Cheltsie Holbrook
cheltsie@greenepublishing.com
On Tuesday, June 15, members of the community gathered at the monthly Business After Hours event, which was held in conjunction with the grand opening and ribbon cutting of We Pack & Mail.
The event kicked off with the grand opening ribbon cutting, which took place at 4:30 p.m. Even though the weather was awful, approximately 50 members of the Madison County community showed up and gave their support for the new business. The event was attended by numerous well-known members of the community including Sheriff David Harper, City Manager Jerome Wyche, Madison County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marlene Squires-Swanson and local newspaper publisher Emerald Greene Parsons.
After the ribbon cutting, attendees entered the store, where they were treated with a table full of appetizers. There was plenty of food to choose from, such as chili, nacho dip, finger foods, meat balls, beverages and more. To accompany the food were six door prizes that were drawn. The prizes included: two Florida Lottery scratch off bouquets, a Grumpy's Diner gift card and four confetti balloons which contained a scratch off ticket inside.
Rene and Maribel Ortega are the proud owners of We Pack & Mail. Together, they have six children: Jasmin, 22; Aleah, 20; Michael, 15; Alyssa, 14; Bella, 7; and Abby, 6.
The Ortega family moved from Miami to Madison approximately seven months ago. The move was initiated by Madison County property the family had bought 12 years ago. The property was intended for retirement, but when COVID hit, the Ortega's decided to make the move early.
The Ortega's have much to offer at their store. They have several post office boxes for customers to rent and receive their mail through. They offer all USPS, UPS and FedEx services. Not to mention, they are also an Amazon Hub and a Wish counter. With being an Amazon Hub business, customers are able to return their Amazon products through We Pack & Mail as long as they have the shipping label to accompany the item being returned. Another plus of being an Amazon Hub is customers may choose to have their packages shipped to We Pack & Mail rather then their residence. This comes in handy around holidays when loved ones are trying to hide gifts from others in their household.
However, mailing services are not the only thing they offer the community. The business also creates flyers, business cards, banners, yard signs, shirts and stickers. Other services that are offered are notary, fax, scans, lamination, copy services and internet service. Services for digital finger prints are soon to come.
Need packing materials or office supplies? They have you covered there as well. Office supplies, moving supplies, boxes, greeting cards, gifts and more are sold. Also as a sweet treat, they serve complimentary coffee each day to their loyal customers.
The Ortega family has also brought a new club to the community, the Chess Club. On the last Thursday of every month, the Chess Club meets at 6 p.m. at We Pack & Mail. The club is a free event open to all adults in the community. The next club gathering will be held on Thursday, July 29. Come hungry as beverages and snacks will be served.
“We would like to say thank you for such a warm welcome to the community,” said Rene. “We do feel at home here in Madison and everyone has been great to us.”
We Pack & Mail is located in downtown Madison, at 177 SW Range Ave. There office hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. They are also open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. The business can be reached at (850) 253-2684.