Ribbon cutting for a local store that sells and ships
Published 12:44 pm Saturday, November 11, 2017
- Store co-owner Gary Celli helps a customer at the front desk.
Ribbon cutting for a local store that sells and ships
By Lorenzo Salinas
For those residents wanting to get a little seasonal shopping done while they get ready to ship off a package or two, then they are in luck as Port Arthur has just the spot for them.
Flagship Mail Room is a store where customers can get their gifts and mail them all in the same location. Items like greeting cards, clothing and seasonal knickknacks are on display next to friendly staff ready to assist with purchases and/or to ship things off.
The Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the store’s 15th year anniversary Thursday afternoon at its busy location on Hwy 365 and Twin City.
“We’ve been with the Port Arthur Chamber for 15 years, off and on,” Gary Celli, co-owner, said. He runs the business with his wife, Terri; the business has two locations, one in Port Arthur and one in Beaumont.
“It definitely enhances your reputation around town when you’re (with) them,” he said. “It gives a sense of community.”
Celli said the Chamber has been very good to them and their business and have supported them since the beginning.
Originally located on 9th Avenue before moving to its current location 11 years ago, Celli said their store handles all packages from UPS to FedEx to the United States Postal Service.
“We pack it and ship it to anywhere in the world,” he said. “It could be overnight or two to three-day shipping.”
When asked about some of the destinations he has shipped to, Celli listed off such foreign locales as Uganda, Afghanistan and Egypt.
Among the various items he has sent off, Celli said with no small amount of pride, one shipment included a Dallas Cowboys helmet that was signed by every MVP of the Super Bowel since the first. It was estimated to be worth $75,000.
“We’ve shipped everything from couches to that helmet to human remains,” he said.
“One thing that makes (Flagship) unique is that it’s family-owned and family-operated,” Paige Snyder, membership director and events coordinator with the Port Arthur Chamber, said.
“It’s very important for our economy to have local mom and pop stores that are involved in the community and that hire locally.”
Snyder spoke of how with the continued expansion of Internet services like Amazon Prime, local businesses now have it harder than ever to compete with brands that conduct business at the press of a button—and with it, a loss of something more tangible.
“We could lose that personal touch and sense of belonging that we have with the people behind the counter,” Snyder said, before looking over at Gary and Terri and smiling.
“That’s why we need to keep it local.”
