In the six months the nation’s first Village Post Office (VPO) in Malone, WA, has been operating, customer traffic has increased and business is thriving.
This pioneering VPO, located in Red’s Hop N’ Market, averages about 15 Forever Book stamp sales per month and plans to offer more mailing options such as Prepaid Forever Priority Mail envelopes and boxes in the future. According to the owner, these products are what customers want and need to conduct their mailing business.
Local customers who now receive mail at the VPO appreciate being able to retrieve it at their convenience, 24-hours a day, as well as retaining their Post Office Box address.
News about the first VPO has gone viral and customers even come from neighboring towns. One Malone resident’s daughter, who lives in Australia, even heard about it on her local news channel. “Looks like our partnership is getting stronger,” said Seattle District Manager Yul Melonson, “and far-reaching.”
As of February, USPS has received more than 600 VPO inquires from interested vendors. About a dozen additional VPOs with contracts are poised to open in the near future, and 54 are currently in negotiations or awaiting evaluations.
Click here to see photos of some of the Postal Service’s other fully-operational VPOs.
via USPS News Link
hey deborah they do promote free boxes thats why there broke do you know how much corragate costs you need to charge for your product
Maybe USPS needs to do a better job promoting what they already have in place. If people want to be able to “get their mail 24 hours” then advise them they can open a box at the local Post Office and retrieve their mail 24 hours. Keep the stamp machine in working condition and full so customers can purchase stamps at any time. Keep a limited amount of free Priority Mail boxes and envelopes availble where folks check their boxes and not locked in the main Postal area. Make it more people friendly and change your advertising to make the USPS as attractive to send as the latest Fedex fairytale commercial. USPS has a lot to offer. I mailed 22 packages on a Friday…over 50% were received by people the NEXT DAY. The remainder were received on Monday. That would not have happened at Fedex. USPS….PROMOTE YOURSELVES!!!! When I lived in England you had to pay to hold mail, you don’t here. You had to pay to forward mail, you don’t here. People complain of the high cost of mailing. I tell friends of these stories and how you would never, ever get free boxes. USPS…PROMOTE YOURSELVES!!!!!!
And they’ll all make $4.35 a day while they steal USPS PO Boxes.Can anyone say privatization.