Fitzsimons Slated to Close

Will be Replaced by Contract Station

Postal Service & University of Colorado Denver Campus Book Store to Open New Postal Retail Unit in August

DENVER/AURORA, CO (June 5, 2009) Besides their local Post Office, residents who live and work near the University of Colorado at Denver/Aurora area will soon be able to go to another U.S. Postal Service retail outlet to serve their mailing needs.

Working with the Aurora Main Post Office, the University of Colorado Denver Campus Bookstore will open a contract postal station at 13001 E. 17th Place in Aurora, with its opening planned for August of this year.

Customers will have the opportunity to purchase a variety of domestic and international mailing services at this new location. Customers will be able to purchase stamps and postage, Certified Mail, Insurance, Priority and Express Mail. International, Delivery Confirmation, and other services at this additional postal retail site. In addition, customers will be able to mail and drop off their letters and packages.

The University of Denver Campus Bookstore postal unit will be open for customers’ mailing needs Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM — 5:00 PM, closed Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Managing the contract postal station will be University of Colorado Denver Campus Bookstore Director, Kathy Duran.

Says Lisa Roberts, USPS Consumer Affairs Manager: “The U.S. Postal Service and our Aurora Post Office are proud to team up with the University of Colorado Denver Campus Bookstore to open this new Postal Unit.

“We anticipate opening the postal unit the first week of August. It will provide services to the University of Denver, Children’s Hospital and our many other customers within the surrounding area. This new postal retail unit will definitely be an added convenience for customers who live or work in this area of Aurora. It will certainly add to our postal customers’ ease of use, convenience and quality of mail service.”

APWU Reaction

When asked her reaction to the news that management at the Postal Service in Aurora will be opening the new CPU, Aurora Local APWU president Shelly Lucido said "They ain't talking to me". She went on to say that she had received the information from a local window clerk, who had received it in response to a question sent to Congressman Ed Perlmutter.

CPU Future “iffy”

The replacement of Post Offices by Contract Postal Units appears to be the wave of the foreseeable future, in spite of their rather spotty success/failure rate. Within the past seven years or so, there have been at least 6 CPUs in the city of Aurora. Today, not including the latest Fitzsimons facility, there are only 3 remaining, with reports indicating that the future of two are "iffy". There has been nothing said about what might happen if this new location is not successful.

USPS - More Neighborhood Locations

It seems ironic that as competitors UPS and FedEx have spent billions of dollars buying up 'brick and mortar' locations ( MailBoxes, Etc, and Kinkos respectively ), the Postal Service is paring back what many will see as their prime competitive advantage, their multiple convenient neighborhood locations.

Keep Fitzsimons Open

There still might be time to get the Postal Service to reconsider this decision. Write a letter to the local Postmaster, the Vice President of Area Operations and Congressman Ed Perlmutter, asking why this poorly thought-out change is necessary.

Postmaster, Aurora Colorado

Edward Keith Coleman

16890 E Alameda Pkwy

Aurora, Co 80017-9998

Vice President, Area Operations

Sylvester Black

1745 Stout St

Denver CO 80299-7500

Congressman

Ed Perlmutter

415 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Phone: 202.225.2645

Fax: 202.225.5278

According to a press release, dated June 5, 2009, the United States Postal Service is opening a Contract Postal Unit ( CPU ) at the University of Colorado Denver Campus in Aurora, sometime in August 2009. This appears to represent a replacement facility for the decades-old Fitzsimons Station Post Office.

While the release seems to trumpet the convenience to workers, patients and nearby residents, it fails to note that the same convenience has been available for many decades at the existing Fitzsimons site.

Limited Services

In addition, it fails to note that not all currently available products and services will be available at the new office. It appears probable that Post Office box service, among many others, will not be offered.

Amateur Employees

Additionally, rather than well-trained, professional Postal employees, the newer office will  probably rely on short-term part-time students and book store casual help, who have not spent more than a few hours learning the myriad mailing requirements that a career employee must master.

No Further Aurora Post Offices Scheduled to Close.

Hoffman Heights Post Office Taken off Chopping Block