U.S. Postal Service Suffers Contraction Pains

Since the Pony Express, the U.S. Postal Service has been as American as apple pie.  Now this national institution appears to be shriveling up into a mere wisp of what it used to be.  Post offices around the country are in danger of being shut down.  The post office in Berkley, Michigan apparently has been spared, at least in the current round of closures.  So says Patch anyway.  Ferndale and Detroit, however, may not be long for this world.

Patrons of the U.S. Postal Service post office in Berkley can breathe a sigh of relief: The location is not among those the agency announced Tuesday it is considering for closure.

However, retail offices in Ferndale and Detroit are among the approximately 3,700 locations that are being evaluated by the U.S. Postal Service.

"As more customers choose to conduct their postal business online, on their smartphones and at their favorite shopping destinations, the need for the U.S. Postal Service to maintain its nearly 32,000 retail offices — the largest retail network in the country — diminishes," the U.S. Postal Service said in a press release Tuesday.

The Postal Service is considering shutting some offices and shifting to a Village Post Office model that would integrate some services and products, such as stamps and flat-rate packaging, into places such as pharmacies, grocery stores and other retailers.