TURNERS FALLS — After decades in business, Jarvis Pools and Spas on Unity Street is diving into a new service for customers by becoming an authorized UPS shipping site.

Corey Fitzpatrick, one of the three in-store managers of Jarvis Pools and Spas, explained that UPS initially approached the store due to its location in Turners Falls and because the shop is open all year, despite selling seasonal pool supplies.

“UPS actually contacted us, which is what got us thinking,” Fitzpatrick said. “We talked about it, and we thought this would really help to boost not just traffic of people coming in, but it would help us get into the field of shipping to people where they won’t need to get in their car and come pick products up.”

Jarvis Pools and Spas has been open as a pool store since the 1960s, and customers from across Franklin County as well as Vermont and New Hampshire come in for supplies and guidance. This new ability to ship packages is important to Fitzpatrick, who noted, “Even if we can [ship pool] parts and equipment to people, that’ll be huge because we have a huge radius of people that come into us.”

The UPS shipping service has been offered since early June and proved to be popular on the very first day.

“Within the first hour, we already started having people come in and drop off Amazon packages. We were like, ‘Wow, that was quick,” she recalled.

As part of the UPS shipping service, Jarvis Pools and Spas staff were trained on returning Amazon packages, along with packaging and shipping various items, not just pool supplies. A unique feature that Fitzpatrick emphasized is the ability to print shipping labels and package items in-store. She explained that Amazon will create shipping labels that customers can access to print, but if the customer doesn’t have a printer available, “They can actually email that label to us and we’ll get it.”

Fitzpatrick said she is pleased with the ability to act as a shipping center at this time of year while continuing to sell pool supplies.

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“It’s a great advantage to have at a pool store, especially this time of year,” Fitzpatrick said. “People are going to be coming in for pool equipment and maybe dropping off stuff. So it’s nice to have the dual ability here.”

Still, the decision to become a UPS shipping location was not made without initial hesitance from the three owners, Corey and her two sons Alex and Walter Fitzpatrick, based on the time commitment required. Thus far, though, Corey Fitzpatrick said she feels confident in their ability to maintain this new part of the business while maintaining the pool store.

“We’re really hoping to increase business all around to help customers receive their products, and just take another step into the future,” Fitzpatrick said.

While the family-run business readies itself for the future, it also has a long history. Fitzpatrick’s grandfather had run a welding business in the same location starting in the 1920s. When Fitzpatrick’s father, Ray Jarvis, took ownership in the 1960s, it became the pool supply store.

Corey Fitzpatrick helped her father sell pools at a young age. In 2012, Fitzpatrick took over managing the store and her sons now help her as she once helped her father, though Ray Jarvis remains the owner of Jarvis Pools and Spas.

“Because we’ve just been in it all of our lives, my kids have been born into it,” she said.

Jarvis Pools and Spas is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Customers are able to ship items at any point during store hours. As noted in a Facebook post about the shipping service, extra materials for shipping that are not provided by the customer may be provided for a fee. Customers are advised that to access the proper Amazon shipping label for this location, they should select the “UPS drop-off” option as Jarvis Pools and Spas is not a UPS store, but rather an authorized shipping and drop-off location. QR-code labels are not accepted at this location.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.

An earlier version of this story inaccurately described the role of Corey Fitzpatrick and her two sons, Alex and Walter Fitzpatrick. The three are in-store managers at Jarvis Pools and Spas. The company remains under the ownership of Ray Jarvis. An earlier version of this article also inaccurately detailed when Jarvis Pools and Spas became a pool supply store, which was in the 1960s. Before that, it was operated as a welding shop by Corey Fitzpatrick’s grandfather.