The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday it would study closing about 3,700 of its branches across the country, including 34 in Maine.
The agency currently has almost 32,000 retail offices across the nation. The plan would save an estimated $200 million.
“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 in a Tuesday news release. “Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.”
The offices being considered for closure in Maine are mostly rural, from St. David and Grand Isle in the north down to Paris and North Waterford in the south and hitting coastal communities and islands like Matinicus and Cliff Island. In many rural communities, the post office branches are more than just a place for people to send mail — they’re also gathering spots for the communities, places where neighbors see each other and catch up on town news.
But there are also a few urban offices being considered, including the Water Street branch in Augusta and Station A in Portland, on Congress Street. The USPS considered closing Station A several years ago as part of a plan to close 1,000 offices nationwide. The proposal to close Station A drew a lot of protest from residents around that part of the city as well as from members of the congressional delegation.
Tom Rizzo, spokesman for the USPS in Northern New England, said there are about 120 retail offices in Maine, and about 3,000 people work for the agency in the state. He said it was too early to tell how many of those jobs may be affected by the plan — and that the plan was still a work in progress.
“This is an initial roll-out of offices for us to study based on criteria established by headquarters, this should not suggest that every study will result in a closure,” said Rizzo. “It’s a case-by-case consideration of how additional community-based access points can supplement local services in ways that help us extract some overhead operating expenses, and we’ll follow up as we learn more.”
Rizzo said the USPS would file a request for an advisory opinion related to the plan to close retail offices with the Postal Regulatory Commission on Wednesday. That commission will conduct a review, and the public will have a chance to comment, Rizzo said. No offices eventually approved for closure would be shuttered by December, Rizzo said.
The USPS said in its release that the move was being considered as the need for the breadth of retail offices diminishes. Rizzo noted that a 2006 federal law mandates that the USPS contribute $5.5 billion each year to a future retirees health benefit fund; the service is projected to lose $8 billion this year, and the $5.5 billion is part of that, said Rizzo.
“We’ve also suffered from an increasingly accelerating drop in the volume of first-class mail, and mail volume in general, since the advent of the Internet and email,” said Rizzo.
“Since 2006, our mail volume has dropped in total over 20 percent, from a high of 213 billion pieces in 2006 to roughly 170 billion today,” he said.
And the recent recession has hit the USPS, as well.
“The Postal Service has always reflected the state of the economy, said Rizzo. “When businesses are doing well, they advertise more, solicit more.”
U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, said in a statement Tuesday that the financial challenges faced by the USPS should not preclude the preservation of universal postal service and convenient community access.
“It is critical we carefully assess the potential impact of these proposed closures, especially as it relates to service in rural communities,” said Snowe. “I am encouraged USPS intends to work with community retailers to continue providing postal services in affected communities and I will closely monitor this situation to ensure that, in the event of any post office closures, USPS continues to meet the needs of rural customers in Maine and nationwide.”
In its announcement Tuesday, the USPS also revealed a new program for communities without a postal retail office and for communities affected by the announced “retail optimization efforts.”
The option, “Village Post Offices,” would be operated by local businesses, such as pharmacies, grocery stores and other appropriate retailers, and would offer postal products and services such as stamps and flat-rate packaging.
“By working with third-party retailers, we’re creating easier, more convenient access to our products and services when and where our customers want them,” Donahoe said in the release. “The Postal Service of the future will be smaller, leaner and more competitive and it will continue to drive commerce, serve communities and deliver value.”
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