THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501100123
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
IF IT'S FRAGILE, large, awkward and valuable, Ed Banek can handle it.
In fact, FLAV, which stands for fragile, large, awkward and valuable is an acronym Banek and two other fellow businessmen, Bill McBride and Dale Kanten, live by as owners of area franchises called the Handle With Care Packaging Store.
The franchise, based in Denver, Colo., specializes in shipping large-ticket items anywhere in the United States and abroad.
Banek himself has shipped a motorcycle, antiques, priceless artworks, furniture, a piano, an aircraft propeller and even a birthing chair from his Kemps River Crossing store.
The birthing chair, valued at about $3,000 and weighing 300 pounds, won Banek an award at a franchise conference for the most unusual item shipped last year.
``That's FLAV,'' said Banek, a retired Navy commander from Long Island, N.Y.
McBride, who owns the packing store in Hilltop North Shopping Center, has shipped a stuffed zebra, part of The Livingston Collection of African weapons, a $100,000 painting to a museum in Sweden, and an antique jukebox valued at $10,000.
``One of the hardest things for us to get across to people is that we don't make keys or have mailboxes,'' said McBride, a retired Navy pilot and one of the first to open a packaging franchise in the area. ``This franchise is the market for the package that is too large for UPS and the mail system and yet it's too small for the movers. We package and ship from 1 ounce to 1,000 pounds.''
McBride, 60, and his 31-year-old son, Sean, own the retail store in Hilltop, as well as a warehouse for bigger items in the Laskin Road area. They have owned a packaging store franchise since 1987.
Dale Kanten, the owner of the Collins Square Shopping Center franchise, works full time as an air traffic controller and part time in the business with his son, David Miracle.
The men have shipped such things as surfboards and a windshield to the Bahamas, and this month he's making plans to package two motorcycles.
Kanten and his son bought the Collins Square franchise from McBride in August.
Banek opened his Kempsville packaging store three years ago after he retired from the service.
Each of the three stores offers typical packaging supplies such as tape, styrofoam peanuts and envelopes. But the franchises are known for their unusual array of boxes that come in 55 different sizes and are priced from 50 cents to $23.
Certain boxes are specifically made for certain items. For instance, there are boxes especially for golf clubs and golf club bags. There are boxes that expand to fit a sofa or a set of skis.
If the business doesn't have a box to fit, Banek can custom-make one from sheets of corrigated cardboard in the back of the store.
The store also sells wooden crates, fine art crates and a special foam packaging called Foam-In-Place. The item is wrapped in plastic or paper and then foam is sprayed around it and molds to the item so that there is almost no chance of damage due to movement within the box.
According to Banek, packaging and shipping an item isn't as easy as throwing it in a box and slapping on a label. There are other considerations - the size and shape, construction and physical condition; what elements the item will have to endure; and whether it's made of wood, metal or glass. A knowledge of math and geometry is a plus, he said.
``That's what I love. The technical aspect of it,'' said Banek, who spent 22 years in the service as an aircraft maintenance officer.
If Banek and his fellow franchise owners don't know how to package an item, the franchise headquarters offers a toll-free packaging hot line staffed by experts.
The packaging stores will ship up to 1,000 pounds and offer insurance on items up to $100,000. Anything above that could probably be accommodated, too, Banek said.
Eighty percent of Banek's revenue is ``through the back door,'' he says, meaning that most of the items he deals with are too heavy to cart through the front. He uses his 20-foot showroom as a marketing tool for walk-in customers. The remaining 50-feet of his store is for big item packaging.
Banek, or one of his two part-time employees, also offers a pick-up and delivery service, normally about $25, within a 50-mile radius. MEMO: The Handle With Care Packaging Store at Kemps River Crossing is open
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on
Saturday (420-8781); the store in the Hilltop North Shopping Center is
open from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to
4 p.m. on Saturday (425-5735); the Collins Square Shopping Center
location is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday (486-1036). ILLUSTRATION: Photos by LORI DENNEY
Ed Banek, owner of the Handle With Care Packaging Store at Kemps
River Crossing, demonstrates an example of the store's special
packaging called Foam-In-Place. The item is wrapped in plastic or
paper and then foam is sprayed around it and molds to the item.
The franchises are known for their unusual array of boxes that come
in 55 different sizes and are priced from 50 cents to $23.
by CNB