More than 3,000 Mail Boxes Etc. locations nationwide began rebranding to the UPS Store yesterday.
The rebranding is scheduled for completion by September.
The unveiling follows a March 25 announcement of a global branding initiative featuring the first redesign of the United Parcel Service logo in more than 40 years. The UPS Store locations will be among the first places consumers will see the new logo.
UPS acquired MBE in 2001. Starting last fall, MBE centers in six markets tested multiple branding concepts along with UPS direct pricing. Customers responded favorably to the low shipping prices, UPS said, with a 70 percent rise in UPS shipping at UPS-branded stores in December compared with the previous year.
UPS said that prices at the UPS Store will average about 20 percent less than what MBE charged.
Though the new name will be the UPS Store, customers still can ship their packages using FedEx, DHL or Airborne. However, the cost of shipping via FedEx will rise because FedEx is eliminating discounts it used to give to Mail Boxes Etc.
There are no plans to change the name of the more than 1,000 MBE locations outside the United States.
