Goin' Postal

EPHRATA - Goin' Postal will soon experience one of the busiest mail times of the year: the holiday season.

There's no business like it in town that offers full shipping or full packing, claimed Trisha Nelson, who owns the franchise business with her husband Matt Nelson. The Ephrata business opened in October across from Safeway.

And although busy times vary from location to location, the Florida-based company prepared the couple for handling the rushes of Christmas and fall when people are shipping items, she explained. Summer months are slower, Trisha added.

Goin' Postal is a franchise based in Florida. FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service are its three carriers, she said.

The couple trained in Florida for a week, where they learned how to use the company's software.

The company also sent a representative to Ephrata to network the store's computers.

"They're a good support group," she said in part. "They've been very, very helpful. We've been thankful so far we've gone with them."

She said she saw a need for the store.

"We were looking for a business we felt the community needed and it's what we came up with," Trisha said. "We felt it was a good fit for a community this size."

The couple talked about starting a business, but needed to find something that was relatively low-risk and didn't require more employees, she said.

"That's one of the reasons we came up with this kind of store," Trisha explained.

The Ephrata location also ships internationally and considers itself a "one-stop shop" for mailing, shipping, mailbox rentals, faxing, copying, stamps, notary, packing and freight.

"We looked at a lot of different franchises. We decided on this one after quite a bit of research," Trisha explained. "Each franchise has different things to offer. We liked what Goin' Postal had to offer."

She said the company is really focused on giving back to and supporting the community and making a customer's experience more convenient.

Until the end of December, people who spend $50 to rent a mailbox for a year can receive a free $10 gas card, she said.

Mailbox rentals at Goin' Postal can receive FedEx and UPS items, not just U.S. Postal Service mail, she explained.

If mailbox customers leave town, Trisha said she can send the mail to another address. The address can be for an RV park, hotel or a general delivery address.

The business is also a drop spot for old cellphones, which are then given to soldiers.

The group sponsoring the cellphone program will sell her prepaid calling cards, and the cards can be slipped into packages destined for military bases or to military personnel, she said. She said she's heard the calling cards last for one hour.

The business is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information, call 509-754-1314.