Canadian office-supply company Grand & Toy is joining forces with Kinko’s Copies to explore the viability of leveraging two brand identities in a single venture.
On July 29, the Toronto-based photocopy chain, with 11 outlets in Canada, set up the first Kinko’s Business Centre inside a Grand & Toy retail store at the Centrepoint Mall in suburban Willowdale, north of Toronto. Staff for the business centre are employed directly by Kinko’s.
The companies hope to reap incremental purchases by bringing together two customer groups with distinct, but complementary, needs.
‘Additional business centres will be added to other Grand & Toy locations after successful completion of this trial,’ says Pete Vanexan, Grand & Toy’s managing director. ‘Kinko’s services will bring added value to our customers, providing one-stop shopping to help save them time and money.’
Business centre services will include black-and-white and color photocopying, cerlox binding, lamination, fax service, custom printing services and computer rentals.
Promotion for the new venture is restricted to p-o-s displays at the Willowdale location, and a mention in Kinko’s Toronto-area promotional brochure.
Grand & Toy, based in Don Mills, Ont., is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Boise Cascade, a u.s.-based forestry, paper and office products conglomerate.
