Postal Service considers closing 5 Toledo-area locations

The Point Place post office on Summit Street is one of five Toledo-area offices the post service is considering to close.

The United States Postal Service is considering whether to close five post office locations in Toledo.

The Toledo locations are among 3,700 post offices nationwide being studied by the postal service, which wants to cut back the number of its 32,000 retail locations.

“Today, more than 35 percent of the Postal Service’s retail revenue comes from expanded access locations such as grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMs and usps.com,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. “Our customer’s habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business.”

The postal service said it plans to mitigate the impact of closures by setting up Village Post Offices, in which postal services are offered in local stores, libraries or government offices.

The locations being considered in Toledo are:

* Manhattan - 553 E. Manhattan Blvd., Toledo, 43608

* Midtown Toledo – 1609 Dorr Street, Toledo, 43607

* Old West End Station – 2280 Ashland Ave., Toledo, 43620

* Point Place Station – 4445 N. Summit Street, Toledo, 43611

* Station A – 618 2nd Street, Toledo, 43605

The possibility of those closures is already garnering opposition.

“I’m devestated,” said Toledo councilman Wilma Brown. She fought to keep the midtown location opened in 2009, when it the postal service also considered closing it. “A lot of people in that area don’t have cars.”

The postal service suffered a $8.5 billion net loss in the fiscal year 2010, compared to a loss of $3.8 billion the prior year. Last quarter, the U.S. Postal Service posted a loss of $2.2 billion. Its fiscal year ends in September.