• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Village Post Offices are New Old Idea

By Becky McCray

The US Postal Service is bringing back a very old idea in an attempt to keep afloat in very modern times. The USPS is studying more than 3,600 post office locations for possible closure. At the same time, it’s looking to contract with about 2,500 small grocery and convenience stores to create “village post offices.”

The new Village Post Office

Hopeton Post Office
Hopeton, Oklahoma 73746
Already slated for closure.

The Postal Service will be looking for these small stores to contract with, including groceries, pharmacies and other retailers. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe made the announcement, along with the closure study list, this week.

“Many of these general stores are hanging on for dear life out there,” Donahoe said. “They can take the money we give them to pay the rent and pay the light bill. We think it’s a real win-win proposal.”

The contracted stores will be in charge of staffing and hours, and their services will be limited. For example, they are not expected to be able to provide certified mail or ship odd sized packages, CNN Money reported.

The original village Post Office
All of this reminds me of Haltom’s store in Hopeton, Oklahoma. When I was a kid in the 1970’s, Haltom’s was the general store and post office. Everett Haltom was the grocer, and Leora was the postmaster. The current Hopeton Post Office is a modular building. It makes no sense as a stand-alone entity. It has already been marked for closure, even before this week’s announcement. Hopeton doesn’t have a store anymore, but we do have a bank, and I would give real money for them to put a “village post office” in there.

A small town business opportunity?
Can small town retailers make a Village Post Office into a profitable sideline? It would take a certain minimum of traffic and population to make it work. There is no indication of how a business would go about volunteering. The process of Federal Government Contracting is never simple. If you’re possibly interested, I recommend you find your state or regional government bid assistance or contracting assistance service to help you with the process.

Thanks to Miss Dazey for prompting me to write about this.

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
  • How small town businesses can market to remote workers and turn them into new customers - May 15, 2023
  • Survey of Rural Challenges 2023 results - May 8, 2023
  • Rural and small town ideas from the OU Placemaking Conference IQC 2023 - April 5, 2023
  • Rural tourism trends say small towns are still cool - March 27, 2023
  • Move Your Money and Bank Local - March 22, 2023
  • Using a building as a warehouse or storage in a small town? Put up a sign - March 13, 2023
  • How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores - February 19, 2023
  • Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info - January 31, 2023
  • Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
  • 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022

July 28, 2011 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: news

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local" Move Your Money, bank local, invest local Multicolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week" Save Your Town logotype

Best of Small Biz Survival

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors

Wide view of a prairie landscape with a walk-through gate in a fence

Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign

Holyoke Hummus Company cart

How one food business keeps adapting, from table to cart to truck, to restaurant and back again

Make extra money from extra workspace: co-working and 3rd workplaces in small towns

Newspaper story headline says, "Made in Dorrigo Markets a bustling success"

Boost your maker economy with a “Made in” day

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2023 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in