February 29, 2008 – 9:15 am
When Bridgette Waller opened her Mail Boxes, Etc. (MBE) franchise here 14 years ago, she was so successful that the company made her the star of a television commercial complete with a tagline, “Can your mailbox do that?”
Waller’s first years as a Mail Boxes Etc. franchisee were so profitable that she won numerous company awards and was even featured in an article in Black Enterprise Magazine. But when UPS bought Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001, the financial bubble burst for Waller. The sales and profits for her once successful store were never to return, as UPS abandoned the profitable MBE franchise brand.
“At first UPS promised us that a new business model would realize improved sales and profits for everyone,” said Waller. “But it soon became clear to all of us that the only ones in this new relationship to make money would be UPS.”
The years following the acquisition by UPS continued to be difficult financial ones for Waller.
When her franchise agreement expired in 2006, UPS refused to allow her to renew as an MBE despite such renewal being specifically allowed in her franchise agreement. The only option UPS gave her was to convert to the largely unprofitable UPS Store brand or go out of business. Therefore, she made the painful decision to remain in business as the independent “Xpress Ship & Notary.” Then she received a phone call from her doctor that changed her life forever. Waller was diagnosed with breast cancer!
“I am an optimistic person by nature,” said Waller. “But when I was forced to go independent it was like starting all over again. I lost 14 years of branding as a Mail Boxes Etc. store and overnight my customers were confused. They thought I had gone out of business as I had to create a new business I named Xpress Ship & Notary, located at 215 East Orangethorpe Blvd., Fullerton. With my breast cancer diagnosis coupled with the forced business change — I realized I was faced with two of the most serious challenges of my life.”
Going independent and battling cancer together has made the last two years difficult ones for Waller and her family. “We have cashed in our savings, sold property and a car, and we have refinanced our home in an effort to keep the business operating,” she added.
Waller is one of 130 former or current MBE franchisees who organized as the Platinum Shield Association (PSA) in 2003 and filed suit against UPS for alleged illegal actions and intentionally misleading statements by the shipping giant. That lawsuit, now in Los Angeles Superior Court, gives Waller and her fellow PSA members hope that they will soon have their day in court to challenge UPS’ action. Waller pointed out that UPS Store franchisees won a major court decision last October, when a California appellate court overturned a lower court and certified their law suit against UPS as a class action.
At present there are four lawsuits filed against UPS by various store owner groups across the country based on the forced conversion of the successful MBE business model to the failed UPS Store model. If successful, the end result could be the undoing of this conversion of approximately 3,400 UPS Store franchise locations.
“We know from speaking to other franchisees that are fighting UPS that this company will pull every bullying tactic in the book to put us out of business. They filed frivolous TRO’s (temporary restraining orders) for trademark violations in Federal Court. It is the kind of tactic often used by big business to drain the small businessperson of all their financial resources so they can’t obtain justice in the courts. Unable to face us in a fair court fight, they rely on dirty tricks. They are totally indifferent to the pain and suffering that they have inflicted on their franchisees. Our lives are no more than collateral damage in their drive for more corporate profit,” stated PSA President Howard Spanier.
Waller remains hopeful, about her personal battle with cancer and about the potential legal victory over UPS. In the meantime she works long hours at her store and watches her two sons grow up; her older son is beginning to think about college and recently she took him to California State University - San Jose, to visit the campus and see where Waller attended college in the late 1970s.
“It was great seeing the school through his eyes,” she said, “and my greatest hope is to be able to afford to send my sons to college and see them graduate.”
Posted in All Items, Lawsuits, Platinum Shield Association, Profits, Services, UPS Store & MBE | 7 Comments »