The recent decision by postal officials to scale back the hours of operation at the Federal Street Post Office in downtown Bluefield isn’t sitting well with many residents and downtown business operators.
The regular hours of service at the downtown postal facility were reduced earlier this month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. after postal officials cited “very little foot traffic” in the office between the hours of 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Marc Meachum, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce, in return wrote a letter to several lawmakers in Washington expressing his concerns for the decrease in hours at the downtown facility.
“It looks like, to an observer, they are slowly trying to eliminate the post office,” Meachum said in an earlier interview. “It causes concern for us downtown that use the post office. We at the chamber use the window service, as do many who live and work downtown.”
Meachum said downtown businesses believes the hours at the post office should be increased instead of decreased. According to Meachum, it would be “inconceivable” for the postal service to close the downtown office.
Art Riley, president of the Downtown Merchants Association, said the Federal Street Post Office is an essential part of the downtown business community. Riley also believes the hours at the downtown post office should be expanded instead of decreased.
“We would like for it to be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to give us five hours to do business at the window,” Riley said in an earlier interview. “Those hours would be more convenient to the patrons of the post office.”
Cathy Yarosky, a communications program specialist with the United States Post Office, said several factors went in to the postal service’s decision to limit the hours of the Federal Street branch. While she emphasizes there are no current plans to close the downtown facility, Yarosky said the decision to reduce retail hours was a business decision based on data that showed there was very little foot traffic at the downtown facility between the hours of 10 and 11 a.m.
Yarosky adds the financial crisis currently faced by the postal service is one of the reasons hours at the Federal Street Post Office — and many others across the country — have been limited. She also cites the use of e-mail and other alternative postal services as the reasons why such financial cutbacks must be made by the office.
We join the chamber of commerce and the downtown merchants in urging postal officials to keep the downtown office open. We too are concerned about the reduced hours. However, we also understand the current challenges faced by the postal service, and the importance of foot traffic at the downtown facility.
We realize that if there isn’t adequate foot traffic at the facility between the hours of 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., it will be difficult for postal officials to restore the regular operating hours. To put it simply — area residents need to support the downtown postal office. At the moment, postal officials say the foot traffic is lacking. Every successful business, including the postal service, needs customers to survive.
Editorials
August 21, 2010
Foot traffic: Residents must support post office
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