Meet Tim Mershon of Tim’s Mail Place in Addison Circle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Mershon.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Tim. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
14 years ago (in 2003), I began working at a local mailing & shipping store, after being downsized from a major communications corporation.

Then, in 2012, I took over as Manager of that store and ran it successfully for 3 years. When the owner decided to sell the store, I looked into trying to buy it, but several factors worked together to prevent me from doing so, not the least of which was being hit by a car just as we were putting together our final proposal. By the time I had recuperated, that store had been taken off the market.

With the future of the store uncertain (I didn’t know if it had been sold, was being marketed by a different realtor, or was going to be closed), I started looking at my options. Within a couple of weeks, I received a phone call at work from a realtor who had a similar business for sale in a neighboring town, and was calling all of the local mailing & shipping stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to see whether someone might want to purchase it. I told him I was interested, and changed my focus from the current store I was managing to putting my effort into this new location. Three months’ worth of work altering a business plan and financing packet, and we (my wife and I) were the owners of our own business!

Since the store had been left vacant for a year, we began the process of rebuilding the client base, and reorganizing and redecorating the premises. We changed the name of the store, to let people know that we were a new management team, and went to work, opening on November 2, 2015, just 2 weeks after having signed the paperwork. We are still working to build the business into where we want it to be.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Things didn’t go smooth. We pushed the envelope to be open in early November (2 weeks after signing the papers), wanting to get some time and activity under our belts before heading into the Christmas shopping season. Two weeks to build out the store, repaint and redecorate, get all new equipment and set it up, do some marketing, and remain sane was a tall order. The schedule was tight, and of course there were the installers who didn’t show up the day they were supposed to, the electronics that didn’t work (our brand new printer died two days after it was set up, the new scale was broken, and the phone company gave our service order to the wrong office and nobody bothered to tell us or to find out where it was supposed to go).

Then there was the previous owner who had closed the store on a couple weeks’ notice (understandably, due to medical issues), and all the mailbox tenants had to scramble to find other addresses to use to receive their mail. A year later, they weren’t keen on changing their addresses again to come back to their former mailboxes. Some did, of course, and pulled out their old pre-printed stationery (which they had for some reason stored away), and got their old mailbox numbers back. Some of my customers from the store I had been managing brought their business to our new location. And we took part in community activities as the only form of pre-opening marketing we had time to get done.

It’s now been almost two years, and the business is building slowly. We’re not yet at the point of making money, but we’re gaining on it.

Please tell us about Tim’s Mail Place.
The business itself is a retail store that rents mailboxes, packs and ships items for customers, and offers other services, such as Notary Public, key making, public computer access, copies, faxing, and even graphics work (I used to be a graphic artist for several major firms…now, in my “retirement,” I still enjoy doing some artwork occasionally). We sell greeting cards, some office supplies and pet supplies, and a few other odds and ends. Our customers like the security of having their packages delivered here while they are at work, and being able to stop by after work (until 7:00) to pick them up.

Being Pennsylvania German by birth and upbringing, that background gives me a much different perspective on how a business should be run. Lots of places talk about “customer service,” but I actually practice it. I will look up addresses of businesses (even foreign) if the customer doesn’t know it, I make certain that every package going out of my store is properly packed, addressed, and documented. I have taken mail and services to the homes of people unable to come in to the store. I try to find ways to accomplish things, rather than ways to keep from doing them. If a package does happen to get lost by a carrier, I’m the person who tracks it down for my customer. I also try to keep abreast of what’s going on in the area, and there is a white-board calendar in my front window where I display what is happening in the community.

One of our best features is that we are an authorized ship center for the Post Office, FedEx, LoneStar (south-central and south-eastern US), and DHL (international). This enables us to compare prices, services, and delivery dates for all four carriers to get the best product for our customers. Thirteen years of shipping, and 28 different residential addresses (go Army!) have made me much better than average in packing items safely into the smallest (and therefore most cost-efficient) packages. Over the years, I have packed everything from big-screen televisions, a crystal chandelier, a commemorative beer stein collection, the front grille for a Jeep, the tail wing for an airplane, and $10,000 worth of season tickets to the Cowboys. The only thing I ever refused to pack was a live alligator one customer had caught in south Dallas and wanted to send to his cousin’s alligator farm in Louisiana (“It’s just a small one.”). If it can (legally) be packed and shipped, I’ll find a way. I also check on the legality of shipping items within the US (no guns or alcohol, restrictions on plants), and internationally (I have a 745-page online manual detailing what can and cannot be sent to every country in the world). This helps prevent problems in customs where it is being received.

Basically, we try to make the shipping (and personal) experience the best for the customer. I feel really great when we’ve done something for someone, and they write a great review for us. It means that we made an impression on that person.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Not a lot. I am a rather analytical person, and I look at things from several angles before doing them. I think we’ve done pretty well in getting things working… we just need to keep growing the way we are now.

I guess if I had to pick one thing, it would be to win the lottery before opening the store, making it so we had a little more money to help through tight times.

Pricing:

• Notary is the standard $6.00 per stamp/signature, that is set by Texas Law. (most commonly asked question)
• Boxes and moving supplies are available, each being priced separately.
• Shipping rates depend on carrier, delivery date, size, weight, distance, address, and price of gas/jet fuel that day. (hard to estimate by phone)
• Mailbox renters can get additional months free rent by referring others who rent their own box.

Contact Info:

• Address: Tims Mail Place
  5015 Addison Circle,
  Addison, TX 75001
• Website: timsmailplace.com
• Phone: 972-851-9196
• Email: timsmailplace@yahoo.com

    

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.