Azaleas, dogwoods and
wisteria haven’t been the only things blossoming over the past few weeks
in North Augusta. Jim and Dee Struchen, local residents since 1989, have
brought another small business into fruition.
Their operation, Goin’ Postal, is relatively small, but they are
definitely playing with the big boys: United Parcel Service, Federal
Express, DHL and the U.S. Postal Service.
It’s a major shift of career gears for the couple. Jim, like hundreds of
other local citizens, is on the rebound from a position at the Savannah
River Site, where he worked for Bechtel for 25 years in the engineering
branch, as a piping designer, in computer-assisted drafting and design.
Dee had worked at Bechtel in the early ’80s, before becoming a mom and
getting on board with Grace United Methodist Church, where she helped
operate the child-development center. Over the past six years, she has
been working from their home, in the Greenbriar neighborhood, doing
medical transcriptions.
Jim commented on making the leap into small business. “Dee and I have been
talking about doing this since probably about 1995. Originally, we were
thinking about Mail Boxes Etc., but that was bought out by UPS, so ... we
were watching what was going to happen there, with the down-sizing going
on at SRS and the packages being offered.”
Goin’ Postal, in particular, entered the picture by way of a little
computer research.
“We just happened to find this on an Internet search,” he said. “We sat
down and talked about it for several months before we did it. I retired in
October. We took training in February. We paid for our franchise at the
end of December, went down to Florida in February and we opened up March
15th.”
The operation is “more of a neighborhood shipping center,” Dee noted. “We
always have goodies on the counter for everybody, and there’s coffee ...
We’re not just ‘get-you-in and get-you-out.’ We will get you in and out in
a timely manner, but if you want to stand around and talk, that’s fine,
too.”
Jim pointed out that the business’ shipping services aren’t just a matter
of receiving and sending. The Struchens are also wrap artists.
“We do packing. A lot of places, you have to have your stuff boxed up. Our
customers can come in with their Wal-Mart bags or whatever else, and we’ll
take it in the back and wrap it, if it’s fragile, and we’ll box it and put
in bubble-wrap and peanuts and get the right package for them and weigh it
and ship it.”
The Struchens’ menu also includes faxing, copying, mailbox rentals, cards,
office supplies and an assortment of gift items, ranging from desktop
flags (South Carolina, Georgia and the U.S.A, in various combinations) to
pens shaped like miniature pink flamingoes.
He also commented on the difference between Goin’ Postal and some similar
operations. The franchise, he said, tries to keep the costs as low as
possible in terms of doing business with the four shipping giants — three
private corporations as well as one quasi-governmental agency.
Getting things rolling has been a challenge, but not an outright ordeal,
he said.
“People ... try to warn you and say, ‘Oh, you don’t know what you’re
getting into,’ and stuff like that, but taking that into consideration,
it’s been a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”
The major milestones, he said, were the purchase itself, the training
process, building the physical facility and promoting the business.
“Me and my friend, who happens to be a carpenter, we’re the ones who
actually built this. We didn’t have contractors come in.”
The carpenter, in this case, was Keith Walls, from Belvedere.
“We’re not in debt,” Jim said. “We own this — everything that’s in here —
and we do not owe any creditors.”
By handling so much of the work themselves, the Struchens saved about
$90,000, Jim estimated.
They also get some moral support from their two daughters: Tammy, a
nursing student at Aiken Technical College; and Amanda, 16, a sophomore at
North Augusta High School. Family time often means traveling together,
which is a sweet situation in terms of North Augusta being within a
relatively short distance of beaches and mountains alike, Jim noted.
On the local map, their new base of operations is at Georgia and Marion
avenues, in Ash Center. Goin’ Postal is sandwiched between Artistic Floral
Creations and More by April, on the left, and Advanced Accounting and Tax
Services, on the right.
Jim pointed out that the company itself is based in Zephyrhills, Fla.,
near Tampa. “There’s 155 so far. The company’s about two years old,
planning on 250 stores a year, and we’re shooting for 2,000,” he said.
In the meantime, the Struchens have some exclusive turf in the land of
Lookaway Hall, Hammond’s Ferry and Murphy Village.
“We cover from the Georgia/South Carolina border up to halfway between
here and Aiken, and a little bit to Edgefield and a little bit past
Highway 1.”
The nearest other Goin’ Postal is in Augusta, on Washington Road. South
Carolina’s nearest unit is in Columbia.
