Downtown Postal Contractor Closes (Along with Business)
Residents will no longer be able to conduct postal services downtown at the Just What You Always Wanted furniture consignment store on Main Street, as the business and the service closed this week.
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Less than six months after it opened, the U.S. Postal Service's substation at the Just What You Always Wanted furniture consignment store on Main Street closed this week, and the business apparently along with it.
The store, at 974 Main St., posted a sign on its door earlier this week advising customers that the last day for postal business at the store, such as buying stamps or mailing items, was Tuesday, while the last day for customers to pick up their mail if they owned a post office box would be Wednesday.
Thursday, the business itself was closed, and the owners could not be reached for comment.
Maureen Marion, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service, confirmed to Patch that postal operations had ceased at the consignment store.
"It was a contract postal unit inside another business and they terminated their relationship with us," Marion said. "So we're moving on."
Marion said that all post office box customers were moved over to the main post office in town, at 111 Sheldon Rd., and that the U.S. Postal Service was still unsure if it intended to seek another postal contractor in the downtown area.
"We have not made that determination yet," Marion said.
The operation of postal services at Just What You Always Wanted was plagued with problems early on, as the intended opening in February was delayed for several days due to permitting issues with the town's Building and Fire departments.
Prior to the shift to the consignment store, the Sincerely Yours Postal Contractor Station at 1009 Main St. had held the license for postal services in the downtown area for about eight years, but they failed to reach agreement on a new contract with the U.S. Postal Service late last year.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Postal service released information that it was seeking to close as many as 3,700 of its more than 30,000 post office locations throughout the country, including 15 in Connecticut, according to the Hartford Courant.
Marion said that the Sheldon Road branch in town, or a smaller postal branch at 1020 Tolland Tpke., were not on the list of possible closures.
truman
4:28 pm on Thursday, July 28, 2011
lets hope the post office gets on the ball and opens up another post office back on main st ? that or close the buckland office and move it closer to the center of town
christiane obrien
5:26 pm on Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Buckland office pays its rent on time, all the time and several of the big box stores use that location, so don't think that will close anytime soon. We need a location downtown, the decision to move it to the furniture store was not in the best interest of the town when more viable alternatives should have been considered.I won't comment on the move but just want to say we all need to work together and bring an office to downtown!