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Hand Me Ups

July 2nd, 2010

Almost every day I pass by this small store called Hand Me Up and was always curious about it. I finally went into the store the other day. It was really nothing special, about two rows of men’s clothes, maybe a foot and half of the rack in the children’s section would have fit my children, and they have about five rows of women clothing.

The women’s section was a few rows including pants, shirts, dresses, junior and misses sizes. There really were not very great clothes. I dug through the women’s dresses but most of them were full suit dresses that the women in church would wear when I was a little child.

They had a small selection of over sized jewelry behind the glass counter. If anyone knows me they could tell you that I love long and thick jewelry; but there was nothing very fashionable about huge blue rocks tied together. They had a pretty big selection of purses, most leather and had those ugly strings of leather hanging off of them. Lastly they had a pretty descent selection of shoes and that probably was the best thing about the whole store.

I glanced over the men’s section, but the outfit on the manikin in the window was tight pants and a pink collared shirt. If that was the best outfit I was curious what else they offered. There were about two rows of men’s clothes most were odd sizes and extremely out of style.

Lastly I checked out the children’s selection. Probably they most annoying thing was the fact that all the clothes were on miss labeled hangers. Eighteen month clothes were on three month hangers. It was so difficult to find the right size of each outfit. They had a cute selection of shoes. They were organized so I could see each pair of shoe and their sizes.

Hand Me Up is a consignment store. All clothing is pre-owned and way over priced! I did not want to spend twenty dollars on used clothes, I do not care if they are brand names or not. If you are interested in selling clothing in the store, they take consignments, such as clothing and accessories, Tuesdays thru Saturday. You get 50% of the sold price of every item you bring in.

All clothes have to be designer labels and not from Wal-Mart or Target. I do not really understand why they do not sell items from Target, some of my kid’s cutest clothes are from Target.

You have to make sure all clothing is clean, pressed and on hangers. Also all the clothes that you bring up there has to be in season, right now they are looking for summer clothing. Every four weeks the store will write you a check of the money earned of the items you sold. If the clothing that you brought in is not sold after 90 days, they will donate all clothing to local charities.

It was not worth it to go up there when I went shopping, but you never know, they are constantly getting new clothes. You might be able to find something that you will like. None of the employees seemed like they wanted to help anyone in the store. The business seemed poorly ran and the products were over priced used clothes.

The Great Texas Balloon Race

June 28th, 2010

There are a lot of neat events taking place all around East Texas and unfortunately Tyler cannot play host to all of them. While we’ve had our share of notable events and attractions this summer, we also share the spot light with the surrounding communities. From the Texas Shakespeare Festival held in Kilgore, to the Jacksonville Tomato Festival, the Piney Woods region of Texas is certainly full of activity.

Every year our sister city and sometimes genial rival Longview, holds an exciting and unique event called the called the Great Texas Balloon Race. Evidently the tradition first began in 1978 to mark the opening of the Longview Mall and has been held annually ever since. In 1985 the Governor of Texas, designated Longview, the balloon capital of Texas. Every year there is a series of events and attractions surrounding the race that help make it the huge event that it is and brings in visitors from all over the country. One very popular event is the Friday night balloon glow. Evidently balloons of all shapes and sizes are lit up, and put into the air. Ok, so I’m sure I’m not doing the event any of its due credit with this oh so vivid description, but it’s supposed to be really beautiful to watch. The fact that so many come to see the process tells me it must be quite the spectacle. Another oddity taking place this year is the Cluster Balloon flight. A pilot will be lifted into the air on a group of helium filled balloons. Why does this event interest me? And no, that’s not a rhetorical question, I’m really not sure. I think it has something to do with the Curious George story where George is whisked into the air by a bundle of helium balloons. Of course I have a number of personal hang-ups and or eccentricities that I suspect stem from my love of those books.

The Great Texas Balloon Race will be held at the East Texas Regional Airport in Longview, and covers three days, July thirtieth, thirty first, and the first of August. Concerts will be held the first two nights (Friday and Saturday), and the whole event ends Sunday evening. Advance tickets are twelve dollars, fifteen at the gate. Children under twelve are admitted free and admission is free for everyone all day Sunday. For more information on various events, or for a schedule and other info visit the website at http://greattexasballoonrace.com . It might not be happening in Tyler, but it promises to be a lot of fun!

Click-it Printing in Tyler, TX

February 1st, 2010

Click-It Printing

4906 Hightech Dr
Tyler, TX 75703-2625
(903) 534-7000

Click-it Printing is a fairly large printing company in Tyler. I believe they are the largest printing facility between Dallas and Longview. They are a company that mostly deals with printing school text books with a large portion of the printing being home school materials. They are not the easiest business in Tyler to find, but they are worth the hassle if you need high quality professional color printing. They are located on the South side of Tyler. If you start from Loop 323 and head South on Broadway, you can turn left at the intersection with the Brookshire’s and stay on that road for a few miles. Hightech Dr. will be on your left, and then you will see Click-it Printing’s building and sign. The building looks like a metal warehouse but it is very nice inside.

I discovered Click-it Printing when I needed to make over a hundred two-sided color copies of a newsletter. I called every printing facility listed in the Tyler phone book and had personally tried out a few of them. Until I found Click-it, my favorite had been the UPS Store on Highway 64 West. The UPS Store had been less than half the price of competitors. Click-it made the UPS Store seem expensive.

Not only were they the cheapest, but their print quality was unparalleled. They had endless amounts of options for me. I told them I needed the paper thick enough so that the print from the other side would not show through and that I wanted it to feel kind of smooth. They were highly knowledgeable and told me exactly the weight of paper I should use. I brought my PDF file to them and was invited into an office. I had made some minor formatting errors, but the employee was able to pull it up on his computer and shift things for me. He also went to the back and interrupted a printing job to run a test copy for me. He offered to have them all tri-folded but realized that my dark design would make a white crease if sent through the folding machine.

I had to leave it with them, because I went so late on a Friday afternoon. They called me Monday to let me know the copies were ready. I showed up and was greeted by an amazingly friendly receptionist who handed me my stack of copies. I was amazed. The copies were professionally packaged in plastic wrap and looked incredible. I pulled one out and was so pleased with the print quality. The pictures came out with near photograph quality and the paper felt expensive. I think I paid between sixty and seventy dollars for one hundred and twenty two sided copies.

I was impressed beyond all reason, and the recipients of my newsletters noticed and commented on how nice this edition was. The only reason I don’t do my printing with them anymore is because the company I work for was able to get a really amazing color printing that lets me do prints at cost for ten cents a side. The quality is not quite as nice as Click-it Printing, but the price makes it worth it to me. I do however keep in mind that any time I need a more professional print job or to print on large paper or bind books I can and will go to Click-it Printing. For the small business or average individual you could not get better quality and service in printing for the price they offer.

UPS

January 16th, 2010

The UPS store on HWY 64 and loop 323 is an awesome branch of the company. I have experienced excellent service. Once I needed to ship several boxes to a friend in another state but wasn’t sure how many boxes I would need. They said bring in all the stuff (which was clothes, shoes, books and random stuff), they would pack it themselves the cheapest way it could possibly be packed and then ship it. I was shocked.

They even came out to my car, put it all on a dolly, carried it in, and proceeded to pack it. They didn’t need me for anything. They were even willing to call my friend to get the credit card number for her to be able to pay. That day it was top notch service from the UPS. I would recommend this branch to anyone.

The UPS Store on HWY 64W

January 15th, 2010

This little store surprises me almost every time I go in. The employees at first glance look like the employees of any random retail store. I first expected the middle aged woman to be gruff and short with me and for the seeming teenage workers to act like, well, teenagers. My first impression couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

This UPS Store handles shipping and every thing that could possibly be related to shipping. They sell envelopes, pens, postage stamps, even the occasional toy or high-tech gadget to include in your package. They offer notary and fax services. They do copies in all varieties of inks and paper colors, including banners the size of a refrigerator. They have boxes and bubble wrap. They’ll even box items up and attach the label for you. A lazy man would be very happy shipping from this location.

I was introduced to this multi-function store when I needed to make about one hundred two-sided color copies. I had traveled around Tyler to the most obvious places –Kinko’s, Office Depot and Office Max only to realize that they were charging way more than I expected for simple color photocopies. My next idea was to purchase a thirty-five dollar color printer at Wal-Mart, which after paper, ink cartridge and a connector cable was well over sixty dollars. I got this home and printed out twenty copies at high quality. It ran out of ink faster than I had ever imagined, and the copies looked subpar. Needless to say I was disappointed.

On my next visit to Wal-Mart I saw a sign advertising cheap color copies at the UPS Store. I didn’t even know that shipping businesses made copies at the time. I went in and got amazing prints, amazing service and all for an incredibly discounted price. The copies were about a fourth of the cost of Kinko’s. The price was very nice, but the reason I kept going back and still do today was because the service was so impressive. As I said earlier, my first impression was very wrong.

The employees of the UPS Store treated me like they were happy I was there. They smiled, asked how they could help, helped above and beyond what was necessary and maintained a very healthy level of small talk. The cool thing is that it was not just Christmas or something like that. Somehow the manager has found a way to maintain a standard of this treatment with all of their employees. In most of my frequented stores I brace myself when I walk in and wince when I see certain cashiers. This is never the case with the UPS Store on Highway 64. It also seems that they have a small enough client base to remember me. It’s not quite like the television show Cheers, but it is close. They just haven’t memorized my name.

The other thing that so impresses me with this store is their shipping service. I suppose that should be the first thing one notices with a shipping business, and that is probably the case with most people. The employees always try to find the cheapest solution for me. They weigh the item and wince with me when it will cost an unexpected amount. They even offer to ship via the US Postal Service. It is at a slightly higher rate than going into the post office, but the convenience is more than worth the extra pocket change.

My most recent discovery is that if wanted they will save your information in their computer database. I walked in this Christmas with an unlabeled box. I told them my name. They verified some basic details to make sure it was me and then asked who I was shipping to. I started to tell them the name of the addressee and they finished my sentence and told me the address they had saved. I let out a stunted laugh and told them it was correct. Then they printed the label and charged me an arm and a leg to ship a box during the Christmas season. I didn’t mind. I left with a smile and told my wife about the good experience.

I must offer one last bit of praise for this business. They are the only place I have found on this side of Tyler that sells individual, large, red, permanent markers. I need these every year before Christmas and can never find them. Most years I end up paying five to ten dollars for a multi-color pack and then fill my drawers with blue and green markers that I will never use. I am not sure why they even sell the red ones, but I am so grateful for this discovery. If you are in need of a large red marker go to the UPS Store on Highway 64 near Wal-Mart. There is even a Papa Murphy’s next door so you can bring home dinner.

3872 STATE HWY 64 WEST
TYLER, TX 75704
STATE HWY 64 W @ LOOP 323 IN THE WALMART PLAZA
Phone: (903)526-3232
Fax: (903)526-3434
Email: store5437@theupsstore.com