In direct response to the changing expectations of customers who demand greater convenience and a one-stop shopping experience, the Postal Service launched a pilot program with Staples to provide postal products and services within their retail stores in test markets across the country.

Staples is the first enterprise level chain store to participate in the U.S. Postal Services’ Retail Partner Expansion Program and the next logical step of providing expanded access to postal products and services.

Staples joins more than 65,000 retail partner locations around the country that currently offer a variety of postal products and services, in order to increase access and convenience to customers in locations where they already shop.

The Retail Partner Expansion Program is an opportunity “to grow the business” and has never been an earmark to pave a way to privatization.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. This retail partnership program could be an innovative step towards generating revenue to ensure the long-term viability of the Postal Service.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.