The Mail Center Evolution: Building ParcelPedia from the Ground Up

What Are ParcelPedía’s Biggest Milestones? 

Ever wonder how a chance meeting can completely transform your career path? That's exactly what happened to James Banks, who left his isolating IT job for what he thought would be a temporary position at ParcelPedia, only to find himself signing partnership papers just one year later.

In this heartfelt conversation, James reveals the pivotal moments that transformed a basic shipping store into a comprehensive business services center serving the Frisco community. From expanding services beyond simple shipping to include large format printing, notary services, and more, to completely remodeling the space from "dark and gloomy" to bright and modern, each step reflects their commitment to growth and community service.

What truly stands out in James's story isn't the business expansion or the physical transformation, but the human connections made along the way. He shares a particularly moving insight about the moment he realized ParcelPedia was truly making an impact—when teachers and school staff from throughout Frisco began trusting them with their printing needs. As James puts it, "Teachers have their ears to the ground," making their trust especially meaningful compared to even the largest corporate clients.

Perhaps most surprising is the behind-the-scenes partnership with Amazon that developed when a representative walked through their door seeking feedback. This unexpected collaboration improved delivery processes for mailbox customers, creating a seamless experience that customers might never know about—a perfect example of the dedication to service that drives ParcelPedia's success.

Ready to experience the ParcelPedia difference for yourself? Visit their newly remodeled store in Frisco, Texas, or call 972-335-1450 to discover how they can make your shipping and business service needs a breeze.

To learn more about ParcelPedia visit:
https://www.ParcelPedia.com
ParcelPedia
8992 Preston Road, Suite 110
Frisco, Texas
972- 335-1450

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Parcelpedia Podcast, the
ultimate guide to all thingsshipping and business services
in Frisco, texas, from US mailand FedEx to private mailboxes
and packing supplies.
We've got you covered.
Stay tuned for a specialdiscount code to save on your
next order.
And now delivering expert tipsand insider insights with a

(00:26):
smile, here's your host, jamesBanks.
Owner of Parcelpedia.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
From humble beginnings to community impact.
James reflects on the definingmoments that shaped
Parcelpedia's journey.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host andproducer, back in the studio
today with owner of Parcelpedia,james Banks.
James, how are you?

Speaker 3 (00:50):
I'm doing well.
How are you Sophia?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
I'm also doing well, and it is great to have you back
on today.
Now, james, let's celebratesome wins what have been
Parcelpedia's biggest milestonesso far?

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Oh man, let's see, I won't put this one into the
milestone category only becauseI'm just gonna give you a little
background about how me andPaul met as far as like
Parcelpedia, the kind of thecreation.
So back in the day when thedinosaurs were still stomping
around, I was in the IT worldand I was working IT with a
buddy in Frisco actually, anddoing IT with him for a while

(01:26):
and I just was just feeling likeno, there wasn't that human
connection.
I was just literally just likereading articles and sending
articles out and doing thingslike computers.
I almost had zero interactionwith humans other than other
than him and it was just burningme out.
So I was like I gotta dosomething different.
I did something different and soI just confided in him, say,
hey, you know, I love workinghere, but I just need to do
something different.
I got to do something different.
And so I just confided in himand said, hey, you know, I love
working here, but I just need todo something else.
You know, do you have anythingin mind?

(01:47):
Do you know anyone who'slooking to hire anybody?
And he said yeah, my brotherwhich I learned after a couple
weeks, not his brother, theyjust had the same last name, and
so he tricked me with that.
He was like, okay, I'll go meetup and talk with them.
And so I called him up on aSaturday.
He's like, yeah, come on down,come come meet me.
So it's Paul.

(02:07):
So I go to Parcelpedia, I walkin, we start talking and I kid
you not, before I left the day Iwas signing documents to become
a Parcelpedia employee and Istarted working that very next
day.
So I was working like instantly.
I just love the idea of themail center.
I never thought of working, youknow, in shipping or working

(02:31):
behind a counter.
I've never worked retail beforein that capacity.
I'd only ever worked likestocking or in the back room.
You know, I'd never been faceto face with customers like that
.
So I was a bit nervous and I wasa bit you know, a bit anxious
about what was to come.
Within a month, I was runningthe store by myself.
I just jumped to it.
I loved it.
Talking to people every day wasreally great, seeing different

(02:53):
people, and so I knew that Iliked it so much.
I wanted to do that.
I didn't want to just be my job, and so this was in October,
when I met Paul.
I worked about a full year, andthen that, following January in
2016, is when I partnered upwith him, so that's when we
signed the paperwork to becomepartners, official partners with
the company, and that hasallowed me and allowed us to

(03:16):
really about it too much in thepodcast here.
But we've done things where welike sponsored kids to go to
events, kids that need help andspecial needs and things of that
nature.
Um, we don't really boast aboutit, but we have the opportunity
to do that, so that's alwaysgreat.
Another thing that we were ableto do is add a bunch of new

(03:37):
services.
So Paul had purchased thecompany, so Parcelpedia was
already pre-existing, and then Icame into the picture and we
kind of looked at it and we werelike it's really just shipping.
You know, just shipping.
People come in the ship, dropoff and pick up their mail Like
we're sitting here all day.
We off and pick up their mailLike we're sitting here all day.
We gotta be able to dosomething else.
That's when we added largeformat printing and that's when

(03:58):
we started adding.
You know, we got some U-Hauls.
For a time we had somefingerprinting booths in there.
We've had all the notaries makesure everybody was a notary
public.
Um, just, you know just littlethings.
We had at top some e-commercehere and there.
We even started doing some somenot bulk pickup and bulk
shredding mobile for a littlewhile.
We had there possibly.

(04:18):
So we've always enjoyed kind ofbouncing ideas back and forth
and just implementing them in atthe store and adding the
services, um.
So I kind of look at that as amilestone, just because we
realized the potential for thestore was there and we didn't
just sit back on it.
You know we acted and partialpedia is where it's at now
because of that, and so I alwaysappreciate the fact that we
kind of had a similar mindset toyou know what else kind of push

(04:39):
it.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
You know what else can we do there.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
What else can we do?
You know, keep, keep at it,keep at it, keep at it.
So that's that was always,always in my mind when I, you
know, even when I walked throughthe store.
Sometimes it's just I justremember like man, this't have
that.
You know, we didn't offer thisservice.
This big sign with all theseservices on it wasn't even here
because we didn't do half ofthat.
So it was just cool to see.
You know, it's always like yourbaby that you've helped grow

(05:01):
and mature.
So that's just always beenreally cool to me.
And adding onto that, werecently had a remodel.
So if you're a customer in thestore, you've known, you know,
cause it's very man, I wish Ihad some.
I should have been prepared.
I have some before and afterpictures for you.
I maybe I'll post them up.
So the store was.
I loved it.
I just didn't realize that itwas so dark and gloomy, because

(05:21):
I was there every day.
Our carpet was brown, our wallswere yellow, our like accent
colors were like red and likethat formica kind of linoleum on
the counters.
And I loved it.
You know, it's just, it's thestore, it's your store.
You take it, you hold it andthen loved it.
You know, it's just it's thestore, it's your store, you take
it, you hold it.
And then we were like you know,we can probably remodel the
store and so now it looks reallysleek.
It's in the modern era.

(05:42):
We have the wood flooring, wehave some glass partitions in
the store.
Now we have white walls withfluorescent lighting.
So the customers that have comein, I have seen the remodel.
They're always like oh, Ithought I was in a different
store.
They all make a big exclamation.
It's always a big laugh with us.
Just because it's the samestore, same people, they get
scared.
Oh, you guys are still hereit's still us.

(06:04):
We just refreshed it, we gave ita facelift, that's all.
The store looks completely new.
It's nice and bright andsparkling.
So I love that.
I love that we were able tokind of catch up with the drive
we have to, you know, keeppushing the stores Like it's got
to match the look too.
So you gotta, I gotta have youcome by sometimes, sophia, so
you can check it out.
It's very cool, it's verymodern.
Another huge milestone that wedid that you were probably

(06:27):
pretty familiar with, I wouldassume, sophia is that we
reached out and we branched outin our marketing to do podcasts
and to go online, and that hasbeen huge, because before we
were just like are people seeingus on Facebook?
Do people get our flyers in themail?
It was hard to really get thatfeedback, but when someone said,
hey, I saw your podcast or hey,can I?

(06:48):
use the podcast coupon.
I know it's not shipping, sotrying to squeeze the podcast
coupon and I'm just happy tohear the words.
Well, yeah, it's fine.
You know, and it's just been.
It's been a big change for usand a positive change, because
we know that we can share somuch of the knowledge we have in
the store for so many otherpeople, whether they even come

(07:08):
into us or not.
We're just happy to be able tolet people know what we can
offer them, what they can cometo do, how we can help them all
the different, you know,products we have to offer,
services we have to offer.
I just love that that's beingable to be projected out there
in a way that's very easily, youknow understood.
You know I'm telling you exactlywhat we can do.
So come, you know, put me onfacebook and hitting what's in,
like, oh, we got some engagement, someone liked it.

(07:39):
You know, yes, you know, andyou think that's all you can do.
But this is such a differentform, but it's modern and it's
where everyone's at and it makessense.
So I had to definitely add thatin there.
Shout y'all out, because welove being part of the podcast
family.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
So yeah, and will we?
We really love working with youguys and having you guys on, so
it's really awesome I'm curiousif you have any questions for
me as far as yeah this story.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
I had a feeling there's some bubbling there I
definitely do.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
Now, my biggest question for you is can you
describe a moment when yourealized the business was truly
making?

Speaker 3 (08:27):
an impact.
When I have had multiple ISDemployees come to us through a
recommendation to print the PTOdocuments, you know just
whatever it is that they need toget done the fact that they're
doing it off of word of mouthand they're trusting it and

(08:49):
they're coming and doing it, andI can see it's building on my
own man this is like everycorner of Frisco.
We're in almost every school.
That, to me, makes me feel likeokay, because I feel like
teachers are the ones that arereally.
They got their ears to theground.
You know.
They know what's going on inthe city.
They know what's going on withthe students, with the teachers
or not teach with the parents.
And so for the faculty members,for the teachers to come and

(09:11):
trust us to do their jobs forthem, because their name is on
the line.
You know if they're having abig meeting or a big
presentation, if parcel p messesup the print, they don't.
They don't care about that,they care about the presenter.
You know who's who's supposedto be bringing these documents.
So for them to give that trustto us and allow us to service
them and help them out, that tome is a big impact.

(09:33):
You know, a corporation comethrough, Coca-Cola can come
through and say we need amillion billion flyers.
I'm like that's cool, it'sgonna be a good sell.
But I don't know.
I mean it's Coca-Cola, you know, you don't feel like you're
doing anything.
But when you have, like theliteral elementary schools,
middle schools, high schools,you know, coming to you and
saying hey, thanks so much.
You guys are a lifesaver.
You know that that always feelsgood, so I like.

(09:53):
I like hearing those stories.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
That's really awesome .
Okay, final question for youtoday Are there any partnerships
or expansions that stand out asa game changer, other than the
ones you've already discussed?

Speaker 3 (10:14):
You know, I will talk about one that kind of is it's
super behind the scenes, if thatmakes sense.
I had a representative fromAmazon literally walk in the
door and hand me his car and say, hey, I work for Amazon.
I want to know if there'sanything we can do better.
And I was a little confused.
So I'm like I'm not a satelliteoffice for Amazon.

(10:35):
I, you know, I order Amazonpersonally sometimes, but I
don't think that's what he'shere to talk to me about, you
know.
And so I was trying to figureout what he meant.
He goes yeah, you know, I knowwe have a lot of drivers come
here and we do.
You know, we have the mailboxesin the store and, of course, if
it'd be in the street address,you can get anything delivered
to you.
So we get deliveries a lot allthe time.

(10:55):
I see Amazon trucks in and outof our parking lot like all day,
every day.
No, no joke, they can bring 30to 40.
And so he just wanted to knowwhat can they do better?
And I've had a couple of thingshere and there like, yeah,
sometimes they're here too early, so I, they leave the note, but
then the customer's upset Causeit doesn't come that same day.
You know they come the next day.
He goes, okay, no problem.
He wrote down my store hours.
I told him, you know, sometimesthey come to the back, which is
okay, but it's weird becauseyou're not expecting someone to

(11:18):
just come.
And since that conversation Ihaven't had to call him back, I
haven't had to retouch anything,Everything that I spoke to him
about.
He I don't know if he went andyelled at a bunch of people, I
don't know what he did, but hemade it happen.
And so since then, everything'sbeen very, very fluid and it's
huge because my customers, youknow, when you order from Amazon

(11:41):
, they give you exact date,exact time, sometimes a window,
and so we've come to expectthose things to be there.
And part of my job is, when apackage comes, it's to notify
that customer, and so, with itbeing better streamlined with
the deliveries, now my customersare getting their stuff on time
.
They're not getting pictures oftheir package at a door that
they don't recognize, Like whereis this?

(12:02):
You know, it's just.
It's the fact that he did thatand that I was able to.
You know, we were able to makethat work.
No one would know about thatwithout me saying this right now
on this podcast.
You know, no one would evenknow that conversation happened,
but it did, and it's one ofthose things where they reached
us, which is really cool, and Ifeel like they must've saw it,
and we deliver a lot of packagesto of packages to this

(12:23):
parcelpedia.
I need to go make sure thatthey're happy and I appreciate
it because it makes my customershappy.
That's what we're looking for,and he seemed to have a similar
mindset.
It's like we're trying to makethe end customer very happy and
make sure that they're satisfied, and so I thought that was cool
.
He went out of his way to comemake sure that things were done
right and done well, and he madeit happen.

(12:44):
So shout out to Amazon.
I know they get a lot of flack,but I got to give that guy some
credit Wow, James.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well, it's been so inspiring to hear from you all
about Parcelpedia's journey.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Thank you for walking us through some of those
biggest milestones and we willcatch you next time.
Thanks for joining us on theParcelpedia podcast milestones
and we will catch you next time.
Frisco, texas.
Or give us a ring at972-335-1450.
We're here to make yourshipping a breeze.
Until next time, keep shippingand smiling.