Logistics player offers wider market for Filipino MSMEs

Global business solutions provider Mail Boxes Etc.-Philippines, one of the world’s largest networks of service centers originating from Italy, has officially opened its pilot store in the Philippines on Friday in Adriatico, Malate, Manila. The company aims to further help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) reach a wider market.

In an interview, Mail Boxes Etc. Philippines’ vice president for Operations, Chermaine Fulgencio, said as the “master licensee”, the company is open for franchises and is planning to open two more stores in Marikina and Greenhills, and three to five stores in 2026 in other prime cities in Metro Manila.

“In two years, we will be opening outside Metro Manila, like Visayas and Mindanao. We consider the location where the concentration of MSMEs is greater. For instance, in Marikina, there’s a big opportunity for shoe makers, among other products, because they lack other couriers. Also, in Marikina, they have their innovation hub. We are also targeting online sellers, as the Department of Trade and Industry said 99.5 percent of businesses in the country are MSMEs,” Fulgencio said.

A stringent process

She said acquiring the global brand Mail Boxes Etc. took more than a year, as the process of getting a franchise has to go through stringent processes, including rigorous training.

Further, the investment cost was pegged at P8 million.

“Not everyone can go to Mail Boxes Etc. and get a franchise. There is an application process to bring the franchise here in the Philippines. You have to do a market study and present it to their CEO in Italy. And the CBPI Group went through that process, as the management wants their brand to be consistent worldwide,” she said.

The pilot store represents a comprehensive ecosystem of business support for MSMEs, digital nomads, and professionals in the Philippines, also serving as a trusted one-stop center for logistical and communication needs.

Making business personal

“Mail Boxes Etc. Philippines exists to make business personal,” said its chairman Norman Fulgencio. “As an all-in-one packaging and shipping solutions provider, we handle the etceteras in people’s lives, whether that means shipping a package abroad, printing posters for a product launch, or running an online store; we handle it all.”

Founded in 1980, the global logistics firm now operates in over 50 countries with more than 1,800 locations worldwide.

On the other hand, CBPI Group, the parent company of Mail Boxes Etc. Philippines, under the auspices of its chairman, former Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio, offers a wide range of logistics services in the areas of international and domestic forwarding, customs brokerage, project logistics, and container leasing, among others.