PostNet Reignites Franchise Growth After Honing New Business Model
DENVER—September 4, 2013—After pioneering a new business-services segment targeting small businesses, PostNet has announced plans to add 200 franchise locations in the United States in five years, a move that would propel the company’s domestic footprint to 500 stores.
As a sign of the momentum to come, PostNet has recently signed franchise agreements to develop new stores in the Chicago, Syracuse, Oklahoma, Houston, Dallas, Maryland and Pennsylvania markets. The company plans to beef up its presence in major cities, such as Chicago and New York City, and enter new markets, such as Boston, with this new wave of growth.
The aggressive growth plan follows a period of reinvention for the 20-year-old brand. Established in 1993 as a pack-and-ship center for consumers, PostNet has evolved into its current “Neighborhood Business Center” model, offering printing, shipping and consultative marketing services to the growing ranks of small businesses. When PostNet began introducing elements of this new model across its franchise system in 2009, it became the first national provider to focus solely on the needs of small businesses.
PostNet’s shift toward the Neighborhood Business Center model was accelerated by the Great Recession. While consumer sales declined because of the poor economy, PostNet seized an opportunity in a new breed of customers: throngs of laid-off workers who decided to go into small business ownership. Validation of this new target customer came from extensive market research and an analysis of PostNet’s franchise system, which revealed the top-performing franchises were already mainly focused on servicing the needs of small businesses in their communities. Recent third-party data has further confirmed this growing opportunity with entrepreneurship reaching its highest level in a decade in 2012, according to a report by The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).
PostNet Neighborhood Business Centers strive to be the “business behind small businesses,” essentially assuming the role as the marketing arm of local companies with four to 40 employees. PostNet’s ever expanding services include planning direct mail campaigns, including designing and printing the mailers, Web services, e-mail marketing, mobile payment processing solutions at select locations, and more.
“PostNet has always evolved in the face of technological and customer changes—it’s in our DNA,” said PostNet co-founder and CEO Steve Greenbaum. “With our Neighborhood Business Center positioning, we’re stronger and more relevant than ever and we’re uniquely positioned to grow.”
PostNet is actively seeking franchise partnerships with qualified candidates in the United States, Canada and internationally. Existing franchisees come from a variety of backgrounds, including military, sales and marketing, independent printers, retired teachers, young professionals, and more.
About PostNet
PostNet Neighborhood Business Centers provide marketing services and specialize in meeting the design, printing and shipping needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs. Founded in 1993, PostNet has over 700 locations worldwide, including several hundred locations in South Africa. Select PostNet locations in the United States and Canada now offer Web Services, which include Website and mobile design, hosting, e-mail marketing and mobile printing. Each PostNet franchise is locally owned and operated.
Source: PostNet.
