MUSCATINE, Iowa–A teacher for six years, Daniel Nietzel understood the concerns parents, teachers, and students had about school shootings. To help keep classrooms safe from intruders, he invented a sleeve teachers could slip over outward swinging door hinges to keep them from opening and later a rampart for inward swinging doors and a bar for sliding doors. Since 2013, Nietzel and several others with teaching, administrative, and fabricating experience have run Fighting Chance Solutions, which sells its products to schools, government buildings, organizations, and private individuals through their online store.
During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools and most other large facilities shut down to try to slow the spread of the new disease, Fighting Chance Solutions saw a major drop in their sales. Wanting to keep the business going and expand into local, in-person operations, Nietzel and his colleagues started looking for an in town opportunity. When the owners of Mailboxes & Parcel Depot decided to sell the business, Nietzel realized it offered the ideal compliment to Fighting Chance Solutions’ work. “We do a ton of shipping to places all over the nation and world, so the marriage of Fighting Chance Solutions and Mailboxes & Parcels fit perfectly with the main pillars of our company,” he explained. “Controlling the shipping process from start to finish has always been important for us; now we have more options to do so.”
Mailboxes & Parcel Depot will continue to offer all of the printing and shipping services it has provided in the past. People needing to send a package may do so by DHL, FedEx, Speedy, UPS, or USPS. Mailboxes & Parcel Depot will continue to serve as a drop off point for Amazon returns going by UPS as well. Anyone with printing needs may also have documents printed, copied, notarized, or laminated as well. With the arrival of new printers within the next few weeks, Mailboxes & Parcel Depot will have the capacity to expand on their current printing options, including their 36 inch wide printing, which works well for creating banners and blueprints, which they can typically make for customers in two business days or fewer.
After spending the last nine years running an exclusively online business, Nietzel relishes the chance to interact with customers in person at Mailboxes & Parcel Depot. “Getting to provide in-person customer service is so much more fun than the interactions you get with an online retail site like Fighting Chance Solutions,” he shared.
As Nietzel and everyone else at Mailboxes & Parcel Depot and Fighting Chance Solutions get settled into their space at 2807 University Drive in Muscatine, they appreciate the support of the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which they belong to. Nietzel observed: “We have been a part of the Chamber from day one with Fighting Chance Solutions, and they really helped us get on our feet. Their staff has always been ready to help at the drop of a hat, and our experience with Mailboxes and Parcels has only affirmed this.”
