Cartridge World - Media Releases
Courtney Place - Key To Convenience
MEDIA RELEASE
27 January 2005
For immediate release
Convenience the key to refilling your cartridges at Courtenay Place store
Take a walk along Courtenay Place this week and don't be too surprised if you see a 3ft tall inkjet printer with legs attached. This is FILL and he'll be celebrating the opening of Cartridge World's 28th retail outlet in New Zealand and the third for local businessman, Bill Swan.
Mr Swan already owns and operates Cartridge World franchises in Lower Hutt and central Wellington, the latter theoretically covering a geographical area from Crofton Downs to Highland Park; Oriental Bay and Mount Victoria, across town to Karori. But Mr Swan's research has shown that in practice, the vast majority of the store's customers are clustered around the Willis Street/Lambton Quay central business district.
He says, "in the fast-moving world we live in today, people don't want to have to trek across town when they want to buy something. The cartridge business is becoming increasingly competitive and it's not enough just to offer a great product - customers also want convenience. We knew we needed to move closer to new customers at the Mount Victoria end of town, but were frustrated by the lack of suitable retail units."
The solution to this quandary came in the form of Bo Li. Mr Li is the owner of Cybernomad internet café and is also a client of Cartridge World. The initial idea was broached as recently as October 2004, and just 4 months later, Cartridge World Courtenay Place will open it's doors, sharing retail space with Cybernomad.
As a customer of Cartridge World himself, Mr Li had complete faith in the quality of the product and had no problems referring the company to his customers.
Says Mr Li, "When Bill first mentioned he was looking to expand into this end of town, I thought, maybe this is an opportunity for both of us. I'm delighted to be able to work with Cartridge World and be able to offer computer consumables to my clients on-site."
Customers can save up to 50% of the cost of a new cartridge by refilling their old one instead. Given that Mr Swan's average residential customer refills their cartridge up to 4 times a year, the savings soon add up.
Excellent service however, is what Mr Swan believes sets Cartridge World apart. At the end of last year, Cartridge World nationwide launched a 1-hour cartridge refilling service on selected cartridges - Mr Swan's stores have taken this even further and offer "Instant Ink", an exchange service for most ink cartridges where the customer walks in and drops in an empty cartridge and leaves straight away with a refilled one. No waiting and no coming back later. The company has been able to offer this service by investing in the latest cartridge filling technology - just one of only a few Cartridge World franchises in New Zealand that can offer this service. And all refills are covered by the Cartridge World 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee.
Of course, recycling cartridges also has an incredibly important environmental impact. Research undertaken by BRC Research in 2003 showed that more than 1.2 million printer cartridges are disposed of in New Zealand's general household rubbish every year. That's the equivalent of the combined weight of two All Black rugby teams taking up valuable space in landfills every week! At a local level, Mr Swan estimates around 56,000 printer cartridges are dumped from Central Wellington households and businesses in a year! That's a huge environmental problem, particularly when the Wellington City Council has stated in its "Solid Waste Management Plan" a target of 100% recycling of plastics by the year 2010.
Mr Swan is incredibly enthusiastic about the new venture. "The two companies are a fantastic fit and I see great benefits for our customers and our businesses. We can now both offer a wider range of services while at the same time benefiting from each other's expertise and knowledge."
Want to know more? Come along to 43 Courtenay Place, Wellington from Wednesday, 2 February.
For further information, please contact:
Mr Bill Swan
Cartridge World
P (04) 569 7872
M 021 527 112