc. plans to convert 3,300 Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) stores in the 48 contiguous United States into The UPS Stores.
Under The UPS Store's business model, all of its locations are franchises, meaning they are owned by independent entrepreneurs, rather than by the company.
Franchisees of The UPS Store offer packing and shipping services alongside a variety of business solutions, including copy and print services, mailbox services, computer time rentals and more…
UPS is calling it the "Beyond ShippING" campaign, with a spot in which actors rattle off all those other "ing" things -- printing, packing, shredding, notarizing, supplying, sizing, mailboxing, scanning and more -- that the 4,700 UPS Stores nationwide provide.
a third of the customers of the 4,300 UPS Stores are small businesses — with 10 or fewer people or individuals — that accounted for 75 percent of overall revenue.
They are traditionally located in and around densely populated commercial areas, such as shopping centers, college campuses, military bases, convention centers, hotels and urban renewal areas.
# of Units: 5,268 (as of 2020); Franchises are located throughout the United States and in Canada.
We've crunched the numbers from our 2020 Franchise 500 list, identifying the 113 companies that performed best in their categories. Among them, you'll naturally find a lot of familiar names — companies that have dominated their categories for decades. Postal & Business Centers - The UPS Store. 2019 Franchise 500 Rank: 5
#3 The UPS Store. Postal & Business Centers
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