Old Town post office now closed on Saturdays

By Kipp Hanley

Published: October 3, 2008

The Old Town Manassas Post Office will be closed on Saturdays, starting this weekend. The post office will also be slicing an hour off its service time during the week.

Currently, the office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays.

The office will be closed from 2 to 3 p.m. under the new weekday schedule.

"It's very inconvenient for people working Monday through Friday," said Annuel Ninger, a city resident who has been coming to the Church Street location since she moved to the area 15 years ago. "... They are only thinking of themselves, they're not thinking of the working-class people."

Rebecca Neiss, a city resident and owner of Apple 1 Enterprises on Prince William Street, called the removal of Saturday hours "disappointing.

"Personally, it's my only opportunity to go to the post office," Neiss said. "It's like the bank not being open on Saturdays."

According to U.S. Postal Service Northern Virginia District Communications Coordinator Maryanne Wright, evaluations of customer traffic patterns showed that Saturdays and the midday hours between 2 and 3 p.m. were slower than normal at the Old Town office. Overall, retail transactions were down 9 percent from last year at the same office, said Wright.

That lost revenue translated to the national level as USPS reported a $1.1 billion loss last quarter.

Wright encouraged customers to visit the Sudley Road branch in Manassas and also stated that those with post office boxes at the Church Street location can still access them 24 hours a day.

Neiss and Ninger have been going to the Church Street location on a regular basis because they said it's more convenient and less crowded than the Sudley Road branch. Ninger said the postal employees are nicer at the Old Town location as well.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-369-5738.