SALT LAKE CITY – The cost of gasoline is rising and busy families are time-starved as they try to keep up with work, children’s schedules, meal preparation and personal errands such as running to the Post Office. Locally-owned Harmons Grocery Stores and the United States Postal Service are doing their best to make life a little less hectic for families by gradually opening full-service Post Offices in Harmons’ stores. A ribbon cutting will take place at 1 p.m., Tuesday, July 19 for the newest Harmons contract Post Office location, 7755 South 700 East, Midvale, Utah. Harmons currently operates two contract Post Offices at Brickyard, and Taylorsville locations.

“We’re excited to be able to offer expanded postal services to the community every day of the week in our Midvale store,” said Bob Harmon, Harmons’ vice president and co-owner. “We hope these additional postal services will save our neighbors time, additional cars trips and gasoline that they might have spent driving elsewhere.”

A specially-designated area of Harmons’ Midvale grocery store will now have the same look and feel of a Post Office, and offer extended operation hours from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. The new full-service Contract Post Office features a retail counter and customer service area, signs and new weighing and pricing equipment that will speed up transactions and make mailing more convenient. Contract postal locations offer virtually all of the services one would find at a Post Office, at the same price, including stamps, stamped envelopes, Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Post, Certified, and Insured Mail.

All of Harmons’ 14 locations provide basic postal services at customer service booths for the convenience of surrounding communities. The Utah family-owned and operated chain is looking into providing full-service contract Post Offices at more store locations, with Station Park in Farmington, Bangerter Crossing in Draper, and Harmons’ store at 11400 South and 700 East in Draper slated for 2011.

“We’re creating easier, more convenient access to products and services when and where our customers want them,” said USPS District Manager Ken McArthur. “With nearly 100,000 places to buy stamps, ship a package or renew a passport, the U.S. Postal Service is expanding customer access to its products and services. It’s not about brick-and-mortar Post Offices anymore, as postal products move online and into retail outlets, grocery stores like Harmons, office supply chains and pharmacies.”

Local dignitaries and community members are invited to the July 19 grand opening celebration to welcome the new contract Post Office to the community. Refreshments will be served.

Customers needing postal services can find locations nearest them by using an interactive map at www.uspseverywhere.com and typing in a ZIP Code. Using a simple icon guide designating stamps, shipping and packaging, PO Boxes and other services, customers can easily navigate to retail outlets, grocery stores, Automated Postal Center (APC) kiosks and Post Offices, among other options.

We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com

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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 for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.