“I have been working for my parents all of my life,” said Touré Jones, manager of the newly opened UPS Store located at 200 N. Broadway. “It has always been a family affair.”
When Touré says that the UPS franchise is a family affair, he means it.
Touré serves as manager, and the store is owned by his parents, Larry and Audrey Jones. Touré’s older brother, Guanin, and his younger brother, Jebel, also help keep the family business in order.
Although the family has only recently ventured into the franchise world, both parents have very successful businesses of their own. Dr. Larry Jones is a partner in a successful pediatric practice, and Audrey is the owner of several retail concessions at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
In fact, it was the entrepreneurial spirit of his parents that moved Touré to pursue business studies at the University of MissourinSt. Louis.
“I was inspired to pursue business because of seeing my parents as role models. As an employee, you are only worth something to the company if you can make more than you cost. I approach my job with that attitude,” Touré said.
“I have been working for my parents all on my life. The child labor laws didn’t apply in my family,” he joked.
The same spirit has rubbed off on the Jones’ other two children. Jebel, the couple’s youngest child at 25, also owns his own business called Spider’s Web Custom Jewelry. Guanin, who has in-depth retail knowledge, heads up the UPS Store’s outside sales team.
Their family approach has certainly been effective. They have doubled their sales every month since the store opened in mid-January. “We plan to make 100 percent of our sales goals by the end of the year,” Audrey said.
The UPS Store is the retail counterpart to the UPS shipping company. Services and products offered by the UPS Store, in addition to shipping, include packaging services, mailbox and postal services, moving supplies, copying, desktop publishing and printing.
In purchasing the UPS Store franchise, which cost approximately $200,000, the Jones family wanted to give their sons an opportunity in the business community.
Audrey said, “It is hard to raise capital to start a business. In starting this business, we are making an investment in our children. Young African Americans are so burned out working for someone else that they often don’t pursue their own dreams.”
Larry agreed that the business has been successful in helping prepare his sons for productive futures.
“One of the best things about the medical practice was that my children would get to see me in my situation,” he said.
“The situation now (at the store) is just wonderful. It allows us to come together as a family to learn something new together. It has not been easy, but it has been a labor of love. No regrets.”
The Jones family’s UPS Store is located at 200 N. Broadway on the first floor, across the street from the Metropolitan Square Building. UPS Store centers are independently owned and operated by licensed franchisees of Mail Boxes ETC. Inc., an indirect subsidiary of United Parcel Services of America.
