CINCINNATI, OH — Electronic greetings, such as ecards, emails and text messages, may be growing in popularity, but nothing can replace the “mail moment” a person experiences when they receive a greeting card or letter in the mail.
The U.S. Postal Service is making it easier for busy consumers to buy, address and mail a greeting card while conducting Postal Business at more than 2,000 locations nationwide, including three new locations in Cincinnati: Main Post Office, 1623 Dalton Ave.; Madeira Branch, 7737 Laurel Ave.; Symmes Branch, 9370 Fields Ertle Road
“I can’t think of a better way to let someone know you’re thinking about them than with a greeting card,” says Retail Manager Laura Graven. “Having greeting cards available at Post Offices allows customers to buy a card and drop it in the mail in one stop.”
More than half of the 7 billion greeting cards sold in the U.S. are sent through the mail. The Postal Service’s greeting card pilot program, which began in early 2010, determined customer interest was high enough to expand the program to other Post Offices around the country, says Graven.
The greeting card assortment at participating postal units includes cards for birthdays, wedding anniversaries, graduation, baby announcements, encouragement and sympathy. Seasonal displays offer cards appropriate to various holidays and times of the year, including Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving.
The average retail price for the greeting cards is $3.25. The Postal Service is offering half-off coupons towards the purchase of one greeting card available at retail counters or in lobbies. The coupons expire September 4, 2011.
According to the Greeting Card Association, the most popular everyday cards are birthday cards, followed in popularity by cards celebrating anniversaries, and cards of encouragement, including get well, friendship and sympathy cards.
“Greeting cards are just another way the Postal Service is providing quick and convenient service and products to its customers who can now do one-stop shopping at their Post Office,” added Graven. “Sending greeting cards lets someone know that they are important to you and this added service makes it easy to do.”
Other Cincinnati-area postal units that offer greeting cards include:
Cincinnati: Anderson Branch, 1320 Nagel Road; Groesbeck Branch, 8721 Colerain Ave.; Don Marrs Branch, 3644 Werk Road.
Covington: Dixie Branch, 123 Buttermilk Pike.
Florence: Florence Post Office, 7101 Turfway Road.
Hamilton: Fairfield Branch, 700 Wessel Drive.
Greeting cards join a selection of shipping and mailing products at Post Offices designed to better meet the needs of busy customers. In addition to mailing tape and packaging, special decorative mailing boxes make sending gifts easier than ever.
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.
