When Mike Lovitto opened a neighborhood hardware store last spring he wanted to become a part of the Glenview, IL, community. He took another step toward building local bonds in September when he signed on to establish the store as a package pickup location for United Parcel Service of North America Inc.

Under the UPS Access Point program, the Glenview True Value store serves as a package collection location for online and other shoppers’ parcels that UPS route drivers are unable to deliver to apartment buildings and other residences in densely populated urban areas. If no one is present to accept a package, the driver leaves a note at the recipient’s door directing them to the hardware store. Pickup points are generally chosen to be within a 10 minute drive, says Kimberly Jones, a UPS Access Point representative.

The package recipient drives to the hardware store, shows a photo ID and retrieves the package, with no worries about whether the package might be stolen from an unsecure apartment building entrance, Jones says.

For Lovitto it means receiving a small fee (50 cents each) for packages UPS drivers leave for consumers or for returns that shoppers bring to the hardware store for UPS pickup. But he’s getting more than that: increased foot traffic. “More traffic in the store has worked to our advantage,” he says.

Parcels are stored in the store’s basement, which means it takes a few minutes for Lovitto or another store employee to retrieve them. “Not everybody buys something, but by the time we get a package from downstairs, they will start to browse.”

Even better, word is getting around about the pickup location and that is building the hardware store’s presence in the community, Lovitto says. And there could be other revenue opportunities. “Some have asked us if we do packing and shipping and we are looking into that,” he says.

Lovitto didn’t have exact numbers but said the volume of packages dropped off by UPS trucks was steadily growing, particularly regarding consumers bringing in packages for returns to retailers during Thanksgiving week.

There are 110 sites in the Chicago area so far, with more on the way, a UPS spokeswoman says.

UPS’s Access Point network was tested in New York and Chicago last summer and began U.S. rollout to 300 locations in October. The program is modeled on one operated by UPS in Europe with 12,000 pickup points.

UPS also was using Chicago to test self-service lockers that enable customers to pick up their deliveries. The lockers work like ATMs, where customers scan their photo ID and get their product. There are nine such lockers citywide in locations that don’t have a designated pickup point nearby, the spokeswoman says.

UPS representatives approached businesses like the True Value with extended business hours in a close radius around apartment buildings. The package delivery company says it plans to expand its Access Point network next year to include all of its 4,400 The UPS Store locations nationwide.

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