The flower shop, run by Ramin Shirazi and his wife, Roya, has a contract postal station that provides most of the same services as the U.S. Postal Service office on Allendale Avenue a short drive away. But the lines at Fernwood Florist are usually shorter, and customers say the Shirazis provide friendlier service. However, Shirazi is contemplating shutting the station, to the dismay of many of his customers.

The postal station has been located at the Quito Village Shopping Center for more than 30 years, first in a drugstore before moving into the flower shop in 1992. Shirazi bought the flower shop in 2001 and has run the postal station in conjunction since then.

But Shirazi said the U.S. Postal Service recently cut the amount it pays him to run the station. He had been paid a flat rate of about $48,000 a year, but when he asked for a higher rate last year, the USPS cut the payment to about $20,000 per year.

Shirazi said that most of his income comes from the flower shop and not the postal station. With rent at $4,800 a month, he said it doesn't make sense to keep the postal station open. He said if the USPS doesn't raise the rate it pays him, he will close the station in February and possibly replace it with a FedEx or UPS station.

On the afternoon of Jan. 24, a steady stream of customers came into Fernwood Florist. Customers included people running errands, business people and seniors. They popped in to the flower shop to buy stamps and mail packages. During a one-hour period, about a dozen people came in to Fernwood Florist, and only one bought flowers.

Local resident John Jenkins said he has been coming to the postal station at the Quito Village Shopping Center for 35 years. He said he regularly goes grocery shopping at Gene's Fine Foods and visits the cleaners and the postal station at Fernwood Florist. "It's a real disappointment to hear it might be closing," he said. "In these days of high gasoline prices, I think it's counter productive to close a neighborhood facility like this and force us to drive further to obtain postal services."

Melody Johnston said she uses Fernwood Florist for her postal services when running errands with her five children. "For people with children, sometimes it's a nightmare to go to the post office," she said.

Rebecca Adams-Nestor also uses Shirazi's postal station while running errands at the Quito Village Shopping Center. "It's much more personalized service," she said.

David Acosta, who works at Alpine Travel of Saratoga around the corner from Fernwood Florist, said, "It's the best-kept secret around." He said it would be a major inconvenience to his business if Shirazi closed the station.

Gus Ruiz, a postal spokesman for the Bay-Valley postal district, said the fee paid by the USPS for contract postal stations is determined by a formula based on revenue. Ruiz said that revenue at Shirazi's postal station has dropped from about $392,000 in 2000 to about $177,000 in 2005.

"The decline can be for any number of reasons," Ruiz said. Because the revenue declined by half, he said, it made sense for the USPS to halve the rate it paid to operate the station.

Ruiz said that Shirazi has not notified the USPS about any plans to shut the station down. "He has to notify us in writing when he plans to do that," he said. "He serves a need, and we're hoping he stays open." But, Ruiz said, "His rate is definitely not going to go up."

A petition on the counter at Fernwood Florist is full of signatures from Shirazi's customers. Shirazi said more than 1,000 people have signed a petition to keep the postal station open. "If they raise the rate, I'll stay open," he said. "I like the customers. Everybody knows me. I'd like to stay open."