Birmingham AL — The U.S. Postal Service will close the Galleria Postal Store located at 2000 Riverchase Galleria, Hoover, AL 35244 on November 19, 2011, consolidating retail operations with the Hoover Branch located at 1809 Riverchase Drive, Hoover, AL 35244.

The U.S. Postal Service announced a plan to study the feasibility of this consolidation late in 2010, soliciting comments from the community. After an exhaustive review of the relevant operational, customer service, and financial questions—including comments and concerns expressed by many of our customers—we have concluded this consolidation is operationally feasible; will not impact street delivery to residential or business customers; and substantially reduces fixed costs.

Because of the continuing migration of hard copy messages to electronic alternatives, the downturn in the economy, and some extraordinary requirements in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the U.S. Postal Service is compelled to continue its aggressive plan of cost reductions which began nearly a decade ago.

Despite these initiatives, postal workers drove productivity to record highs in 2011 and achieved high levels of on-time delivery. However, in spite of these and other efforts, including substantial reductions in the size of our workforce, the losses continue to mount.

The following is a summary of what this change will bring about:

• Retail service will continue to be available in four nearby offices (Hoover Branch, 1809 Riverchase Drive, Birmingham; Pelham Post Office, 2960 Pelham Parkway, Pelham; Shannon Post Office 2101 Shannon Oxmoor Rd, Shannon; and Bluff Park Finance Unit, 762 Shades Mountain Plaza, Birmingham).
• All affected career employees will be reassigned in accordance with applicable collective bargaining agreements, if possible in the immediate area.

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

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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.