Post office could close three sites in Triad
GREENSBORO — Stanley Gromala doesn’t live near the post office on Banking Street, but that’s where he likes to go.
“The service is a lot faster. It’s just a great location,” Gromala, 30, said Wednesday while taking care of some money orders at the tiny post office tucked behind businesses along Battleground Avenue.
The U.S. Postal Service doesn’t have as high an opinion of that location. The Banking Street branch is one of 413 nationwide — and one of three in the Triad — being reviewed for consolidation or closure.
The agency faces a deficit that could reach $7 billion this year because of a sharp decline in mail volume caused by the recession and the movement of traditional mail to the Internet, officials say. Closing offices is one of a series of cuts to help cover that deficit.
Being on the list doesn’t guarantee closure, said Carl Walton, a spokesman for the Postal Service’s Greensboro District. Officials likely won’t know until at least October if the local sites are affected.
The other two Triad sites under review are 913 W. Fairfield Road in High Point and 200 Town Run Lane in Winston-Salem.
“If this were to close, I wonder where we’d go?” asked Debbie Weishaar, 56, who uses the site at 1852 Banking St. for her business mail.
If any of the Triad offices are picked, customers will have a chance to tell postal officials how that would affect them, Walton said.
“That’s part of the process; we have to consider what kind of affect it will have on the community,” he said.
The post office has about 37,000 retail outlets across the country, and Postmaster General John Potter has said he wants to keep as many open as possible.
In addition to losses caused by reductions in mail volume, the post office is required to put $5 billion annually in an account to prefund medical care for its retirees.
If the agency does end the fiscal year — Sept. 30 — short of funds, postal officials have said they will default on that payment to make payroll and keep the agency operating. In the meantime, Congress is considering legislation that would defer the payment.
The post office also has suggested reducing mail delivery from six to five days a week.
To save money, the Postal Service has:
-- Cut more than 100 million work hours, the equivalent of 57,000 positions. Locally, those cuts have been covered through attrition as people retire or take buyout packages. Walton did not know how many positions that adds up to so far.
-- Closed six district administrative offices.
-- Eliminated nearly 12,000 carrier routes as routes were adjusted to reflect reduced volume. About 50 routes have been consolidated in the Greensboro District, which covers the top half of the state, Walton said. A handful are in the Greensboro area, he said.
-- Instituted a nationwide hiring freeze.
-- Cut staff levels at national and regional offices by 15 percent.
-- Sold unused and under-used postal facilities.
-- Reduced post office hours.
-- Consolidated mail processing operations.
-- Halted construction of new postal facilities.
-- Frozen salaries of Postal Service officers and executives.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: The Plaza Station Post Office in Greensboro.
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