New owners Barbara and Oley Grubb plan to expand services at the Daily Business in Twisp.
The new owners of the Daily Business in Twisp say customers can expect to see some big changes in coming months in the Glover Street store’s appearance and in the services it offers.
Barbara and Oley Grubb say one of the first big changes will be opening a UPS package store in the Daily Business. “People can bring a vase in here and tell me they want to send it to California, and I’ll box it up and send it,” Barbara Grubb said.
The Grubbs took ownership of the Daily Business in December from Sue and Jeff Gravenstein. “I came in one day to get office supplies and they mentioned they were trying to sell. We thought, ‘We can’t let that go out of business,’” Barbara said.
After considering the idea, the Grubbs decided to purchase the store and continue offering the Methow Valley a place to purchase office and art supplies, make copies, scans, and send faxes. “For me it was more like a community service,” said Barbara, who will run the store while Oley is at his job at Chief Joseph Dam.
Opening the UPS store will require reconfiguring the interior to create space to process items for shipping and to store boxes and packing materials. The Grubbs said they are also looking into opening a FedEx store as well.
The Grubbs also plan to move copy machines at the front of the store to the back, and add a wide-format printer for blueprints, maps and art projects. They plan to create a work space with counters, seats and partitions to provide privacy for people as they work. And they expect to add the ability for customers to send documents electronically to printers. “We live in a rural place, but that doesn’t mean businesses don’t need technology,” Barbara said.
The Grubbs have held social events at the store for local artists and crafts people to get their ideas about what products the store should carry. As part of the store reconfiguration, they plan to create a space where classes can be held for a variety of interests such as arts, crafts, budgeting and software.
The store will continue to carry office supplies needed to support local businesses and residents. “Locals feel strongly about buying locally,” Oley said. The couple is also investigating the possibility of obtaining GSA certification to sell products to federal government agencies, Oley said.
The Grubbs are natives of Tennessee and lived in Colorado for several years before moving to the Methow Valley about six years ago with their four sons, who range from 7 to 17 years old.
