Meet Kellie and Valerie, our amazing shipping team
Every single product that leaves our production facility passes through their hands.
Whether you bought a product online, in our stores in Eastsound or Friday Harbor, or in any of the PCC Markets, Haggen Stores, or the other hundred or so places that carry Island Thyme products, it couldn't have happened without Valerie or Kellie picking it off the shelves and packing it up.
Each day starts with packing up wholesale orders for the 10:30am UPS pickup.
Then it's web orders until the 2:30pm deadline at the Post Office next door.
The afternoon finishes with more wholesale orders and the weekly restocks of our two stores -- one down the street and one a ferry ride away on San Juan Island.
A Bird's Eye View
The packing table from above. Note the big hanging dispenser that holds our biodegradable packing peanuts. Valerie is about to fill the empty space in a box before sealing it and sticking a delivery label on it. Also in the background is our rack of product samples that we include with every order over $35.
Orders waiting to be boxed up
These are web orders waiting on a cart in the warehouse area. Every item is scanned as it's pulled from the shelf to make sure everyone gets exactly what they ordered.
Another set of orders waiting for final packing. In the foreground is one of our gift boxes. On the wall in the background you can see the big roll of recyclable paper wadding we use to protect glass bottles during transit. We work hard to make sure our packing materials are recyclable and biodegradable.
Prepping wholesale orders
Here's Kellie in the warehouse area assembling a display box of lip balms for a wholesale customer.
Kellie packing a wholesale order. This is a small one. Some orders cover most of the table!
Taking web orders to the post office
The stack of boxes on the countertop accumulates until about 2pm. Here Valerie is transferring the boxes to a rain-safe plastic pouch for the short ride to the Post Office. It's only about 75 feet away, but in bad weather that's far enough that the boxes need protection.
Packages heading out the front door on their way to the post office.
November is a windy month in the San Juan Islands. Luckily Valerie's dash to the Post Office was in a dry moment. A short while later the rain came dumping down and the power went out briefly, plunging the whole workshop into darkness.