ARLINGTON, TX — On April 15, 2011, the Arlington Post Office’s Great Southwest  Finance Station, located at 711 106th St., will consolidate its operations into the Watson Community Station, 1975 Ballpark Way.  Mail will be moved from 359 Post Office Boxes at Great Southwest Finance Station, ZIP 76005, after close of business on April 15, and be available for customers at the Watson Community Station on Monday, April 18.  Great Southwest Station PO Box customers’ addresses and ZIP code will not change and no change of address will be required.

With the deep decline in mail volume due to current economic conditions and growing use of email and electronic commerce, the Postal Service has an excess in facility capacity required for retail and delivery operations. A study of Arlington Post Office stations and branches began on June 30, 2009, to determine the feasibility of consolidating redundant operations and reducing excess capacity to see if any efficiencies and cost savings could be achieved.

The study results supported consolidating retail operations for the Great Southwest Finance Station by taking advantage of available capacity at the nearby Watson Community Station in order to increase efficiency and improve productivity, with minimum affect on customer service.  The two locations are approximately 1.8 miles apart.

The Postal Service lost $8.5 billion in fiscal year 2010 (Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010) — which equates to losing more than $23 million every single day of the year.  Mail volume has declined by 43.1 billion pieces in the past four years — from an all-time high of 213 billion in 2006 to 170 billion in 2010.

"The Postal Service is doing everything possible to reduce costs and save money — this will involve consolidating operations wherever possible," Arlington Officer-In-Charge Jerry Woodard said.  "By consolidating operations, adjusting delivery routes, and restructuring administrative and processing functions, the Postal Service is adapting to meet the evolving needs, demands, and activities of our customers."

The consolidation is being done to reduce operating costs and improve efficiencies. Employees currently working at the Great Southwest Finance Station will transfer to another Arlington Post Office location. 

“We will strive to continue to provide Great Southwest Finance Station’s customers excellent service,” said Woodard. “The Watson Community Station offers longer retail hours, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  The Watson Community Station also has a larger customer parking lot, which will provide improved access and convenience for our customers."

The Postmaster also advises postal customers that many local retailers sell stamps at face value.  The Watson Community Station, and three other Arlington Post Office locations – Oakwood Station, 1009 Oakwood Ln.; Bardin Road Station, 1301 E Bardin Rd.; and Tate Springs Station, 4108 SW Green Oaks Blvd. -  have Automated Postal Centers available 24 hours a day.  Postal customers are also reminded the Post Office is always open online, at www.usps.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. 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.