Terry O’Herren sells mailboxes. Nottin boxes from a discount store.
These are “high end” mailboxes “designed for thetypes of homes found here on the Peninsula,” O’Herren said.
He sells these boxes through his business called The MailboxShop. And his showroom is on the back of his maroon Ford pick-uptruck.
“We’re getting as well known as that Oscar Meyer weeniewagon.”
A year ago O’Herren, a marine surveyor from Menlo Park, wentto replace his own mailbox.
“We couldn’t find one we’d put in front of our house.”
So he started his business. But he missed getting an ad or listinginto the Yellow Pages of the telephone book and wanted to comeup with an idea to promote the business.
So he mounted mailboxes in the bed of his truck for a permanentdisplay, and now drives his truck everywhere, even into San Francisco.
O’Herren drives to a customer’s house. “We show them thedisplay in the back of the truck, and we bring catalogues. Thenwe set up a display in front of the customer’s home.
“Acceptance has been fantastic,” O’Herren said.
His mailboxes begin at about $200 for a “real basic boxset-up.” He’s done boxes for more than $1,000.
He sells boxes called a “letter locker,” which takea key to open and can be imbedded in a stone pillar; he sellsclassic metal boxes in heavy-duty aluminum “big enough fora Sunday Times” and available in eight colors, from cardinalred to teal for Sharks fans. He even carries a box called “thegeneral store mailbox” that looks like a country store.
“There’s really no limit,” O’Herren said.
In addition to metal boxes, he carries wooden boxes that arecustom-made by a craftsman in Southern California. But he doesn’thave any boxes with flowers painted on them or cats and dogs stenciledin pinks and blues.
“We’re not cutesy at all.” His boxes offer a “crisp,clean look. No bargain boxes here,” he said.
“After all, it’s the first thing people see when they pullup to their home.”
For more information, call 854-8380.
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