What do you do if you have a large, handmade, delicate heirloom that you need to get from Whatcom County to somewhere 3,000 miles and several mountain ranges across the US?
I’ll tell you what you do NOT need to do:
You do not need to make a dozen calls.
You do not need to scour the Internet.
You do not need worry…
Because you have Bobbi Gainer nearby. And Bobbi takes her job very seriously.
She has managed your local UPS Store at Sehome Village for nine years and has packed and shipped countless valuables thousands of miles in her tenure. She has shipped a grandfather clock; a century-old Singer treadle sewing machine; an intricate, three-story, Victorian-style dollhouse; and even a plasma extractor. All Bobbi needs is an address and she’ll “crate and freight” pretty much anything you’ve got.
I stopped by the bustling Sehome UPS Store one recent afternoon while running errands. There were several customers currently being helped as I walked through the door, yet I was immediately greeted by the friendly staff comprised of Pam, Maddie and Peggy.
These women lend the store a comfortable efficiency. I tell this to Bobbi once we are talking in her back-room shipping domain surrounded by boxes and bubble wrap. She explains that while the store falls under the corporate umbrella, this is a family-owned business. People drive clear across town to mail packages, make copies and use the printing and notary services. It’s plain to see that this store is run by people who love people and Bobbi confirms this. They are on a first-name basis with their regular customers and she says that she and her staff, “treat everything as if it was our own,” when packaging and shipping items.
“We do so many services here that people don’t realize we do freight,” Bobbi says. If something cannot fit through a normal, one-man door and/or weighs over 100 pounds it is considered freight and ships as such. There are many freight boxes waiting in the truck bay. Bobbi tells me one holds a living room chair. And there is a toddler bed propped against a wall. I think of all the things I’d like my mom to ship me from my childhood home in New York … my old cedar chest … this authentic German cuckoo clock … a hand-crafted pie safe …
What if someone cannot get their item to the store? “We’ll pick it up!” Bobbi affirms. What about crates? “My husband builds custom crates for any item that requires it,” she adds.
And not only can she ship single items across the nation, she can ship an entire estate to several locations—and she has. “I just need to know who’s getting what and where it’s going,” she says confidently. As we talk, Bobbi swipes through photos on her phone, showing me numerous items she has shipped. She picks up a few printed photos that satisfied customers have sent her with thank-you notes. There is one of two raven-haired girls playing with that stunning Victorian dollhouse and one of a Tiffany-style lamp glowing on a side table.
Bobbi gets feedback because she cares, and her customers know this. She is not just shipping “stuff” for customers. In many cases, she is sending a person’s prized possessions for someone else to cherish. She wants to know that they arrive in pristine condition.
The UPS Store is located at 336 36th Street in Bellingham. For questions, call 360-650-1377, email store5075@theupsstore.com or visit their Facebook page.
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