Post Office Eyes 3,700 Locations For Closing

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is taking the next step in its downsizing effort, identifying about 3,700 standalone post offices for study, to determine whether they should remain open. USPS currently maintains nearly 32,000 retail offices nationwide.

Click here to see if your post office is on the list. 

After losing money year after year, USPS has been studying how consumers use its services. As part of this effort, the Postal Service also introduced a retail-replacement option for affected communities around the nation.

 “Today, more than 35 percent of the Postal Service’s retail revenue comes from expanded access locations such as grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMs and usps.com, open 24/7,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. “Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.”

Village Concept

Still, USPS is not giving up on the retail concept entirely. It sees its “Village Concept” as a potential replacement option. Instead of a post office, consumers would buy their stamps and drop off mail at an area retail establishment

“By working with third-party retailers, we’re creating easier, more convenient access to our products and services when and where our customers want them,” Donahoe said. “The Village Post Office will offer another way for us to meet our customers’ needs.”

UPSP says it seek a “smaller, leaner and more competitive” postal system – and one, presumably, that can be operated with present revenue.

Closing are expected to begin within the next four to six months and ultimately save as much as $200 million. Will it be enough? Probably not. The USPS recorded losses of $8.5 billion in fiscal 2010.