Goin' Postal eyes facility near Zephyrhills Municipal Airport (KZPH), Florida.

ZEPHYRHILLS -- A growing franchise business plans to grow even more through its purchase of a 30,000-square-foot building adjacent to the city's airport.

The structure, originally called the Zephyr Development Building, is on the northeast corner of South Avenue and Airport Road on land owned by the city and administered by the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport Authority. The proposed sale is on the agenda for today's authority meeting.

Marcus Price and his wife, M.J., own the Goin' Postal and Hut #8 franchising businesses. Price said the businesses are "expanding so fast we need a lot more production and storage space."

He said he's reached an agreement to buy the building from Bill Nye Realty, which owns the structure, and hopes the transaction takes place "as soon as possible." Once he takes over the building, he plans to hire 20 workers with an additional 30 as production ramps up.

The Federal Aviation Administration must approve releasing the land, then city council also must OK the sale.

Price said he plans to, "fix up the building so that it's something that deserves to be at the airport. We want the building to be nice and professional looking."

Goin' Postal is a nationwide franchisor of shipping stores and Hut #8 is a franchise that deals in the resale of clothing, predominantly women's clothing.

The company's corporate office is at 4941 4th St. and the proposed factory site is just blocks away. In the franchise business, proposed franchise holders come to Zephyrhills for training, generating income through hotel stays and restaurant visits.

"We make a big point of hiring people in town. We like local employees so the money stays in town." Price said. "We make money and we want to keep it in Zephyrhills, because that's where it belongs."

The company offers what it calls a "turnkey" franchise in which it provides all of the equipment, signage and even paint.

"We manufacture everything we need for a store. Nobody else in the industry does that and that's why we can sell franchises so much cheaper than anybody else," said Price. He gave the example of a $400,000 franchise that he can sell for $100,000.

Source:   http://www2.tbo.com