ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609130104
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Marketplace
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
Your kid has been back at college for only a few weeks, and already you've sent a half-dozen packages to his dorm address.
There was the batch of chocolate chip cookies his little sister baked. The box of CDs he forgot to pack. The computer keyboard to replace the one he dropped.
This is the most hectic time of year for the packaging stores that have been springing up across Southwest Virginia, said Mike Mitzlaff, who opened Parcel Plus in Vinton in February. Not only are parents sending care packages to students, but people who plan ahead - yes, there are people that well organized! - will soon start shipping Christmas presents.
And the packagers and shippers will just get busier.
"When November hits, it's - what's a good word? - well, it's the Christmas rush," Mitzlaff said.
To ensure that your gifts and goodies survive the trip, here's some advice from operators of area packaging stores.
They recommend you let professionals - like them - package your breakables. But if you want to do it yourself, here are a few tips:
* To send perishables, pack them first in a sturdy tin or other container, then in a box filled with foam packing peanuts. But be forewarned: Because their trucks and cargo planes aren't climate-controlled, many shippers won't pay claims on perishables that arrive in bad shape.
If you're sending goodies during the summer, pack them in dry ice to keep them fresh, said Mary Cecil, who, with her husband owns two Mail Boxes Etc. stores in the Roanoke Valley. During the winter, though, whatever you send is likely to sit on ice-cold loading docks and may end up frozen.
* Forget about cushioning your package with the Sunday comics.
"Never use newspapers to ship anything," Cecil said. It will compact during shipping and won't protect breakables. If you're sending fragile items, pack them in foam peanuts or bubble wrap or both.
"On anything that is valuable, we insist that we inspect the packaging before it goes out," Mitzlaff said. His insurance underwriter won't let him write any policies on parcels packed by customers unless he checks the packing job himself. And most shipping agents won't pay claims on damaged parcels if they weren't packed according to the shipping company's specifications.
UPS, for instance, says all packages should be double-boxed, with each item wrapped in bubble wrap or a similar cushioning material and then cushioned on all sides with two to four inches of foam peanuts. Tape all box seams securely with wide packing tape, then shake the box. If anything shifts, add more packing material.
You can buy packing supplies at packaging and discount stores. A cubic foot of peanuts - about enough to pack a box 16 inches on each side - sells for about $3. Bubble wrap sells for about $4 per 10-square-foot roll.
Some packaging stores will take back your used packing materials and recycle them.
And there are other uses for bubble wrap, according to a news release sent out by Handle With Care, a national chain with a location in Roanoke.
"Bubble wrap is a wonderful tension reducer," the memo quotes Dr. Stephen Hayes, a clinical psychologist and director of a mental health clinic in Lynn, Mass. "It is an act which harnesses our destructive drive in a constructive way. When you think about all the inappropriate ways to discharge tension, popping bubble wrap is affordable, socially acceptable and quite harmless."
Of course, if you're discharging that tension in the middle of a crowded office, the staccato pop-pop-POP isn't quite so acceptable.
In that case, check out the Bubble Wrap Specimens of the World site -
http://www.atom.co.jp/UNSOUND/Actual/Profiles/celopages/bubble/wrap.html
- where you can view pictures of bubble wrap from around the world. If you have way too much time on your hands, you can even download the sound they make when they pop (and adjust the sound level so you won't disturb anybody).
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by staff: Tips for portecting your package.by CNBcolor. Illustration by staff. color. KEYWORDS: MGR