Rapid growth eyed by ink filler

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A local business owner is banking on Washingtonians caring about what happens to their computer printer ink cartridges.

Rapid Refill Ink, a chain that refills and sells computer ink cartridges, opened a store in Herndon -- its first in the Washington area -- with plans to open 75 more by 2010.

Rapid Refill accepts used ink cartridges, then soaks them in cleaning product, refills and sells them at a reduced price.

"It's not a guy with a syringe that runs to the back of the store," said owner Kiran Gullapalli.

He said refilling an ink cartridge without cleaning it first -- which clogs the devices -- has given the concept a bad name. He hopes the new stores will change that and create a following.

"We could have had this operation out of a basement," he said. "We didn't want that. People did things badly before. We can confidently say things have changed."

He's confident that he can open 75 stores in the Washington area -- concentrated at first in the area around Washington Dulles International Airport.

But Mr. Gullapalli and Rapid Refill are up against large chain office-supply stores, such as Staples and Office Depot. And only 16 percent of the population knows that they can refill ink cartridges, he admits.

He said people will be drawn to the savings. He says his prices are 40 percent to 70 percent less than chain stores' ink cartridges and 30 percent to 50 percent less than chains' toner costs.

Mr. Gullapalli, formerly an employee at the Environmental Protection Agency, is also hoping to reduce the 1.8 billion cartridges thrown in landfills each year.