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Politics & Government

Cartridge World Celebrates Grand Opening of New Location

Owner of Brookfield business says customer service will be key to success for new store on Bluemound Road.

After 26 years of working in sales and marketing in southeastern Wisconsin, only find himself on the wrong end of a company downsizing, Shawn Nareski decided it was time for to do something different.

That “something” turned out to become the new owner of a Cartridge World franchise in the Town of Brookfield. All this weekend, Nareski and his wife, Corrine, are celebrating the grand opening of their new store just west of Brookfield road at 19035 W. Bluemound Road.

The celebration, which began on Thursday, includes pricing specials, hot dogs, popcorn, beverages and prizes, will continue from noon to 4 p.m Sunday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.

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“Cartridge World was one of the four franchise companies I considered through the consultative approach of my franchise coach,” Shawn Nareski said. “I did hours of researching the different franchises and then I found out that someone locally had one for sale. It made sense to buy an existing business instead of a startup, a new franchise from scratch. That would have been the case with the other three I was looking at.”

The Nareskis were drawn to Brookfield for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that they were already Waukesha County residents.

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“Brookfield is a positive area for business,” said Nareski. “It’s not a high-end area, but there’s a ton of business in Brookfield and it’s one of the business hotbeds in southeast Wisconsin.

"What I like about Cartridge World the most, at least in this geographic location, is there is no competition. Other places like OfficeMax, Walgreens, Office Depot provide a service similar to ours, but they don’t do much of the quality control or production right here.”

Cartridge World says it is the world’s largest dedicated specialty retailer of ink and toner printer cartridges. Nareski says his biggest selling point to his customers is the fact that his business is locally owned and operated.

“We stand behind everything 100 percent,” said Nareski. “That’s what makes us different from other stores that offer similar services.”

He also pointed to a larger reason for Cartridge World’s increasing popularity.

“The fact is that the manufacturers sell their printers at a low for themselves, knowing that what they’re really after is the ink that goes in after the customer buys the printer,” said Nareski.  “Therefore, there is a ton of profit in the original equipment manufactured cartridges. That’s the case whether we’re talking about ink cartridges or laser printer toner cartridges.”

The grand opening will also afford customers a chance to donate to the National Breast Cancer Foundation through the "Round Up for Pink Ink" program. In the program, customers can donate to the foundation by rounding up their in-store sales transaction to the next dollar. All proceeds will be given to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, a leading voice for breast cancer awareness in North America.

“It’s easy for our customers to commit to and it’s easy for me to ask our customers,” said Nareski. “I’ve always loved the idea and wish other businesses would do that because in today’s economy, your change really isn’t worth much. It’s an easy decision to donate to a good cause.”

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