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| DATE | 2002-08-21 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Brooklyn News
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_ [logo_nysun_top] _
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2002
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*Home _ _ _ NEWS
A Kinko s Grows in Brooklyn, in Sign of the Times
*Subscribe Borough Said To Be Gaining in Aftermath of September 11
BY ANITA JAIN
*Classified Ads
*E-mail this article
*Death Notices
- Downtown Brooklyn will soon welcome its first Kinko s copy shop in
*Advertising another sign the borough has become an increasingly popular business
destination in the aftermath of the World Trade Center terrorist
*Press Releases attack.
*Contact Us The storefront at 16 Court St. is currently under construction but a
sign outside says it will open in September. A spokesman at Kinko s
*Archives headquarters in Dallas, Texas, said the company wouldn t disclose any
information at this time about the new store but would reveal more at
a later date.
Subscribe Today! The landlord of the building, Joseph P. Day Realty, also refused to
divulge any information about the store.
TODAY'S NEWS The opening of a Kinko s will greatly benefit downtown Brooklyn s
_ small businesses, says the director of the New York University Taub
A Record Urban Research Center, Mitchell Moss, who has done research on the
Liability effect of Kinko s stores in communities.
Verdict Is
Brought In Kinko s is one of the best barometers of small-business activity. It
Against City s a sign of people working at home or in small firms who need access
to round-the-clock graphics work and reproduction, he said. When I
What Happened in go to a neighborhood, I look for a Kinko s. If I don t see it, I know
Berlin there s a dearth of small businesses.
Brooklyn borough officials welcomed the copy giant to downtown.
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest business district in New York
City, and it s certainly large enough to support a number of copying
YESTERDAY'S centers. We of course welcome all new businesses to downtown Brooklyn,
NEWS said Andrew Ross, the communications director for the Brooklyn
_ borough president, Marty Markowitz.
U.S. Justice
Department Mr. Moss said Kinko s, which offers digital imaging and computer
Stalls N.Y. workstations, allows self-employed individuals and small firms to reap
School Reforms the benefits of new information technology without massive capital
investment. Kinko s has emerged as a part of the small business
City Groups Find infrastructure of the U.S., he said.
Friendly Rivalry
in Bringing Art Independently-owned copy shops nearby may suffer after Kinko s opens.
to Public Spaces
Gregg Vellanti and his family have been making photocopies for other
The Haunting people in downtown Brooklyn for three decades. Their small, dimly lit
Lesson From the shop, Remsen Graphics, has been a mainstay in particular for students,
Life of Abu faculty and employees at St. Francis College, which is across the
Nidal street.
Headlines By contrast, Kinko s is a big major chain. You feel a little bit
safer there, said Christeen Edwards, who works in the public
relations office at St. Francis College. She said her office has used
Remsen Graphics three to four times a month, and spends about $80 each
visit. They re pretty good, she said, but added, Kinko s is a much
bigger place. I m sure we ll open an account there.
Mr. Vellanti said while he s not happy that Kinko s has chosen to open
its first store in Brooklyn paces away from his own, he doesn t think
business will suffer. We don t fear business will drop off. We have a
lot of loyal customers, he said.
As he spoke, a customer, Lorraine Westcarr, interrupted to say, I m a
satisfied customer. A classical musician by trade, Ms. Westcarr has
used the shop a couple times a month to photocopy scores for the last
10 years. They re friendly, they re patient. I haven t had any
problems.
Mr. Vellanti, whose store is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., also said he
s prepared to enter a price war to keep customers from straying. But
he may not need to. Charging 5 cents a copy, Remsen Graphics is the
least expensive among three shops in the area, and Kinko s charges 9
cents a copy plus tax in all of its Manhattan stores.
Brooklyn Progress on nearby Joralemon St. charges 10 cents a copy, and
less for 100 pages or more. Its owner of 27 years, Charles Cannone,
said he would drop prices if forced to, but thinks his prices are
competitive. He charges 42 to 60 cents per color copy compared with
$1.29 at Kinko s.
We ll see an initial drop-off in business. People will stop and see
what they do, Mr. Cannone said. But eventually, he said, a high-tech
Kinko s store which offers services the other two don t, such as
laptop docking bays will bring people to the area and improve
business.
Mr. Cannone said he s not worried about going out of business either,
since he owns the building housing the shop. My costs are a lot less
than theirs, he said. I m not losing sleep over it. From the
outside, the Kinko s store appeared several times larger than either
Remsen Graphics or Brooklyn Progress.
Yitz Tabaas, manager of Court St. Office Supplies, which sells office
supplies as well as offering copy facilities, also thinks Kinko s will
brighten prospects for business on a longer-term basis. We re happy
Kinko s is coming in. There s plenty of business for everyone in the
neighborhood, he said. An upscale business is good for everyone in
the neighborhood in the same way Barnes & Noble increases business for
small bookstores.
Mr. Tabaas said his store will survive because it has more than one
line of business. I feel sorry for other copy shops that just do
copies.
St. Francis College students, however, say they would feel a tug of
loyalty before abandoning Remsen Graphics for Kinko s.
I like to feel the old neighborhood. I m not prone to going to going
to places like Starbucks, Ikea, or Kinko s. I like to keep it real, a
19-year-old criminal justice major, Hector Justinico, said. The
college sophomore said he would still go to Remsen Graphics even if
Kinko s prices were significantly lower.
Athena Papadopoulou, a recent accounting graduate of the college who
spent $50 to $100 a month copying assigned books for class, said
significant cost savings would certainly have impressed her if the
Kinko s had been around before she graduated, but not if the price
difference were small. You have to look at your pocket, the Cyprus
native said. She enjoyed the convenience of Remsen Graphics, having
frequently run across the street before a class to make copies, and
the personalized service.
Beth-Ann Gillery, a self-employed resident in the area, has been a
regular customer at both Remsen Graphics and Brooklyn Progress for a
decade. I hope I don t switch because I want to support local
businesses, but I will probably check it out out of curiosity, she
said.
Ms. Gillery, who spends about $200 in photocopies a month for
workshops she runs at Brooklyn Hospital, said speed and price would
factor in a decision to give her business to Kinko s.
People in the neighborhood will want to support local businesses, but
we don t always make the right choices, Ms. Gillery said. We get a
little bit greedy for time and money.
_ Copyright 2002 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC. All *back to top
rights reserved.
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