Credit: Michelle Tessier (MLive.com)
Printer Source Plus, based in Michigan, was interviewed about its operations by local press.
Michigan Live profiled the store, based in Jackson, Michigan, which is a former Rapid Refill outlet offering remanufactured products alongside refills, printer services and sales, and even 3D printing of printer and cartridge components.
The store’s co-owners, Bob and Barb Smith, stated that “when people come in here, they think we just have ink cartridges […] they’re always surprised that we have toner cartridges also”, and there are “several other things most people don’t realise about the business”, which the news site focused on in five separate points.
The store offers repair, recycling and cleaning, with printer repair an option “people are often surprised at”, according to the Smiths, who note that “we’ll actually look at their printers and try to save them so they don’t have to throw them in a landfill”. They added that “a lot of times when a person’s printer stops working, they just assume it’s a disposable item and they get rid of it”, and that “sometimes there is just some maintenance that needs to be done”.
With 11 employees, the store has been in business since August 2006, and was previously a Rapid Refill franchise, with the Smiths noting that “we were part of a franchise and now we’ve moved away from the franchise so we’re totally independent […] the advantage for us is that we can do more things the way we want to do them. We’re more into printers, selling printers and fixing things”.
A unique function of the store is its 3D printer, which Bob Smith made in-house, and which is used to “make parts for printers” such as gears, with Smith stating that “if I need a gear or a small part, I can copy the gear or the part and reproduce it”. The company’s focus on remanufacturing and recycling was informed by the Smiths being “appalled with what was happening” with recycling in the local area”, and it also funds local schools, churches and non-profit organisations through cartridge collection.