ABC Pack & Print serves Old Town community

ABC Pack & Print, located at 519 4th Street in Old Town Clovis, is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Ron Sundquist/Clovis Roundup)

When an Old Town business or resident needs to send a package, digitally print or copy a photo, or needs to pick up a greeting card or some office supplies, they now only need to walk down the block or street to ABC Pack & Print, one of Old Town’s newest businesses located on 4th Street across from the American Legion.

ABC Pack & Print does everything a typical post office supply store would and more, from notary services, passport photography and live scan fingerprinting to mailbox rentals, photo printing and enlargements, and designs for banners, T-shirts and other merchandise.

While its true that these services can be done at other locations throughout Clovis, ABC Pack & Print is the only store of its kind in Old Town.

“There was really a need for something like this in this area,” manager Liz Tovar said. “Old Town is its own thing and even though the post office is down the street, this is convenient. People come in here because they don’t want to drive to Ashlan and Villa to go to FedEx and we are a unique place where people can bring in random things. Someone brought in an antique saw to have professionally packaged. You can’t take something like that to FedEx or the post office. They aren’t going to wrap that for you and make sure that it’s packaged correctly, but we custom made a box and packed it for the customer properly and then shipped it out.”

ABC Pack & Print owner Terri Hinshaw (left) and store manager Liz Tovar (right). (Ron Sundquist/Clovis Roundup)

In the Old Town area where antique shops are plentiful and residents and tourists alike often purchase unique items for gifts that need to be packaged with care, having ABC Pack & Print nearby is more than just convenient—it’s a lifesaver for that antique enthusiast from the Bay Area who journeys down to Clovis via tour bus and can’t bring an antique knife they just purchased onboard or just can’t fit that gorgeous antique mirror in the overhead compartment. Instead, the can simply walk into ABC Pack & Print and have that newfound treasure packaged and sent to their home.

Owner Terri Hinshaw said the store was the brainchild of her business-savvy husband, Marty, who owns and operates A1 Lock and Key next door. As a business owner, he noticed the lack of such a place in Old Town and when The Urban Umbrella boutique next to him moved to the DeWitt building, he saw a perfect opportunity to invest in a business that Terri could run.

“What we want to do is be a service not just to the businesses, but to the residents and the Old Town community as a whole,” Terri Hinshaw said. “People walk in and they want copies, they want faxes, they want prints, they want some of their wedding pictures printed out, we’ve even printed out a portrait for a funeral held across the street, so we do all kinds of things that people in Old Town need.”

Unlike their competitors, they also offer archival printing services on a high-quality photo zoomer machine—one of only two like it in the county, according to Tovar.

“The photo zoomer is like a design center and you can do posters, business cards, banners, wall crawlers, T-shirt transfers, yard signs—anything you can think of,” Tovar said. “We can print stuff up to 44 inches and do heavy duty printing and the cool thing about it that makes it different from printing photos at Walgreens or CVS is that these photos are archivable for 150 years so these are not your standard photos.”

Having such a machine in an area of Clovis known for preserving and celebrating its history seems a perfect match.

“It’s out baby,” Hinshaw said of the photo zoomer.

The location of ABC Pack & Print is also ideal for those who live or work nearby but are not actually in Old Town. Many people, she said desire an Old Town address and having a mailbox at ABC Pack & Print gives them that opportunity.

“There are some people who want an Old Town address and this is perfect for them,” Hinshaw said. “Plus, with all the porch pirates out there, people don’t want to send their packages home, but they could have them sent safely here.”

Whether a customer comes in to use the photo zoomer kiosk, to purchase office supplies, pick up mail or have something packaged or notarized, Hinshaw said above all she wants the people in and around Old Town to feel welcome: “We want to provide these services to the community as a whole and good old-fashioned customer service is what we strive for—it’s something you don’t find that much anymore, it’s rare.”

In addition to printing, packing and shipping, ABC offers livescans, passport photos, office supplies, mailbox rentals and notary services – services you can’t find anywhere else in Old Town. (Ron Sundquist/Clovis Roundup)