Ink & Toner Exchange Inc. Opens in Rogers

Owner: Mary Walker
Address: 1324 W. Walnut, Rogers 72756

Phone/Fax: (479) 631-2465/ (479) 631-2466
Hours: 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday
Startup date: Oct. 1
Web site: www.inkandtonerexchange.com
A new business has opened in Rogers offering professional remanufacturing of ink and toner cartridges for all sorts of printers. Mary Walker owns the store and launched it with the help of her husband, Kelly Walker.

As the owner of Absolute Security Fire & Design of Rogers, Kelly Walker said he realized how much money he was spending on toner for his own printers. He tried to use the refilling kits offered at local office supply stores, but that was a disaster, he said. Kelly Walker said he believes toner and ink cartridges are rigged to keep consumers from attempting to refill them.

Professional remanufacturing is different, he said. The process involves taking the cartridge apart cleaning it and then refilling it, often with more ink than the manufacturer would use.

Ink & Toner Exchange sells both new and remanufactured ink and toner cartridges in most brands. They also take cartridges as trade-ins for standard office paper, as a reduction in cost of a cartridge purchase or for cash.

“It usually saves 60 to 70 percent,” Walker said of the price comparison between a remanufactured cartridge and a new one.

Walker and his wife are pleased with how the store is doing since it’s Oct. 1 opening and have plans for expanding the business, possibly opening as many as 12 stores over the next 18 months. Kelly Walker said a store will open in Fayetteville on Jan. 5.

Kelly Walker said about $75,000 was spent to start the Rogers store, much of it spent on equipment for the production department. He expects to get a return on that investment sometime during the store’s second year.