I want to tell you a little story about a little store and a lovely couple running it whose potential is anything but little: Angela and Zach of Milton Mail Boxes in Milton, Delaware.
Those who've read my column regularly know that this past year has brought a lot of changes in my life: semi-retirement after selling my business, Uncle Marty's Shipping Office, my part-time post-retirement coaching career ramping up with the launch of AYM High Consultants, the selling of my home in Ithaca, New York, the building of a new home to be closer to my parents in Milford, Delaware, a move from old to new home, and quite a bit of travel interspersed—mostly to visit clients of AYM High, but also a little leisure traveling too (like the nine-day cruise I just returned from). Life has been so incredibly different than the six-day-a-week retail shipping business existence I had known for the majority of my career. This December will be my first December in a long time not covered in tape and surrounded by gifts to pack and ship; I'll hardly know what to do with myself! I suppose I'll just have to hit nearby Rehoboth Beach in my new coastal Delaware life, sip my Diet Coke, eat my Thrasher's boardwalk fries, and think of you all still busting your behinds behind your counters.
I jest...sort of. It's true that I won't be running a shipping store this December season, but I'll still be plenty busy helping AYM High clients continue to soar during their busiest month of the year. And I'll be stopping in to visit Zach and Angela at Milton Mail Boxes, the neighborhood shipping store that has become my go-to place for packing, shipping, shredding, printing, and all of the good things that I built a career selling. It's strange to pay someone else to do that now, but it's a good strange. Despite their schemes to not allow me to pay full price, I still insist on it. Angela and Zach are simply wonderful people who make my life so much easier.
I first stopped into Milton Mail Boxes a number of months ago and Zach was working alone, busy, and yet still took time to greet me, flash a big, bright smile, and make me feel very welcome. When we got to chatting, I asked him if he used ShipRite or PostalMate® and he gave me a slightly dropped-jaw look, bemused that some stranger off the street knew about the very specific industry software options available to a retail shipping business. Milton Mail Boxes, it turns out, are ShipRite users, and as a ShipRite user myself for most of my career we got to talking about a few tips and tricks in the software. After we chatted a while, I gave Zach my contact information, information about other businesses I thought he'd get some useful information and inspiration from following online, and information about AMBC and the incredible network that it is for independent and franchise shipping, printing, mailbox, and business centers.
The next time I stopped into Milton Mail Boxes, I met Angela. Zach had purchased Milton Mail Boxes before he met Angela, but after they were married she came on board with the business, giving up her career as a corporate pastry chef, and making a huge difference in processes, creating some standard operating procedures (SOPs—absolutely essential to any business looking to start a team and build an exit strategy, no matter how down the road that may seem), and adding another gigantic smile to the bright, cheery arsenal of warm grins that are their biggest assets.
Visit after visit, I got to know Zach and Angela more and more. We have become friends and, honestly, they're probably the first genuine friends outside of family and church that I've made since moving to Delaware. They joined AMBC and found tremendous wealth in its network and resources, have implemented new strategies with ShipRite, have added services and tweaked rates, and, little by little, are really working hard to create an absolutely stellar business.
One night a month or so ago, Angela and Zach took me out to an amazing Italian restaurant to share an evening of friendship...and to pick my brain a little bit. It was wonderful! While I only have a small amount of Italian genes (Sardinian, to be specific), I do come from a heavily Italian community in New York and, since moving, have been missing authentic Italian food terribly. Let me tell you, the chicken parm at Touch of Italy in Rehoboth Beach is something to write home about. I was so grateful for their kindness in taking me there.
Most recently, Zach, Angela, and I were talking about their front windows. I hope they don't mind me sharing this, but when I first visited one of the first things I noticed was the window clutter from old signs and mismatched marketing materials. I had suggested that they gut the windows and make some new signage that included a clearly defined service list, carrier-approved logos, and basically clean up some of the confusion to make their messaging clearer. So, on my last visit to their shop, Zach took me to their design computer and showed me what he had come up with...and I was so incredibly impressed! Soon after, while I was away for a few weeks on client visits, industry events, and aforementioned cruise, he texted me photos of what he had printed and installed. Wow! What a difference!
Getting to know Angela and Zach has been a true honor; it's honestly been an inspiration. I'm going to be stopping in as often as I can when I'm in town to see each time how much they continue to grow and improve.
And maybe, just maybe, this December if I'm pining for packing peanuts and holiday shipping chaos while sipping aforementioned Diet Coke and eating aforementioned Thrasher's boardwalk fries, I'll pop in to see if they need any help with crowd control or packing up gifts. That is, if they'll indulge me...
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Marty Johnson is the Communication and Vision Coach at AYM High Consultants, a columnist, and an editor, producing the mail and business center industry's leading magazine, MBC Today. In 2023, he sold his popular and growing brand, Uncle Marty’s Shipping Office, and retired from shopkeeper life to focus on writing and coaching. Subscribe to his Ask Uncle Marty™ newsletter and read more at askunclemarty.com; follow him on socials @askunclemarty. #AskUncleMarty
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Article slated to be published in MBC Today volume 26 issue 6 on November 1, 2024.
