HONOLULU — Retail hours of operation were reduced at dozens of post offices on Oahu, Maui and Kauai, effective yesterday. Additional retail hour reductions will take effect at Honolulu stations and other Post Offices on Oct. 26. Still to be determined are the details of retail hour reductions at Big Island post offices.

This adjustment in retail hours is a continuation of the Postal Service’s ongoing effort to restructure operations and reduce costs in order to adapt to the decline in mail volume and revenue over the past year.

“We regularly evaluate retail traffic patterns to determine the most efficient hours of operations for individual offices,” said District Manager Daryl Ishizaki. “Retail hours can and do regularly change based on customer needs and customer traffic. The goal is to get our products to our customers as efficiently as possible.”
 
While the reduction in retail hours may affect customers’ ability to conduct over-the-counter transactions, it won’t affect their access to P.O. boxes. In the coming weeks walk-in customers will be educated about the variety of ways to access postal services that don’t require actual visits to Post Offices.
 
Affected customers will be encouraged to access postal services through a network of 56,000 alternate access locations and through the Postal Service Web site: USPS.com.

Alternate access options include 1-800-STAMP-24, Stamps by Mail, retail locations such as grocery stores and drug stores, banking ATMs and Postal Service Automated Postal Centers (APCs). APCs are found in post office lobbies nationwide and can be used for more than 85 percent of all counter transactions, whether adjacent retail lobbies are open or closed.
 
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.