Kristina Hyltoft gives Phillup Ink a high five in front of the former CVS building on West Washington Street in downtown Hagerstown. The ink drop mascot is for the company Think reInk that will be moving their operations into the building. (By Ric Dugan/Staff Photographer) |
HAGERSTOWN—
An ink cartridge refilling company from Chambersburg, Pa., has agreed to be the storefront anchor tenant in the former CVS building in downtown Hagerstown, city officials announced Monday.Think reInk, which refills inkjet cartridges and sells remanufacturered inkjet and toner cartridges, will rent space in the 60 W. Washington St. building from the city.
The company hopes to open for business this summer, in time for back-to-school season, said Nathan Rotz, president and CEO of Think reInk.
“We’ve been interested in coming to this location since we heard that the city was investing in the space,” Rotz said in a city press release. “We believe your money is where your heart is, and the fact that the city is putting money into the downtown is very attractive for our business.”
The city purchased the space in April with the plan of creating a business incubator to help advance growth in the city center.
Repurposing an old building is a good fit for a company whose focus is on reuse, Rotz said, adding that the company even uses repurposed store supplies, such as price tags from the now-closed Circuit City.
Think reInk, a division of Innernet Inc., has been based in Chambersburg for 15 years and also has a store in Waynesboro, Pa.
Rotz said the company has seen as many as 1,000 customers from Hagerstown at its Pennsylvania locations and has wanted to open a Hagerstown location since 2009.
The Hagerstown location will have two employees initially and will “grow from there based on the demand,” Rotz said. The initial employees likely will be transferred from the company’s Pennsylvania locations, he said.
The company refills about 142 types of cartridges and stocks as many as 485 other cartridges, Rotz said.
Think reInk advertises the refill service as not only a cost savings over buying new cartridges, but also a way to keep cartridges out of landfills, where each cartridge takes 450 to 1,000 years to decompose, Rotz said.
Black ink refills cost $10 and color ink refills cost $15, he said.
Depending on the cartridge, refills can take anywhere from 2 minutes to 15 minutes, Rotz said.
“That’s what’s nice about a downtown location,” he said. “Typically as consumers are waiting for cartridges to be filled, they will shop downtown, or maybe grab something to eat, so it ought to generate a lot of traffic ... throughout the downtown.”
The city purchased the property with Capital Improvement Project funds and a Maryland Community Legacy grant.
Now, the city plans to use Community Development Block Grant funds to remodel the space, city spokeswoman Mary King said. The first phase of renovations will include the Think reInk space, a lobby and bathrooms, she said.
A special session of the Mayor and the Council has been scheduled for Tuesday, in order for the council to approve the construction contract on the building, she said.
The building will be set up to house two anchor tenants at the front and back of the location with several small businesses to operate in between, the city press release said.
Several community organizations have agreed to assist incoming small businesses with business-related training, the release said.
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce, SCORE, the Small Business Development Center, the Economic Development Commission and Frostburg State University have offered to provide referrals, workshops, seminars, marketing and promotion support, and one-on-one technical assistance to the entrepreneurs housed in the business incubator.
