Shipping, to the Max

OfficeMax (Shaker Heights, Ohio), the office-supply superstore chain, has announced that Airborne Express kiosks will soon be debuting in 32 of its stores in the Cleveland and Seattle markets. It will be the start of a three-year arrangement that will eventually see a branded Airborne presence in all 960 OfficeMax stores.

The kiosks, to be located near OfficeMax copy centers, will offer a variety of shipping services and will be manned by clerks wearing uniforms containing both companies'names. The clerks will be trained to offer nearly all of Airborne's shipping services, including domestic air, ground delivery service, airborne@home business-to-consumer service and prepaid shipping products.

Additional elements of the partnership include e-commerce integration and co-branded online tools at both companies'web sites. OfficeMax will develop a co-branded office products site at Airborne.com and customers at OfficeMax.com will be offered fully integrated online shipping and tracking tools. The agreement is similar to a deal between Office Depot and United Parcel Service.

Seattle-based Airborne ranks third in U.S. in air freight shipping volume, behind Memphis-based Federal Express and Atlanta-based UPS.