UPS and Michaels are partnering up to offer curbside service at UPS Access Point locations inside more than 800 Michaels locations around the country. This new service gives customers a safe way to ship a UPS package straight to a Michaels store and drop off pre-labeled shipments to make returns to any e-commerce retailer that accepts UPS returns.
"As a company designated a critical infrastructure business, we're pleased to offer this solution to continue safely serving our communities," said Kevin Warren, UPS's chief marketing officer, in a press release. "Thanks to innovation like this, UPS is proud that its overall Access Point location network continues to operate with more than 90% of the locations open and supporting pickup and drop-off needs."
When the customer arrives at the location, a Michaels employee will interact with them safely to do a contactless interaction from beginning to end. All the customer needs to do is call the store when they arrive, give the Michaels employee their name, car description, and items, and have their ID ready for the employee when they pull up and pop the trunk.
"Michaels is proud to maximize our UPS Access Point locations advantageously for our small business, makers, and DIY communities," said Matthew Rubin, Michaels Senior Vice President of Business Development and Growth, in the same news release above. "With a growing number of Americans turning to arts and crafts during this time, we are thrilled to be able to offer our customers the convenience of picking up an online order from our website, dropping off a pre-labeled return package or shipping off those DIY projects, all while still being able to get their shopping safely done."
Michaels has also done its best to help employees and customers feel safe during the pandemic. To start, the brand has started a strict hour-by-hour cleaning procedure, and because of this, the company has also reduced the store hours. Additionally, employees are disinfecting high-touch areas such as shopping carts, register areas, and counters after each use.
Michael's is also installing protective barrier shields and social distancing markers in stores to show customers how far away they need to be from the other customers as well as suspending all in-store events.