My local post office to close in busy urban area

littlerock

My local post office is on a busy main road, in a busy row of shops, opposite the railway station and a high street Tescos, in a prosperous urban area. There are offices nearby and a recording studio. It has a collection area for Amazon parcels next to the counter and a couple of computer screens by the entrance.

It offers a full range of counter services. Whenever I go in there, it is always busy and there are always long queues for the postal counter.

Now it is closed up with a notice on the door saying they have shut because they cannot make ends meet. Anyone know why this should be in a busy urban post office. It has never seemed under threat from closure by the Post Office itself.

EssexExile

Bad management?

spadoosh

Could be a plethora of reasons including none which come under the category of not being able to make ends meet. By the sounds of it though, sounds like poor management.

custardy

because there aint much money in postal services?

KeithP

Why is this thread in the In My Home board?

Andy_L

busy is not a synonym for profitable

custardy

Andy_L wrote: »

busy is not a synonym for profitable

PO I know outside Edinburgh. Affluent area and busy local shop/PO/hub. Been in the family for decades.
PO operation closes this month.
2 POs in nearby small towns have closed meaning their PO is busier than ever.
In the words of the owner,'not worth the grief'. PO space will be replaced by a hot food operation.

ic

In my local area there were five post offices, three have closed and the other two have been replaced by counters in nearby newsagents - these are actually more convenient as they have car parks and are open longer hours.

Post offices just can't stand on their own any more, given most stuff can be done online. Most of the tat like stationery and cards that post offices traditionally sold to give themselves a retail presence is available at the big supermarkets.

There was talk of closing the local sorting office too, moving it to the town centre office, but after a local public outcry and involvement by councillors and the MP that's been canned. I'm sure they'll try again in three or four years time.

Aylesbury_Duck

Also, have a look at how people who run post offices have been treated by The Post Office. The answer: As criminals in some cases. Google Horizon Post Office to see what's been happening. It's a scandal that the PO refuses to properly acknowledge. Private Eye have reported on it for years. It possible that the sub-postmaster who runs the branch has fallen victim to it or is so disenchanted with the system that s/he's closed up and left.

custardy

ic wrote: »

In my local area there were five post offices, three have closed and the other two have been replaced by counters in nearby newsagents - these are actually more convenient as they have car parks and are open longer hours.

Post offices just can't stand on their own any more, given most stuff can be done online. Most of the tat like stationery and cards that post offices traditionally sold to give themselves a retail presence is available at the big supermarkets.

There was talk of closing the local sorting office too, moving it to the town centre office, but after a local public outcry and involvement by councillors and the MP that's been canned. I'm sure they'll try again in three or four years time.

Outcry only goes so far.
Closing a DO makes MASSIVE savings.
Staffing,managers,running costs.
Even going beyond the DO,you have less trucks required to feed the mail in,so less drivers etc.
Economies of scale mean more flexibility in the operation too.
There wont be try. RM have shut/amalgamated loads of DOs and it will continue.

custardy

littlerock wrote: »

My local post office is on a busy main road, in a busy row of shops, opposite the railway station and a high street Tescos, in a prosperous urban area. There are offices nearby and a recording studio. It has a collection area for Amazon parcels next to the counter and a couple of computer screens by the entrance.

It offers a full range of counter services. Whenever I go in there, it is always busy and there are always long queues for the postal counter.

Now it is closed up with a notice on the door saying they have shut because they cannot make ends meet. Anyone know why this should be in a busy urban post office. It has never seemed under threat from closure by the Post Office itself.

Heres an insight. A PO I know and have been in a few times.
VERY busy.
separate foreign currency counter & 2 serving positions.
relatively locally 2 po's have closed with another to close next week.
This PO is packed most days and will continue to be.
at least 3 staff plus manager
'operation manager; for the PO has been up for a while

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