West Orange Post Office Could Close

Thousands of local post offices have been stamped for possible closure including one in West Orange, the United States Postal Service announced Tuesday. 

The post office on 16 Main St. in West Orange is one of 3,700 post offices that could shut down following a nationwide study by USPS to "determine customer needs" and "right-size" its network, according to a USPS press release. 

"Today, more than 35 percent of the Postal Service’s retail revenue comes from expanded access locations such as grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, retail chains, self-service kiosks, ATMs and usps.com, open 24/7," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement. "Our customer's habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business."

USPS said the Village Post Office could be a potential replacement to retail stores and would allow local businesses to offer USPS products and services.

Reacting quickly to the news on West Orange Patch's Facebook page, one resident said she would be upset if the post office in West Orange closes. "I go all the time to the one in WO. It's convenient & has good hours," wrote R.R. 

The postal service boasts 32,000 postal retail offices and more than 70,000 third party retailers that sell postal products. Earlier this year, USPS announced plans to close 2,000 stations and branches in 2011. In May, it expanded access to its services to 100,000 locations like Costco, Office Depot, grocery stores and drug stores.

For a complete list of nationwide locations that will be studied by USPS click here here for a list of all New Jersey locations. 

— Karen Yi