Two Fort Smith post offices remain on closure list

Two U.S. Postal Service offices in Fort Smith remain on the federal agency’s closure list as part of a consolidation initiative that would close 162 offices nationwide.

The Postal Service updated on Friday (Jan. 29) the closure list, with six fewer locations slated for closure than in the December report.

Arkansas offices on the list are the South Fort Smith station (5200 S. 32nd St.), Fort Smith Rogers Avenue station (3400 Rogers Ave.) and two stations in Little Rock. Oklahoma has no stations on the list.

“As part of the consolidation process, the Postal Service has filed periodic updates with the Postal Regulatory Commission identifying the retail stations and branches that remain under consideration. Today’s filing does not represent a final decision on consolidation. No facility-specific final decisions have been made as a result of this initiative,” noted the USPS statement.

Members of the American Postal Workers Union Local 1211 — representing USPS employees in Fort Smith — have been active in opposing the closures. They’ve picketed and have successfully lobbied Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker to help them oppose the cuts.

Officials with the Local 1211 say the two Fort Smith post offices generated more than $1 million dollars in walk-in revenue, or more than enough to cover costs of operation.

The USPS operates more than 36,000 Post Offices, stations, branches, contract and community post offices. It also has more than 56,000 locations affiliated with retailers that sell postage and postal services. The USPS says it operates the largest retail network in the country.

USPS officials launched the consolidation effort in the summer of 2009, with 3,300 stations and branches in urban and suburban areas on the review list. The focus, according to the USPS statement, is to close facilities that are close to another station so that access is not cumbersome for customers.

“Consumer behavior is changing. It is important for the Postal Service to adjust to the shift," Dean Granholm, vice president of Delivery and Post Office Operations, said in the statement. "We will continue to provide easy access, but changes to our retail network are essential to our ability to continue to provide the safe secure and fairly priced postal services that Americans have counted on for 234 years."

One of the six stations removed from the closure list was “Station A” in Portland, Maine, which is about a half-mile from the main post office in Portland, according to this news report from WCSH Channel 6.