The UPS and Downs of Holiday Packaging

By Victoria Scott

On the up and UPS of the holiday rush, employees pack presents with care.

A Jeep Wrangler riding toy; an inlaid-wood game table; a dollhouse; an antique rocking chair; a drum set. And a freshly caught fish.

Is this some zany Christmas wish list?

Guess again. It is an inventory of a few of the items shipped recently from The UPS Store at 2859 Central St.

The pace at the store is picking up as the holidays approach. Bryan Barnett, who owns all three UPS stores in Evanston (Central Street, 1555 Sherman Ave., and 848 Dodge Ave.) as well as two in Chicago, says, "I'll be in the store 24/7 now until Christmas."

But he and the Central Street employees, store manager Matias Orbea and Jasmine Rivera, are relaxed and cheerful as they shuttle between the front counter and the pile of boxes in the back room.

Until five years ago, all Mr. Barnett's stores were part of the chain called Mailboxes, Etc. At that time, he says, United Parcel Service decided to make the stores "the main retail channel for UPS."

As a result of the name change the stores received new signs and personnel got new uniforms and name badges. Everything else stayed the same.

UPS dictates the retail rate for UPS shipping, but each independently owned franchise determines what to charge for its other products and services. While the rent on a mailbox differs from Evanston to Chicago, Mr. Barnett says shipping and packing rates at the Evanston stores are uniform.

The busiest time of year for the Evanston stores is not Christmas but June, when the Northwestern University students move out for the summer. After 13 years in the business Mr. Barnett has developed an elaborate set of marketing tools - campus kiosks, tents, water bottles, and a website - to let students know he will pick up and store a 20-cubic inch box for $35, then deliver it to the dorm in September.

The average Northwestern box weights 50 pounds, says Mr. Barnett. "Christmas is easy by comparison," he says, with the average Christmas box weighing 10 to 15 pounds.

The front of the store is all about customer contact. Mr. Barnett and Mr. Orbea agree that is what makes their job fun. Mr. Orbea, who grew up in the neighborhood and has worked at the store for four years, says he knows "70 percent of the customers."

He and his boss call the regulars by name - people like Steve Sampson, who lives just a couple minutes away and comes in two or three times a week.

Mr. Sampson, a lawyer, sees clients in an office. But he says, "I do most of my production out of my home." He uses the store to make copies for both document cases and wills and trusts - and, today, to air a few opinions about the Chicago Bears.

Mr. Sampson rents a mailbox at the store for receiving the books he orders online. Mailboxes are accessible to customers 24 hours a day. And the store forwards mail to people with mailboxes there for winters (or summers) away from Evanston.

The back of the store is the workroom. A huge plastic bag full of packing peanuts is fitted with a kind of funnel and suspended from the ceiling. A roll of inflated plastic bags hugs the wall, and a large pile of sealed cardboard boxes sits near the back door. Heavy-duty and lightweight bubble wrap and tape are at the packers' fingertips.

The packers are grateful for the advent of air bubble wrap. One compact roll of these inflated pouches is the equivalent of nine bags of peanuts at 20 cubic feet of peanuts per bag - and a lot less bulky and messy.

"There's a learning curve," Mr. Barnett says about packing. "The franchise has a school, but it's mostly financial." That leaves the franchisers to figure out how to wrap the baby cradle and the chandelier.

His people are good at it, he says. They recently shipped a valuable chandelier to California, wrapping each piece, double boxing and then crating it. The $2,000 shipping cost was worth it to the customer, as the chandelier arrived intact.

"Big or small, we ship it all," is the UPS motto. They custom-make boxes. They ship internationally. And they have a freight carrier for packages that surpass UPS guidelines (a maximum of 150 pounds and 165 inches of total girth, measured around the outside of the box and multiplied by the box height).

The average holiday box, says Mr. Barnett, comes pre-packed by the customer and costs from $5 to $25 to ship, depending on its destination. Under most circumstances his stores offer free pick-up and delivery.

All three Evanston stores have extended hours seven days a week until Christmas. But time is running out for shipping to the West coast. "Dec. 15 is cutting it close for Oregon," says Mr. Barnett.