NEW YORK — When Saks Fifth Avenue wanted to send a message about customer service and quality products, the international, high-end retail store turned to the U.S. Postal Service.

Saks today celebrated the grand opening of its expanded New York designer shoe salon that now fills the entire eighth floor of the Manhattan store. The new space, “10022-SHOE,” will hold a place in marketing history as the first retail floor to brand its location as a literal shopping destination.

Saks is using a unique “ZIP Code” in a multi-channel advertising campaign that includes direct mail and customized postage. While 10022 is the correct ZIP Code for the store, the additional four letters are part of an ad campaign and not used in the delivery of the mail to that location.

Building on the campaign’s message that the new shoe floor is so big it has its own “ZIP Code,” customers will be able to send a postcard marking their visit. The postcard contains one of about a dozen branded, customized postage designs Saks has produced featuring artwork from top shoe designers. Stamps.com is the Postal Service-licensed vendor providing the customized postage for Saks.

The Postal Service received no financial consideration from Saks for the marketing campaign, said Anita Bizzotto, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, but is proud to be associated with the retailer.

“We are delighted that Saks Fifth Avenue used a symbol of performance and service to help launch such an innovative campaign,” Bizzotto said.

Customized postage allows a customer to personalize postage with pictures or images using Customized PC Postage® technology. Customized postage has two parts: a customer-supplied image and a state-of-the-art bar code. All customized postage is compatible with the Postal Service’s automated mail processing systems.

PC Postage® is not a stamp and the use of customized postage does not affect the Postal Service’s production or commitment to postage stamps.

“You can customize postage, but you can’t customize a ZIP Code,” Bizzotto said, explaining that the Postal Service currently has no plans to consider adding letters or words to ZIP Codes.

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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, 151 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. 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 $65 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 35th in the 2011 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 for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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