Fedex Kinkos: The facts

Fedex Kinko's is the former name of a printing company now known as FedEx Office. It offers a range of services in addition to printing, including copying and binding, with a range of self-service facilities available to customers. Eschewing a system of franchising favoured by some of its major rivals, all stores are corporate owned.

History and services

Overview
The enterprise offers a range of services, both general and specialist, including colour copying, production of print documents, fax machines and desktop computer rentals. There are also products such as office supplies and business books for sale in the retail sections of a FedEx store.
Much of the company's client base is drawn from home office users and small businesses. Paul Orfalea founded the store as 'Kinkos' in 1970.
'Kinko' was a nickname of Orfale's on account of his curly hair.
He opened the first copy shop with a single side-walk copy machine in the academic community of Isla Vista, which is adjacent to the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The company grew through a partnership, rather than a franchise model for its outlets.
In fact, each Kinko's is a personal partnership between Orfalea and a store owner. Location
Kinko's corporate headquarters was located in Ventura, California for the majority of its existence.
However, in 2002, the company moved its headquarters to Galleria Tower in Dallas, Texas. Orfalea left the company in 2000, following a dispute with an investment firm to whom he had sold a stake in Kinko's three years earlier.

Points of interest

Further development
In 2004, Kinkos was bought by FedEx for $2.4 billion.
The enterprise was re-branded as FedEx Office from FedEx Kinkos in June 2008.
This made it the retail branch of the FedEx Corporation. There was some confusion over the re-branding amongst customers, with many of the stores making it clear that Kinkos services were continuing as normal.
There were some minor exceptions in the new stores.
Some displayed signs with 'Kinkos inside' to help customers. Most Kinkos locations used to open 24 hours a day, but hours were reduced in a number of locations following the takeover by FedEx. Final word
With a reported revenue in excess of $2 billion, the company is the seventh largest printing company in North America.