History
Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) is the world’s largest international franchising network of postal, communication and support services for business activities and private customers. It is controlled by Fineffe, an Italian holding company belonging to the Fiorelli family.
Founded in San Diego, California (U.S.A.) in 1980, MBE was acquired in May 2009 by Mail Boxes Etc. Worldwide S.r.l., a newly formed subsidiary of Italy's Fineffe Group and already the largest international Mail Boxes Etc Master Licensees.
Together with “The UPS Stores” in the U.S.A. and Canada which share the same business concept, Mail Boxes Etc. is the largest franchise network of retail locations offering shipping, printing and business services.
Today, Mail Boxes Etc. has more than 1,400 stores operating in over 30 countries, posting an aggregate turnover of more than 400 million US Dollars in 2012.
MBE Worldwide S.r.l.’s chairman is Graziano Fiorelli, Paolo Fiorelli is the Chief Executive Officer. Graziano Fiorelli also serves as Chairman of Assofranchising, the Italian Franchising Association.
Milestones
| 1980 | U.S. Mail Boxes founded by Gerald Aul, Pat Senn and Robert Diaz Name changed to Mail Boxes Etc. USA Herb Goffstein becomes president Sells first franchise in Carlsbad, California |
|---|---|
| 1981 | Anthony W. DeSio becomes President |
| 1982 | Mail Boxes Etc. USA sells first area franchise |
| 1986 | Name changed to Mail Boxes Etc. Becomes a publicly traded company |
| 1988 | First international location opens in Canada Signs Canada as first master license agreement |
| 1990 | Grows to 1,000 franchise locations |
| 1992 | Signs ML agreement with Fineffe group for the start-up of MBE in Italy MBE Signs master license agreements for United Kingdom and Australia |
| 1993 | Signs master license agreement for Latin America and Thailand Grows to 2,000 franchise locations worldwide, Grand Opening of Pilot Store in Milan |
| 1994 | 100th international MBE location opens in Canada MBE Inc. establishes national media fund First MBE store in Venezuela opened |
| 1995 | Launches first national ad campaign, "It's not what we do, it's how we do it"® First MBE stores in France and New Zealand opened |
| 1996 | Grows to 3,000 franchise locations worldwide, Grand Opening of the 100th MBE store in Italy |
| 1997 | 500th international location opens in Italy Signs master license agreement for Central America First MBE store in Colombia opened Debuts company's new theme, "Making Business Easier. Worldwide,"® CEO A.W. DeSio retires |
| 1998 | Signs master license agreement for Japan First MBE store in Panama opened Opens 3,000th location in the United States |
| 1999 | Introduces a new store design and décor package to its global franchise system with an updated floor plan, color scheme and high-impact graphics First MBE stores in Japan and Austria opened Fineffe controls 312 MBE stores in Italy; acquisition of 60% of MBE Spain with 17 existing MBE stores |
| 2000 | Opens 4,000th location worldwide Opens stores in Sweden, Costa Rica, Ireland and the Republic of Korea Signs master license agreements for the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean and Spain |
| 2001 | Signs master license agreements between MBE Inc. and Fineffe group for Germany First MBE store in Norway opened MBE acquired by UPS® (www.ups.com) |
| 2002 | Signs master license agreements for Malaysia 1,000th international location opens in Berlin being the pilot store for MBE Germany |
| 2003 | More than 3,000 Mail Boxes Etc. locations in the United States re-brand as “The UPS Store” Fineffe group buys MBE Austria / Hungary (17 existing stores) Parta sp. z.o.o. starts MBE activities in Poland MBE customized POS-software “S@m” is implemented in Italy, Spain, Germany and Austria First MBE intranet “MyMBE” is developed and set active in Fineffe countries |
| 2004 | Opens 5,000th worldwide location Announces new master license agreement in Mexico with plans to expand to 300 stores in the Mexican market over the next 10 years Fineffe opens MBE 100 in Spain |
| 2005 | Celebrates company’s 25th anniversary Signs master license agreements for Russia |
| 2006 | Latin America operations expands with the opening of the first store in Brazil MBE Canada rebrands as The UPS Store |
| 2007 | Named the Most Competitive Retailer for 2007 by National Retail Federation Foundation and Kanbay Research Institute (KRI) Fineffe celebrates 500 active stores in Italy and the Grand Opening of MBE 100 in Germany |
| 2008 | Opens 6,000th worldwide location. Fineffe controls 520 open MBE stores in Italy, 130 in Spain, 110 in Germany, 25 in Austria representing more than 50% of the network outside the U.S. |
| 2009 | MBE Worldwide S.r.l.; a newly found subsidiary of Fineffe group purchases the Mail Boxes Etc. international network making it the franchisor outside the United States, Canada and India MBE ranks #1 in U.S. Entrepreneur magazine’s annual “Franchise 500,” in the postal and business services category for the 19th consecutive year and #8 among all franchise opportunities. First TV-spot and cinema campaign in Fineffe owned countries |
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