Business Opportunities Weblog

July 26, 2011 by Dane Carlson | 1 Comment

The US Postal Service currently operates more than 31,000 retail outlets across the country, down from 38,000 a decade ago, but in recent years business has declined sharply as first-class mail moved to the Internet. Today, the USPS released a list of 3,653 post offices that could be shut down. Over three thousand of these offices generated less than $27,500 in annual revenue, which equates to fewer than two hours of workload per day.

Don’t fret too much, because as this article from KCRA Sacramento explains, this could be good for small local businesses:

These locations will be studied for possible closure, according to U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Sue Brennan. Most of the post offices that are on the chopping block have “lower foot traffic and revenue,” she said, and the majority of them are in smaller communities.

In its release, the Postal Service will also outline what it calls a replacement strategy that will have local post offices partner with third party businesses in those smaller communities to create alternative options.

Such arrangements will likely be put in place in “communities that have existing businesses, mom and pop shops — some type of local business that could also provide postal services,” Brennan told CNNMoney.

The full list of communities on the “expanded access study list” can be found here.

Photo by Indie Bands With a Mission.

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Tags: Mail