The Sequim UPS store, 1400 W. Washington St., suite 104, reopened under limited hours recently after temporary closures in the past month and mixed messages online from the corporate office saying it is “permanently closed.”

Wade Thompson, manager for the Sequim store and former Port Angeles UPS store (now closed), said it’ll be at least 10 days — or sometime after Christmas — when computers will be back online and the store can begin shipping and receiving packages.

“It’s a huge inconvenience for customers and myself,” he said. “I don’t like it either, but it’s beyond my control.”

Thompson reopens the store 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. Once computers are back online, the store resumes its hours from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, he said.

Thompson said the Sequim store’s temporary closure was beyond the owner’s and his abilities.

“I’m committed to being open 10-4 Monday through Friday,” he said.

On the business’ Facebook page in early December, staff wrote that they experienced a COVID-19 scare but had since reopened to the mentioned hours.

Shipping and receiving packages is a bulk of the store’s business, Thompson said, but he remains open to help the approximate 300 mailbox customers who were unable to access their mail.

Clint Cummins of Sequim said he’s been a mailbox customer there for about 10 years because he and his wife don’t want their deliveries sitting on the porch due to rain.

They were also members of wine clubs that required someone 21 or older to accept delivery for packages, and the UPS store could sign for deliveries and keep packages safe.

Cummins said the only thing that irritates him about the closure was that he just paid for another year for the mailbox.

Thompson said he’s working on providing 24-hour access keys to mailbox customers. The rest of the business is protected in caging allowing safe entry, he said.

For now, Thompson said, he’s telling customers their options everyday with shipping, including taking Amazon packages to the UPS hub in Port Angeles at 3216 E. US Highway 101 by Traylor’s Restaurant. It’s open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“A big frustration is that a lot of people don’t want to do extra trips,” Thompson said. “I get it. I want to get it done for them.”

One of the business’ many services was accepting Amazon returns with Thompson saying they “easily” saw 100 returns every day.

Signage relays customers to Port Angeles or other Sequim competitors.

New ownership

UPS’ website and the Sequim store’s Facebook page say the store is “permanently closed.”

Jenny Robinson, a spokesperson for The UPS Store, Inc., said via email, “We are working to try and reopen the Sequim store under new franchisee ownership but don’t have any details to share at this point.”

She said that “customers that need help getting their mail or packages from the Sequim location can reach out to our customer relations team at 800-789-4623. We do apologize for any inconvenience this has caused customers.”

Thompson said that he’s spoken to the potential new owner, whom he would not name, and that once computers are back, hours will go back to normal along with staffing levels.

The now-closed UPS Store in Port Angeles at 136 E. Eighth St. was owned by the same franchisee, Thompson said, whom he also wouldn’t name.

He said he worked there for four years and said the store had a big impact for decades there.

Issues between the franchisee and corporation forced the store’s closure, Thompson said.

“They weren’t able to come to reasonable terms with the corporation,” he said. “(The company) made it impossible to stay open.”

Peter Scott, a Victoria, B.C., software developer, said he used the Port Angeles store for about 20 years as his U.S. address to forward mail and packages. He learned of the store closing on Aug. 20 and was given a two weeks notice to forward his mail and make necessary changes. So he transferred to Sequim.

“You don’t just expect it to go out of business,” he said.

Scott said he received an email on Nov. 11 about a lack of delivery to the Sequim store due to it being closed. He received one package more than a month later, but noted he’s still trying to track others down equating to thousands of dollars in lost payments.

Scott shifted his business to the Port Townsend UPS store, he said.

For more information about UPS, visit www.ups.com.