Time Customer Service, or TCS as the company was more affectionately known, provided over 31 years of world-class fulfillment to the Time Inc. family of magazines, the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Institution, Foreign Affairs, and numerous other clients. The end of TCS had been expected since an announcement made by the Meredith Corporation in early 2018 that TCS would cease operations within a year due to cost-cutting measures.
TCS was born in 1987 when parent company Time Inc. set out to find a larger and more economical location for its Chicago based customer service operation. Kansas City had a long flirtation with Time Inc. in an attempt to woo the business, but a relationship with Tampa was established and the Florida city was chosen over its chilly Midwestern competitor. It was a marriage that would prove to be fruitful to both parties for over three decades.
Keith J. Kelly of the New York Post noted that the work TCS carried out was “important”[1] and the numbers certainly back that up. At the height of the operation, TCS had six facilities open in the central Florida area. The mail processing center near USF was at one time responsible for handling one percent of all mail sent within the United States. The print operations facility at Sabal Park produced over 400 million pieces of mail annually. Administrative work including marketing, accounting and data processing occupied six floors of the Tampa Commons building located on the corner of Dale Mabry and Kennedy. A warehouse on Fowler Avenue was central to the Martha Stewart product line and other catalog business. Telephone customer service was provided both at the mail processing center and a dedicated location in Ocala. A telemarketing office in Gainesville rounded out the sites run by TCS in the United States.
In later years, TCS went global by taking over responsibility for the Time Inc. International Fulfillment Services (TIIFS) operation. International editions of Time, Fortune, National Geographic and other titles were fulfilled by TIIFS offices in headquartered in Amsterdam and Hong Kong. This global spirit was represented in the company’s final logo.
TCS was known throughout the fulfillment industry as a company with a tight focus on providing a competitive advantage for its clients. The organization prided itself on handling the operational work of fulfillment so that the customers they serviced could focus on marketing and not have to worry about all the tiny details that go into making sure that magazine labels, bills, renewals, premiums and products are sent out correctly and on time. Notable among TCS’ achievements were millions of dollars in postage savings provided to clients through economies of scale, extensive knowledge and superior systems. TCS also was active in the community winning the Spirit of Suncoast Award from the United Way an unprecedented three years in a row.
TCS was preceded in death by parent company Time Inc., which was sold to the Meredith Corporation of Des Moines, Iowa in January 2018. TCS leaves behind a best-in-class distribution system that will continue to be used to create label files for weekly magazines such as People and Entertainment Weekly. Also remaining are the one thousand plus employees who were the lifeblood of TCS over the decades. The personnel still left at TCS towards the end of the operation were notably saddened during their last days but looked back fondly at what General Manager Barry Elliott described as the “spirit of comradeship…of deep and personal relationships”[2] that were prevalent throughout their time there. Those who have not already done so will scatter to share their talents with other organizations taking with them the experience they gained while making TCS what former Vice President of Customer Retention at Time Inc. and current Chief Revenue Officer at Foreign Affairs Stephanie Solomon called “hands-down the best fulfillment partners in the business.”[3]
In lieu of flowers, please buy former TCS employees the beverage of their choice the next time you see them.
[1] New York Post; July 27, 2017
[2] TCS CheckIn, July 2018
[3] TCS Client Survey, 2013
Excellent job, Dan! I actually remember my years at TCS quite fondly…But they say that hindsight is always 20/20. Anyway, its sad to see the demise of the company that so many good friends worked for and did such a good job there. Thanks for the eulogy!
Thanks, Ryan! It’s sad the way that TCS has come to an end, but we certainly had a great run.
I was there from September.1997 to June 2007 and it was wonderful. I loved this job in the single copy division. We always had fun and I can say enjoyed working with so many people. This was sad to see happen to TCS.