Kinko’s: Paul Orfalea
Episode 546 of the How I Built This with Guy Raz podcast, hosted by Guy Raz | Wondery, titled "Kinko’s: Paul Orfalea" was published on August 21, 2023 and runs 61 minutes.
August 21, 2023 ·61m · How I Built This with Guy Raz
Summary
Kinko’s copy shops were once so ubiquitous that the name became a kind of shorthand for photocopying. Paul Orfalea started the first shop in 1970 in a tiny converted hamburger stand near UC Santa Barbara, called it Kinko’s after his childhood nickname, and eventually grew it into a sprawling global chain. Rather than relying on a franchise model, Paul partnered with co-owners, which often made it hard to keep the business on track. Far-flung owners couldn’t agree about the basics of logo design or the complexities of keeping stores open 24 hours. In 2004, Kinko’s was acquired for $2.4 billion by FedEx, which eventually shed the name and transformed the shops into today’s FedEx Office locations. This episode was produced by Chis Maccini and edited by Neva Grant, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was James Willetts. You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Episode Description
Kinko’s copy shops were once so ubiquitous that the name became a kind of shorthand for photocopying. Paul Orfalea started the first shop in 1970 in a tiny converted hamburger stand near UC Santa Barbara, called it Kinko’s after his childhood nickname, and eventually grew it into a sprawling global chain.
Rather than relying on a franchise model, Paul partnered with co-owners, which often made it hard to keep the business on track. Far-flung owners couldn’t agree about the basics of logo design or the complexities of keeping stores open 24 hours. In 2004, Kinko’s was acquired for $2.4 billion by FedEx, which eventually shed the name and transformed the shops into today’s FedEx Office locations.
This episode was produced by Chis Maccini and edited by Neva Grant, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was James Willetts.
You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at [email protected].
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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