34 Post Offices To Close in Florida; Brandon Locals React to Trends

The U.S. Postal Service has announced today, July 26, the closing of thousands of post offices throughout the country, and mostly in rural communities.

The Florida list of 34 closings includes two post offices each in Cocoa, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Winter Haven.

Jacksonville has the most reported closings, with three.

In the Greater Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg areas, closings have been announced for the Tampa ZIP code 33610, for the St. Petersburg ZIP code 33705 and for the Clearwater ZIP code 33767.

Brandon’s business will go on, complete with wait times that test even the staunchest of patient composures.

On the eve of the announced closings, we asked on Facebook: “When’s the last time you waited in line at the Brandon Post Office for less than 15 minutes? What’s been your longest wait?”

Here’s a sampling of responses:

Randall Munsters, said, “I use the orange envelopes and buy stamps at my mailbox.”

Laura Frazier asked, “Do people still use the post office?”

“I cannot remember the last time I mailed something or used stamps,” she dded. “Our bills are paid online, birthday and special occasion greetings are done on Facebook or by phone, and gifts for out-of-towners are purchased on the Internet and drop-shopped from the point of sale!”

Melanie-Olley Camp said she used the Brandon Post Office “frequently.”

“The lines are usually backed up,” she added. “I try to use the self-service area when I go so I don’t have to wait too long.”

This quick sampling of views mirrors what the Wall Street Journal reported on the eve of the announced, and upcoming, closures. Jennifer Levitz, in her article, “Small Town Post Offices Threatened,” noted:

“Postal officials say the agency, an independent arm of the federal government that is supported mostly by postal fees, has no choice but to downsize as people increasingly click on their computers to communicate and pay bills rather than drop letters in the mailbox.”

In putting a positive spin on the closures, the U.S. Postal Service, in a July 26 release titled, “Postal Service Takes Next Step in Optimizing Retail Network,” notes the following points:

• “As more customers choose to conduct their postal business online, on their smart phones and at their favorite shopping destinations, the need for the U.S. Postal Service to maintain its nearly 32,000 retail offices — the largest retail network in the country — diminishes.”

• “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.

Mirroring some of the Brandon comments above, the postmaster added: “Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.”

In all, the Postal Service announced the impending closures of approximately 3,700 retail offices.

Below is chart of the announced closings for Florida: