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Richmond residents like Sharon Logan prefer the Main Post Office because of its convenient location.

Downtown Richmond businesses dismayed by loss of post office as mayor works to save location

on October 12, 2017

Richmond is running out of time to save downtown’s Main Post Office.

City officials offered to buy the property at its market value of $900,000 and are anxiously waiting for a response from the United States Post Office. But if Richmond and USPS cannot come to an agreement by October 16, the property will be put up for sale, and its retail operations will move to the nearby McVittie Annex.

The current offer — which Mayor Tom Butt described as “more than generous” — would not only give the city control of the building, but would also allow USPS to stay open without paying rent for perpetuity.

“In the best of worlds, they’ll come around and see that we’re the best offer they’ll get,” Butt said.

But with no response from USPS representatives and a looming deadline, Butt’s outlook is grim. “I think we still have a chance, and we’re looking at some other possibilities,” he continued, “but things are not going our way right now and it’s hard to be optimistic.”

A spokesperson for USPS did not return calls to discuss the deal or the location’s closure.

The loss of the post office, which has been open downtown at 1025 Nevin Avenue since 1938, will be a hard hit for nearby business owners, who rely on the conveniently located branch for their shipping needs, and the downtown foot traffic it generates.

“I use the post office to ship customer orders a lot,” commented Ghaliyah Roberts-Palmer, who owns Gratitude, a downtown gift shop that sells dashikis, jewelry and incense. She says that the loss of the post office will have a big impact on Gratitude.

“I’m a small business,” she explained, “convenience really matters.”

Roberts-Palmer also says the post office helps encourage people to walk around downtown, giving visitors a reason to get out of their cars and explore the neighborhood, instead of just going to the Kaiser facility or the Social Security Administration building next door.

The nearby East Bay Center for the Performing Arts was equally dismayed. “We use that post office every other day,” said operations and production manager Dan Weierman.

Abena Ansley, a Richmond resident and small business owner, is baffled by USPS’ decision. “I don’t get it, why they would close this post office down. It serves everyone,” she said as she waited in line to ship packages. Ansley, who walked to the Nevin branch towing her two small grandchildren and her packages in a plastic wagon, uses the post office three to four times every week, sometimes twice a day, to ship for her at-home business.

She says that by closing the branch, USPS is “cutting off the lifeline to the community.”

Richmond isn’t the only city to wrestle with USPS over the closure of retail sites. In 2016, the City of Berkeley attempted to prevent USPS from selling its downtown branch through a city ordinance. USPS sued and the two are still locked in a legal battle over the site.

Since 2011, USPS has closed more than 300 branches across the country in an attempt to transform the service into what former Postmaster General Patrick Donohoe described as a “smaller, leaner, and more competitive” operation.

USPS has struggled financially under pressure from pension requirements and from competitors like FedEx and UPS, both of which make deliveries and pickups from homes or businesses and have invested significant amounts of money in building more efficient delivery operations. In 2014, USPS invested over $500 million to increase capacity, including new computer systems that calculate faster, more efficient routes for drivers. This year, FedEx announced it is looking into creating artificial intelligence and robotics initiatives to help the company keep its competitive edge.

Meanwhile, USPS’ attempts to reign in costs are only further compounding the problem. Since the service began closing post offices in 2011, it has steadily lost business. In 2016, USPS handled over 13 billion fewer pieces of mail than it had in 2011, hitting its lowest rates since 1987.

At the 1025 Nevin Avenue location, customers frequently encounter slow lines. Although the office has multiple registers, only one cashier is usually on duty.

With such poor service — and without a conveniently accessible branch nearby — Gratitude’s Ghaliyah Roberts-Palmer is considering other options for her shipping needs. “I’ll probably look to use FedEx or UPS,” she said

2 Comments

  1. Commenter on October 12, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    Dear Postal Officials,
    Notice that no one in this article said that they would simply patronize the McVittie Annex station. Rather the one person said, ” I’ll probably look to use Fed Ex or UPS”. It isn’t surprising the Postal service is losing business with such short sighted decisions like this. What will happen is that UPS and FedEx will get the downtown business and McVittie will not, further eroding the Postal Services share of the market. What a shame right when the 12th & MacDonald site is finally getting developed.



  2. Liz on October 21, 2017 at 2:27 am

    This is really bad for longtime Richmond Residents. They have no consideration at all.
    Adding more work for McVittie post office to handle will be a big mistake. They have enough on their plate already.
    Packages are already sittings for weeks & month’s at the Richmond Sorting Facility. This is really bad for eBay sellers that often have to refund a buyers money becuz their package is just sitting there.
    I know this is a fact. Read pissed customers reviews about the Sorting Facility.
    I sell on eBay. I print my own shipping labels & schedule pickups from McVittie postal carriers. There has been times when they don’t give the mail carrier my schedule pickup. I then take my package to the Nevin Post office for shipping.
    Look. I don’t want my mail carrier or Post office to have a much bigger workload than they already do. I want my items to arrive intact shipping & receiving.
    Richmond isn’t getting any smaller. It’s growing.
    They have plans on redeveloping downtown Richmond right? This Post office is needed by Richmond Residents. It’s easy to get to using public transportation as McVittie isn’t.
    I know it will be loss for Richmond. This Post office has history for me. DON’T CLOSE IT!



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