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Siblings Bina and Gary Patel recently opened a PostNet location at 524 North St. The business offers printing and shipping, plus supplies.
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The store offers mailbox services and pickups from a variety of shipping companies.
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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
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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,   

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Pittsfield Schools Consider Enhanced Bus Surveillance

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The Pittsfield Public Schools are considering a couple of companies for enhanced bus safety surveillance after a spring pilot. 

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland reported that they have met with BusPatrol and Gatekeeper Systems, which offer automated stop-arm enforcement and video surveillance.

It is illegal for drivers to pass a school bus when the red warning lights are flashing, and the stop-sign arm is extended.  This protects children exiting and entering the school bus. 

A stop-arm camera pilot program was conducted in May. 

"We currently have a four-camera system on the interior of the bus, so Gatekeeper is sort of better as far as functionality. It's a little more of an upfront investment," Howland told the School Committee last week. 

"BusPatrol works where you basically have an installation of the cameras, and then as tickets are issued to people, you sort of regain your investment, so it's two different sort of cost profiles."

Gatekeeper would cost about $100,000 to purchase, while BusPatrol has no upfront cost and a monthly charge. 

PPS is interested in putting cameras in all of its buses, about 30.  Howland said that Gatekeeper has a little more robust system that fits into our current system, and Mayor Peter Marchetti reported that the company with no upfront cost helps secure a grant for implementation: $1,200 per camera and $250 a month per bus. 

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