How a Toronto UPS Canada Store Uses Email to Support its Neighbourhood

At just 20 years old, Farah Talaat helps run her family’s UPS Canada Store in downtown Toronto. As the operations manager, she handles everything from hiring and day-to-day work with customers to marketing. It’s a lot to carry, but Farah approaches it with a clear purpose. For her, the store isn’t just a place for printing and shipping, it’s a way to support the neighbourhood around them. 

The store is in a “very unique” area of downtown Toronto, near Bloor and Sherbourne. On one side, towering office buildings dominate the streetscape; on the other, the neighbourhood reveals the challenges of a low-income, under-resourced community. 

“You have people in rich situations on this side, and then on the other it’s like an entirely different world,” she says. This contrast highlights why inclusive communication matters to her — everyone who walks in has different needs. Farah wants the business to show up for everyone who walks through the door. 

“We deliver the highest level of support in general, whatever that looks like,” she added.

Sometimes that means helping a local community group print materials for an event, other times it’s supporting someone who just needs to ship a single package or access a mailbox.

When her team started looking for stronger ways to connect with local residents and customers, the first thought was physical flyers. But after talking with a mentor at UPS, Farah realized another path made more sense. 

“She told me physical flyers don’t really work well, and that online communication is really good.” Email and digital outreach felt like a better fit, and when her store won a Constant Contact subscription, she saw it as a sign. “It was just meant to be.” 

Onboarding that made things easy

Farah felt comfortable using Constant Contact right away thanks to a hands-on onboarding session with a Constant Contact specialist provided through the Constant Contact x The UPS Store Canada partnership. 

“He showed me everything,” she said about Kenzo, her onboarding specialist. “He showed me how to start a campaign… how to bring in our contacts from our database… even how to use the AI tool.”

What mattered most for her was how simple it felt. “It was pretty smooth, I won’t lie.” 

Between managing the store and holding a full-time job elsewhere, Farah needs tools that save her time. She credits the platform’s AI features for helping her streamline her work. 

“I’m a really good writer, but I don’t have the mental capacity to be writing constantly.”

Constant Contact helps her design clean, engaging email newsletters and come up with subject lines, images, and copy without the stress. 

Tools that support multi-location and franchise businesses

For franchise owners like Farah, maintaining a consistent brand across locations while still connecting with local customers can be challenging. Constant Contact makes it easier by providing access to The UPS Store Corporate templates, BrandKit, and content library — resources designed specifically for franchisees.

“I don’t have to start from scratch every time I send an email, and I can make sure what we’re sending looks professional and on-brand.”

The templates and library allow her to quickly customize campaigns for promotions, community events, or seasonal offers, while the BrandKit ensures colours, fonts, and logos stay consistent. This helps multi-location businesses like hers save time, maintain brand integrity, and still feel personal to the local community.

Reaching a community that matters

Community connection is a core value for Farah and her family. They’ve supported local Indigenous and youth-based organizations through donations, discounts, and printing support. 

“We want to engage with the community in a way that is meaningful,” she says.

Email helps extend that reach. It allows her to share monthly promotions, highlight the store’s services, extend discounts, and ultimately drive more in-store traffic. 

“One person walked in and asked me, ‘Do I get 10% off because I have this email?’ and I said, ‘Yes!’”

As her list grows, Farah continues to look at new ways to segment contacts and send more relevant updates. She’s excited about small improvements, like tagging customers based on what they already come in for.  

Early results that keep her going

Since using Constant Contact, the store’s subscriber list has grown 42%, and their emails are achieving an open rate of over 50% — 9% above the industry average. 

“It said our open rate is 52%. That’s pretty good. Our first one was 45%, so we’re improving.”

She’s realistic about click-through rates and is using the data to better understand what her customers respond to. Most of all, she loves the process. 

“I really enjoy sending them [email newsletters].”

Marketing with confidence

Farah’s long-term goal is simple: she wants more people walking through the door and more residents in the area seeing the store as a trusted resource. Email is now one of the most consistent ways she builds that relationship. With Constant Contact, she’s able to make the most of her time and show up for a community she cares deeply about.