Perched on Queen Anne Hill is a unique business that combines postal services with chic fashions. Perfect for multitaskers looking to catwalk and mail at the same time, customers can ship a package at Queen Anne Mail and Dispatch while modeling the latest fashions from Undies and Outies.
The family venture, which opened in 1987, has evolved considerably over the years. Initially, Jan Paolini started the business strictly as a mail service. Her first location was adjacent to her apartment and across the street from the current Metropolitan Market on Queen Anne Avenue.
Soon, however, due to space constraints at her retail location, she started selling greeting cards out of her living room, and before long moved to another location in the neighborhood where she added items such as gifts and lingerie. In 2000, Paolini moved the business to its current location at 2212 Queen Anne Ave. N., seizing the opportunity to expand her business by adding clothing and shoes in the larger space.
Paolini, who has lived in Queen Anne for the past 40 years, envisioned a community gathering spot and found the new structure to be a perfect fit for her needs.
"Our current location is an old building with a lot of character," she says. "I wanted something that resembled an old-time emporium - a one-stop shop where the Queen Anne community would feel comfortable."
Paolini estimates that half of her clientele now come in to shop and half come in to use the shipping services. On a bustling Saturday morning Sabrina Mohlman, the buyer for Undies and Outies and Paolini's daughter, greets customers by name, handing them mail and weighing packages, while on the other side of the store an employee helps a young woman find a Sylvie & Mado top, one of the boutique's best-selling items.
Mohlman, who formerly modeled for an agency in Miami, has helped out at the store for as long as she can remember and has been the buyer for the past seven years. Although intimately familiar with the fashion industry from her experience as a model, she learned the intricacies of buying while on the job.
Over the years Mohl-man has developed strong relationships with sales representatives from the region and tries to stay one step ahead of the latest fashion trends. Traveling to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as well as perusing apparel shows in Seattle, she looks for unique items made with high-quality fabrics and pays close attention to what the next season's hot new colors are expected to be. Mohlman also takes great pride in featuring local designers, giving them a chance to debut their clothing lines.
Although Undies and Outies primarily sells high-end items, many of which are exclusive to the store, the air of pretentiousness is absent. The salespeople are cheerful, making small talk with customers as they enter, and mixed in with the sophisticated designer offerings are whimsical embroidered denim shirts listing Queen Anne alongside such fashion meccas as Paris and London.
Undies and Outies is not your typical boutique, and for that matter the Mail and Dispatch is not your typical post office. Although the shipping business does have a postage meter, they don't sell stamps.
Mohlman remembers one woman who came in for the sole purpose of purchasing stamps but found some other items to her liking. "She ended up buying about $500 worth of clothing and was so pleased, on the way out she said, 'I'll have to come in and not buy stamps again!'"
The shipping brochure touts such services as networking, match-making, good conversation and gossip. The centerpiece for the mingling is appropriately a converted bar from the Ballard Fire House, which now serves as the counter for the shipping services.
"People hang out, sort their mail, and strike up conversations with each other," explains Mohlman. "We actually had two customers who rented separate mailboxes meet, get married, and merge into one mailbox."
Mohlman is not immune to the matchmaking. Paolini, impressed with a sales representative from Yukon Trading, counseled the salesman to ask her daughter out. After initially blowing off the suggestion, the salesman came back for another pitch, took one look at Mohlman, and decided to heed the advice. Mohlman and the salesman are now engaged to be married.
Eventually, Paolini would like to see her daughter take over the business. The family aspect of the business, a source of pride to her, is extensive. Various relatives pitch in to help out at the store, especially around the holidays, and Paolini's sister does the accounting.
"A family business feels good and helps us grow closer," says Paolini. "We are able to share so much information together, and it's nice to spend time with family.
"The best part of running the business," she adds, " is the social aspect. I get to meet new people, make new friends and catch up with old ones."
Queen Anne Mail and Dispatch is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone number is 286-1024.
Chelan David is a freelance writer living in Queen Anne.[[In-content Ad]]
