The Shack For Shipping And More
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William Donohoe and son Sean can take care of all
your shipping needs at the Shipping Shack
William Donohoe opened The Shipping Shack last year after he survived a life-threatening brain injury.
A single father of four sons, he started having blackouts and suffered through a degenerative disc problem over a period of a few years. When he couldn’t resume his job of 19 years with a shipping company, he decided to start his own.
In November 2005, the Waikiki resident had the grand opening celebration of his 800-square-foot Kaimuki shop that features authorized shipping for Fed-Ex, DHL, UPS and USPS. The store also offers faxing, copying and mail box rental.
With help from the Hawaii Center For Enterpreneurship, Donohoe developed his business plan and was approved for a grant. He has two workers come from the state’s SEE program, and the state pays for the employees’benefits.
“I’m doing lots of marketing and advertisements,” he explains. Word of mouth has also been good for business.
Donohoe sent 1,500 postcards to within a one-mile radius of the store, and he’s in the process of following up with phone calls. His marketing theory says it takes more than a one-time contact.
“A wife has to tell her husband three times to take out the trash, and you have to tell your children to do things four times,” he adds. “Marketing is the same thing.”
Other innovative marketing methods Donohoe has used include having his crew don Santa hats and pass out brochures with chocolates to traffic that backed up during the holidays. They also gave out 5,000 flyers during the Kaimuki Christmas Parade. He created a loyalty program, called Big Kahuna, that rewards repeat customers with discounts. His future plans for the store may offer package pick-up.
Once in a while, his son Sean, who was his Mililani High School class valedictorian, helps out at the shop. His other sons live in Ohio and Florida.
The Shipping Shack is located at 3569 Harding Ave., and the shop is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 732-6603 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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