Franchisees representing United Parcel Service franchise outlets across the United States under the Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) and The UPS Store brands will demonstrate at Thursday’s (May 10) meeting of UPS shareholders in Wilmington, Del. (Hotel DuPont, Eleventh & Market St., beginning at 7:30 a.m.).”All of us in the franchisee organizations believe UPS shareholders should hear our concerns and understand UPS’ total failure to live up to promises and projections made to us – and to UPS shareholders,” said Joe Wightman, who operates a UPS (Mail Boxes Etc.) store in New York City. He is also an official in the Platinum Shield Association (PSA), which has some 131 members, many of whom will be in Wilmington Thursday.
“When my colleagues in Mail Boxes Etc. and I were asked to rebrand as The UPS Store in 2002, we were told that the MBE brand was broken and the profitability of the franchises was paramount in UPS’s planning. Further, we were told that there would be 5,000 UPS Store franchises by the year 2007, up from the 3,289 stores in 2002,” he added. “Instead, UPS has reduced the profitability of individual franchises and is having trouble selling this business model. By their own admission, they (UPS) have failed to reach the 5,000-store objective, with current data showing only 4,412 franchises – some 600 below their predictions.
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