New Friend For Small Business: Prstore’s Trendy Showrooms Are Filled With Marketing Products

CHICAGO (Thursday, August 22, 2002) - For the first time ever, America’s small business owners will soon be able to shop trendy retail showrooms for an array of high quality, affordable marketing products customized just for them.
The creators of a new retail concept known as the PRstore have set out to lavish attention on this sizeable market segment which historically has been ignored or underserved by traditional ad agencies and PR firms focused on larger clients with big marketing budgets.

At the PRstore, the small business owner – long credited with most of the job growth in the U.S. economy – is King. It’s a radical change in attitude which may leave many wondering why someone didn’t think of it a long time ago.

In more than two decades of first-hand experience as agency owners, the PRstore’s founders concluded there is little room for the small business owner in the traditional agency structure – and little interest among agencies in having these businesses as clients.

The PRstore solves this problem by bringing to a friendly, retail environment the same professional marketing services that have traditionally been available almost exclusively through formal and often costly arrangements with full-service marketing agencies. Operated by experienced professionals, each PRstore offers a full spectrum of services – from consulting to concept development to writing and design – to help clients get their message across effectively and affordably.

“This is a huge benefit for businesses and non-profits that don’t have big marketing budgets,” said Daniel S. Fragen, president of Chicago-based PRS Franchise Systems, LLC, which is directing the nationwide expansion of the PRstore concept through a franchising program launched this week.

Unlike traditional ad agencies and PR firms, appointments are not needed at the PRstore. Walk-ins are encouraged. Fancy conference rooms are non-existent. There is never a discussion about retainers. Small business owners simply choose the marketing services they need from a broad range of custom products.

PRstore products address all the most common marketing needs from brochures to print ads, logos, newsletters, direct mail pieces, press releases and more. For convenience, they are fully described in catalogs and rack cards and displays complete with samples and pricing.

Experienced marketing professionals are available in the PRstore’s casual, walk-in setting to guide customers who may be unsure about how to maximize their marketing dollars. Rounding out its offerings, the PRstore also carries a full range of specialty advertising items that can be imprinted with a company logo.

The 1,000 square foot retail units will be supported by the PRstore’s Design Central, a centralized staff of designers, copywriters, promotions specialists and printing coordinators who will serve as the behind-the-scenes workforce for all the locations.

“This allows a franchise owner to own and operate a marketing business without the overhead of a creative staff,” Fragen explained.

The PRstore approach to marketing gained quick acceptance among its earliest customers.

“I needed a lot of help to launch my marketing program, and I wasn’t sure where to get it,” Anthony Le, owner of Lotus Technology, a Charlotte-based hearing aid manufacturer, said. “The PRstore was convenient and affordable. They were easy to work with and assisted me in preparing a sales brochure, a print ad, a technical product booklet and all the forms I needed to begin my sales program.”

James Blakey, a pilot for a major airline who also has a financial planning company, liked the ready access to marketing experts.

“I walked into the PRstore on my day off without an appointment,” Blakey said. “They were ready to help me on the spot. The PRstore wrote and designed my brochure, and it was one of the best sales pieces I have ever seen. Most of all, I felt like they really wanted my business. That was important to me.”

The company projects that more than 150 stores will be in operation in the next five years in high-traffic retail areas around the country. The first unit opened in Charlotte’s thriving banking district in 2001.

Fragen said initially the PRstore initially will concentrate on expanding its presence in North Carolina and opening franchise locations in Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Kansas City, Omaha and other selected markets in the Midwest.

“Although we will focus on North Carolina and the Midwest first, our plan clearly calls for a national presence,” Fragen said. “We will have PRstores in all 50 states.”

Fragen says the PRstore concept is part of a business trend that has emerged over the past decade catering to the desire of business owners and consumers to self-direct their own projects in a number of areas.

“This trend has spawned several highly successful formats, including market-leading companies, such as Kinko’s, Staples, Office Depot and Mail Boxes, etc.” Fragen said. “The PRstore is the latest entry in this category.”

The management team based the PRstore concept on more than 20 years experience in owning and operating traditional advertising agencies and PR firms as well as operating successful multi-store retail locations in other industries.

Building on its extensive agency experience, the team conducted two years of concept research and development and nearly a year of interaction with small business customers in a model PRstore setting in Charlotte. The result, Fragen says, is an operating system suitable for successful franchise operations.

In October 2001, PRS Franchise Systems retained the services of Francorp, a national franchising consulting company based in Chicago to prepare the program necessary to begin franchising.

“The PRstore is one of the best concepts we’ve seen,” Francorp Chairman Don Boroian said. “It scores a direct hit on a big niche – the small business market.”

For additional information concerning PR Store franchises, contact PRS Franchise Systems at 1-888-781-2200 or visit our web site at www.prstore.biz.

View all PRstore Press Releases

This article has been read 322 times.

Printer Friendly