Kinko’s Aims to Duplicate Successes in United Arab Emirates

It will be 5,000 square feet of commercial space--a relatively small chunk of real estate in the sheikdom of Dubai.

But officials of Ventura-based Kinko’s Inc. expect the company’s first branch in the United Arab Emirates to be large enough to attract the attention of the entire Middle Eastern business community.

The Dubai branch, a full-scale copy and business service center, is scheduled to open during the first quarter of 1998, with a second Dubai site to follow later in the year. If all goes as planned, corporate development in neighboring countries will be close behind.

“We plan to expand very rapidly through the Middle East--we believe the Saudi Arabian market and the Egyptian market will be our next moves there,” said Mazen Safadi, vice president of Kinko’s International.

The Dubai locations will be a joint venture with the Kharafi Group, a multinational organization with Middle East interests in a variety of businesses, including financial institutions, construction companies and retail and fast-food outlets.

Safadi said he had been eyeing Dubai for Kinko’s Middle Eastern debut for more than a year. The region, he said, offers good prospects for a corporation that depends largely on business customers.

“A lot of companies are setting up headquarters in Dubai,” Safadi said. “A lot of trade takes place in that country, also economic summits and shows take place on a consistent basis in Dubai, which makes us open to the rest of the world.”

Safadi said Kinko’s officials have familiarized themselves with Dubai to the point where they feel comfortable about the company’s future there. They will bring in experienced managers to operate the new sites and train local residents in the Kinko’s operating method.

But as with any new venture in a foreign land, there remain a number of unknowns, Safadi said.

“How is the economic situation for that particular country going to develop? How receptive are people going to be to our brand?” he asked. “We do feasibility studies of the market--it takes a lot of time to develop a plan for a country. The first [branch] is always the hardest to open.”

Lately, though, opening new branches overseas is something to which Kinko’s employees have become accustomed.

This month, the company teamed with the Virgin Group to open the first Kinko’s branch in London. And plans call for a major expansion throughout Europe in the near future.

With more than 850 branches, Kinko’s already has established itself in Canada, Japan, Australia, China and the Netherlands, as well as throughout the United States.

Safadi said none of the international branches are dramatically different from the domestic locations, offering copying, faxing and a variety of other business services. But minor variations are required for certain regions.

“In any country you go, there sometimes are differences and tweaks that are needed to meet the environment,” Safadi said.

“The Middle East is no different from anyplace else, but self-service is not as strong as it would be [in the United States]. So we might not set up the branch as full-fledged self-service as we do here in the United States,” he said. “The Japan market is huge on color, so you will notice we have a lot of emphasis in the color area.”

Kinko’s, a privately held corporation, was founded in 1970 near the UC Santa Barbara campus. It has about 23,000 employees.