Postal outposts remedy for lines

The Bonita Springs Post Office on Old 41 keeps the lines down by asking locals and visitors to use the five substations located at gas stations and card shops throughout town.

The U.S. Postal Service in Bonita Springs sorts more than 7,000 letters and deals with at least 140,000 deliveries a day.

That many pieces of mail can sometimes lead to hundreds of customers in the lobby and lines nearly out the door.

Local Postmaster Richard Barber has a solution for people who just need to buy a 39-cent stamp or want to avoid the lines.
He runs branches on Old 41 and Bonita Beach Road as well as overseeing five substations.

“I strategically located them through town to serve the different communities so people wouldn’t have to trek around town to our two main locations,” said Barber, who offers the alternate sites because finding seasonal workers is difficult. “They are all full-service locations too.”

Many of the sites like the Cards Anyone store west of U.S. 41 on Bonita Beach Road allow customers to purchase stationary and mail out packages — all in one place.

“These are viable locations to ease the line especially in season. I cannot hire people for a short period of time,” Barber said.
The Chevron Cruz N’ Go and the Bonita Mail Stop are two locations that have been around about a year and have postal contractors pick up mail twice a day.

“Some of our locations have been around 5 or 6 years and sometimes it’s tough to get the population used to not going to the main post office,” said Barber who promotes the locations by sends out mailers and speaking at public engagements.
But sometimes that isn’t enough so the United States Postal Service pays to have neon signs put outside of buildings or stickers on windows of smaller shops.

“These other locations are great especially when all the people come down,” said Linda Caldwell, of Bonita Springs, who uses the post office two to three times a week. “It’s closer to my house and quicker.”

Although Bonita Springs substations have continually been successful for years, residents in Estero are letting places like the Chevron gas station near Publix on U.S. 41 and Corkscrew Road close.

The lack of use lead to the closing of the mail center in early February and left a gap in mail centers along U.S. 41.

Plans are under way to open a post office on the corner of Three Oaks Parkway and Corkscrew Road.

“Some kind of decision should be available in the next couple of weeks,” said Meg Judge, the chairwoman and CEO of the Estero Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber has worked as a mediator between post office officials and the Lee County school board who own the 5-acre parcel of land where the main post office would be located.

There has been talk of bringing a substation to Coconut Point, but Coconut Point director of marketing Diane Ganz said she didn’t know about them.

But Judge remains optimistic.

“They are saying that opening a substation is more or less hinged on the approval of the main post office,” she said.
An additional substation at Coconut Point would alleviate lines in Estero and Bonita Springs.

Andy Ozolnieks, of Bonita Springs, likes going to the main branch but likes having the option of substations.

“I like coming to the actual post office but those places are sometimes good if I’m really in a hurry,” Ozolnieks said.