UMASS LOWELL College ofManagement 63.210 T. Sloan Case Study #3 JET COPIES Due: Tuesday,May 12, 2009 JAMES Banks was standing in line next to Robin Cole at Klecko’s Copy Center, waiting to use one of the copy machines. “Gee, Robin, I hate this,” he said. “We have to drive all the way over here from Southgate and then wait in line to use these copy machines. I hate wasting time like this.” “I know what you mean,” said Robin. “And look who’s here. A lot of these students are from Southgate Apartments or one of the other apartments near us. It seems as though it would be more logical if Klecko’s would move its operation over to us, instead of all of us coming over here.” James looked around and noticed what Robin was talking about. Robin and he were students at State University, and most of the customers at Klecko’swere also students. As Robin suggested, a lot of people waiting were State students who lived at Southgate Apartments, where James also lived with ErnieMoore. This gave James an idea, which he shared with Ernie and their friend Terri Jones when he got home later than evening. “Look, you guys, I’ve got an idea to make some money,” James started. “Let’s open a copy business! All we have to do is buy a copier, put it in Terri’s duplex next door, and sell copies. I know we can get customers, because I’ve just seen them all at Klecko’s. If we provide a copy service right here in the Southgate complex, we’ll make a killing!” Terri and Ernie liked the idea, so the three decided to go into the copying business. They would call it JET Copies, named for James, Ernie, and Terri. Their first step was to purchase a copier. They bought one like the one used in the college of business office at State for $18,000. (Terri’s parents provided a loan.) The company that sold them the copier touted the copier’s reliability, but after they bought it, Ernie talked with someone in the dean’s office at State, who told him that the University’s copier broke down frequently, and when…