Store has several services

Postal

he said. “This place is just brimming with packages.”

UPS, one of the shipping services Postal Etc. uses, reports its drivers will deliver 135 million packages this week alone, with Thursday having been projected to be the company’s busiest day ever. The store also works with DHL, FedEx and the Postal Service.

Sterling decided to open his own business after managing a fran- chisee-owned pack-andship store in North Austin. Both his brothers are entrepreneurs, Sterling said, and after years of toying with the idea, he finally decided to follow in their footsteps.

“I said, ‘You know what, I can do this,’ ” he said. “I opened on a wing and a prayer — and I’ve been praying ever since. It’s been scary and exciting at the same time.”

Sterling said many of the customers he’d worked with for years have followed him to Postal Etc. So did assistant manager Josh Nelius, a former co-worker.

“We work well together,” Nelius said. “We have the same ideas about customer service. Be a human being, not a robot. It’s not very hard to do.”

Sterling and Nelius say they’ve shipped just about everything — heated toilet seats, $25,000 chandeliers, beer steins dating back to World War I and mounted deer heads.

“I tell people, ‘Just bring all your stuff in and throw it at us,’ ” Sterling said. “I’m only as good as my last package.”

But alcohol, a popular holiday gift, is a no-no, they say. State law prohibits shipping it.

In addition to sending parcels, Postal Etc. rents post office boxes, duplicates keys, sends faxes and makes copies, among other services.

“The neighborhood is starting to find me more,” Sterling said. “Their support has been humbling.”