Ferndale Post Office May Close

Due to declining revenue and foot traffic to post offices nationwide, the United States Postal Service may close the  in Ferndale as early as December.

The location on 22681 Woodward Ave. is one of 62 Michigan locations included in a study by the United States Postal Service that looks to close certain branches in order to streamline the organization, which is dealing with significant revenue shortfalls. 

Sean Hargadon, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, said the move is in response to dramatically dropping revenues for the organization in addition to significantly fewer visitors to the 3,700 stores nationwide. Hargadon said that in the last five years, the US Postal Service has seen 200 million fewer customers. He said the postal service also needs to change to adapt to customers' increasing need for online processing of services.

Hargadon said he was not sure the Ferndale location will close at all, and that he does not know when the study will be done, though he said no offices would be closed before December. He added that if the location closed, anyone could appeal the decision to the Postal Regulatory Commission.

Hargadon said customers wouldn't be left without the ability to send mail in their community. He said the postal service has been expanding services in non-post office locations, called approved postal providers. For example, in Ferndale, customers can ship packages, mail envelopes and purchase stamps at in downtown Ferndale. 

Some patrons of the Ferndale location laud the move and note the changing nature of the postal industry.

"I think it is more efficient; I would rather pay bills online," said 39-year-old Ferndale resident John Arnold. 

As a self-employed musician, Arnold formerly used the post office send his music and pay his bills, visiting the store anywhere from 40 to 100 times a year. Today when he mailed a letter it was the first time he had visited a brick-and-mortar post office in six months.

"The process is crazy and outdated. I can pay bills with two clicks," he said. "I feel bad if people lose their jobs, but business must be waning."

Hargadon said that if the post office in Ferndale does close down, employees won't necessarily be laid off. Due to union contracts, employees will be reassigned instead of assigned pink slips.

"We are very good in placing people in jobs and providing opportunities, even when we do these changes," he said. 

Still, some users of the U.S. Postal Service have fond memories of coming in to send and receive packages to and from loved ones. Helena Kucik, 46, of Milford, remembers walking to the post office with her family to pick up packages from her grandmother in New Orleans. She hopes the postal provider will avoid having to close down any locations.

"I think they should do other measures, like deliver mail Monday, Wednesday and Friday instead," she said. "I would pay more in stamps to keep the post office."

Others are more resistant to the changes taking place in the postal industry. Joanna Beatty, 33, of Royal Oak sometimes uses the Ferndale location. She said doesn't know how to use postal services online.

Even if she learns, she said, it wouldn't be the same as walking into the post office and speaking with a human being.

"They provide a service," she said. "A person provides a service better than a machine."