Rodeo is so big, it has its own post office
Convenient pop-up shop allows customers, vendors to ship packages around the U.S.
Arturo Valerio marched up to the wooden booth in the lobby of NRG Center.
“I’m back,” the owner of Spicewood Gourmet Foods said as he set down a cardboard box filled with bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the countertop.
U.S. Postal worker Lauralee Carson smiled as her colleague took Valerio’s shipment. “Business must be good,” Carson said.
“I’m happy every time I’m here,” replied Valerio, a resident of Georgetown, north of Austin.
Valerio is one of more than 300 vendors at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo hawking all kinds of Western goods from cowboy hats, boots and belts to artwork, furniture and food. Over the course of the three-week rodeo, at least 2 million visitors will stream through the exhibition hall to shop at specialty stores like Spicewood.
In the age of Amazon however, rodeo retailers are increasingly accommodating consumers’ growing preference for ecommerce, offering to ship goods from the rodeo to their home. After all, even cowboys and cowgirls like to shop for stuff online and in stores, and have them delivered straight to their door.
The Houston rodeo is so big and the need for shipping is so great that the U.S. Postal Service operates a temporary outpost at the venue. Tucked away in a corner outside the exhibition hall, the pop-up post office serves as the go-to place for rodeo vendors and customers alike to ship packages around the country.
Every morning, vendors line up at the post office to ship products to customers’ homes. And throughout the day, customers stop by, dropping off purchases too cumbersome to lug around the rodeo.
“We saw a need for rodeo vendors and customers to ship their merchandise while at the rodeo,” said Nikki Johnson, a USPS spokeswoman. “They definitely love the convenience of having an on-site post office to ship packages.”
The postal service operates temporary post offices at major conventions and events, like the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston. It has operated a pop-up post office at the Houston rodeo on and off for more than a decade, when the agency’s schedule and funding permits, Johnson said.
The rodeo post office offers shipping services, as well as sales of commemorative items, like Houston Astros posters. The outpost also sells rodeobranded collectible envelopes and has a special rodeo stamp.
From the rodeo, vendors and customers have shipped cowboy boots and hats, stuffed animals and food products, such as jars of honey and boxes of toffee, Carson said. Shipping rates are no different at the rodeo than a traditional post office.
“This is great for people who go to the shows and don’t want to carry big boxes inside,” Carson said.
For Valerio, the post office is a welcome sight at the rodeo after a two-year hiatus. Over the past couple of years, the gourmet food vendor drove to a nearby post office to ship his goods to customers. This year, with the return of an on-site post office, Valerio walks down the hallway to ship his products to rodeo attendees’ homes around the country.
“It makes my job easier for me,” Valerio said. “It’s great for my business, and it’s great for my customers.”