SoCal USPS Comments on Post Office Presence in the Palisades

The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday that it will be studying more than 3,600 post offices to determine how it will adjust its physical presence nationwide.

Palisades Patch got in touch with the USPS offices in Southern California to see how this may, or may not, affect Pacific Palisades.

We received the following email from a Southern California spokesperson Wednesday:

Hi Amanda,
 
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is moving beyond the brick and mortar walls of Post Offices and stations by contracting with local businesses to offer postal products and services where customers already shop. It's easy and convenient to pick up Forever stamps at the grocery store, bank ATM or pharmacy, or ship a Priority Mail Flat Rate box at an office supply store. And of course, at the Postal Service's website, usps.com, customers can do almost anything they can do at a Post Office - print shipping labels and download postage, schedule a free pickup of packages, lookup a ZIP Code, buy stamps and even hold mail delivery when they are away. More than a third of retail revenue already comes from these expanded access channels.
 
To make it easy for customers to find these expanded access locations at places they already shop or while on their way, USPS has a new website -- uspseverywhere.com -- where customers enter a ZIP Code and all Post Offices and expanded access locations appear on an interactive map. Icons provide information on services provided at each location.
 
Currently, USPS has more retail Post Offices, stations and branches nationwide than there are Starbucks, McDonalds and Walmarts combined. Given our financial pressures, we are reviewing over 3,600 USPS locations for possible discontinuance or consolidation. Of these 3,600, there are 112 locations in California and about 30 in Los Angeles County to be reviewed -- none in Pacific Palisades. This list provided to Congress yesterday is not a list of Post Offices that will close. No decisions have been made. It is only a list of locations to be reviewed. (I've attached the list of CA locations for your information.)
 
Nobody wants to see their local Post Office or station close, but USPS must respond to business conditions. Volume has declined over 20 percent in the past three years. People receive and pay bills on the Internet. They communicate by email and text message. Postal facilities and operations are not tax dollar supported. As our volume and revenue decline, we must respond and right size our network -- just as any business would have to do.
 
To illustrate the options customers have to take care of postal business, I have attached the map from uspseverywhere.com for the Pacific Palisades area. The top transaction at Post Offices is postage sales, and today there are many convenient ways to pick up stamps without making a special trip to the Post Office.

Richard Maher
Corporate Communications | U.S. Postal Service