image description
Siblings Bina and Gary Patel recently opened a PostNet location at 524 North St. The business offers printing and shipping, plus supplies.
image description
The store offers mailbox services and pickups from a variety of shipping companies.
image description
The large-scale printers can accommodate banners and customers can also design and print on shirts.

Shipping Business PostNet Opens on North Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

Look for the banner over the door, next to the A-Mart.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — You can now design, print, bind and ship all from the same location downtown — and pick up your mail while you're at it.

Siblings Bina and Gary Patel recently opened a PostNet location at 524 North St. The worldwide chain offers shipping, printing and mailbox services.

Gary Patel also owns the convenience store A-Mart right next door.

"PostNet is a one-stop destination for shipping and printing. You can ship your stuff with the multi-carrier, because we offer UPS, FedEx, DHL, and post office, also, and we have a printing press here," Bina Patel said. "So if you want to print something like a brochure, business cards, banners, you can print here, and we also provide the mailbox services here also, so we have a physical mailbox and virtual mailbox both here."

The printers can accommodate large banners and print logos on shirts. The store also has tape, envelopes, other stationery items, packing materials, and shredding services.

The Patels said they were looking into a shipping business and had a friend who used PostNet and liked it. They researched for two years about the business and signed a contract with PostNet in October. 

They said they wanted to their destination to provide customers everything they needed to do, noting shipping services are scarce after FedEx closed its Pittsfield location last year. They had been getting inquiries about FedEx options and UPS, which has a store in Pittsfield and one in Williamstown.

"We just went many times, around here, maybe one UPS Store, even in Berkshire County, we have the A-Mart, and we're trying to make it like one stop," Gary Patel said. "So whoever comes from the hospital, comes for lunch or whatever, and they want to make it one stop to drop a package or something, and that'll help out the community."

The store also provides competitor prices from other carriers for customers to compare.

The store is open from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, with Sunday hours currently by appointment. 

 

Tags: new business,   North Street,   shipping, mailing,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield Council Sees Traffic Petitions

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Several traffic requests were made at the City Council's last meeting, including a query about the deteriorating Dalton Avenue overpass and an ask to fix the raised crosswalk on Holmes Road.  

On April 14, the City Council handled petitions from Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren and Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham requesting an update on the current condition of the Dalton Avenue bridge overpass and rehabilitation plan, and a petition from Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso and Ward 3 Councilor Matthew Wrinn requesting the "timely removal" or reconfiguration of the speed bump on Holmes Road between Elm Street and William Street. 

Parts of the Dalton Avenue bridge's concrete sides appear to be crumbling, exposing rusted steel supports and requiring a barrier in the eastbound lane. Warren and Cunningham's petition was referred to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which is leading the replacement. 

According to the MassDOT's website, the bridge replacement over the Ashuwillticook bike trail is in the preliminary design phase and will cost more than $9 million. A couple of years ago, a raised crosswalk was installed on the corridor as part of road diet improvements to slow traffic and foster safety.  

The councilors said they are understanding and supportive of the bump's intentions, but the current design and condition "present more significant safety concerns rather than effectively addressing them."  The petition was referred to the commissioner of public works. 

Wrinn said they have spoken to "many, many" constituents about it, and they feel the speed bump is pretty egregious. 

"It's causing more problems than actually helping people, and we want to explore other options with something similar to Tyler Street, a brightly colored crosswalk, more signage," he explained. 

Amuso's goal is to do some kind of reconfiguration, because as she has been told, it is up to code, but "when you're going up that street, and your car is coming off the road, that's not safe either."

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories