July 26th, 2011, By Don Catalano
Need to send a package? No problem, head over to your local post office and—wait. What happened to it? If you live in an area with more than one post office in a 2-mile radius, beware– your post office could get the boot. About 3,700 post offices around the country are predicted to shut down in the coming year in an effort to close a $20 billion gap in revenue. Post offices that rank high on the chopping block usually have less than $50 in sales a day and total just over 2 hours of work for each of their employees in a full day. Not so good, America. Isn’t anyone sending letters anymore?
If you think about it, it makes sense. If this company were owned by anyone other than the government, it would have been out of business a long time ago. But present economic times merit a different approach to excess. A “trimming of the fat” will come in the form of about 4,000 jobs lost (between postmasters, supervisors and clerks), a move that hopes to reverse the incredible financial loss suffered by post offices nationwide.
In an effort to ease the pain, around 2,500 “village post offices” will be installed in your local grocery and convenience stores. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe
thinks this concept could potentially help small businesses throughout the country: “They can take the money we give them to pay the rent and pay the light bill. We think it’s a real win-win proposal.”
Well, I’m glad someone’s happy about it.
Regardless, this much is for sure—post offices are becoming superfluous and, quite literally, a thing of the past. But you know what that means? Their empty offices will become a thing of the future. Maybe your future. Post offices around the country are scheduled for closure in the next 4-6 months which means a substantial amount of space will be available within the next year. Square footage that’s likely located in a high traffic, prime area.
Just food for thought.
All information gathered from CNN