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City Beat
Collectors' window to close at WG P.O. station
The postal service is cutting costs, and consolidating its services
By Kate Carter
The U.S. Postal Service is closing its only San Jose location for stamp collectors to buy freshly-issued sheets and other collectable paraphernalia.
The philatelic (stamp collecting) window at the Willow Glen Post Office, 1750 Meridian Ave., will shut down after 5 p.m., Aug. 24. The closing was sparked by a need to cut the office's costs, said station manager David Chirayunon.
"The postal service is going through some tough times right now," he said. "The economy is not very promising right now. We had to do something to work within our budget."
Earlier this year the postal service said it would be facing a $1.5 to $3 billion deficit by this September, spokesman Gus Ruiz said. The service has been cutting costs and this year raised stamp rates, including, among others, the first-class stamp rate from 33 cents to 34 cents in January and the two-ounce and postcard rates in July. The service also considered, but rejected, the idea of eliminating its Saturday delivery service several months ago, he said.
Philatelic windows sell only commemorative stamps that are issued several times a month as well as collector's albums and displays. When the window closes, the other clerks will also sell the philatelic stamps and items, Ruiz said. Closing the Meridian station's philatelic window, he said, is one more way the postal service hopes to reduce its projected deficit to $1 billion.
"It makes better business sense," he said. "The window itself doesn't generate the kind of traffic that warrants a window. But we will still be able to meet all of our customers' needs."
Chirayunon agreed that the station's stamp collecting window is not receiving enough customers or income to justify its expense, and the window clerks were often unoccupied.
"Philatelic service at this point in time is not generating as much as it used to," Chirayunon said. "It's not as constant as it used to be."
Bob Lamb, spokesman for the American Philatelic Society based in Pennsylvania, said stamp collecting, or philately, has been around for more than 100 years and is still "very healthy." The society has about 52,000 members, he said, and it is estimated that there are between 150,000 and 200,000 serious stamp collectors and 20 million collectors of some sort in the U.S.
"It's possibly the largest collectibles hobby in the world," Lamb said. "One of the good things about stamp collecting is you can do it any way you want. Our members are buying more in different ways. It's better than a martini."
Though the postal service is closing its philatelic windows all over the country, the main philatelic distribution center is in Kansas City, from which many collectors order their stamps by mail, according to Lamb.
Ruiz said ordering stamps through the mail is very convenient and requires only that a person fill out an order form available at any post office, drop it in the mail--it doesn't require a stamp--and the order will be filled the next day. He said stamps are also available by phone: 800.99.STAMP; by fax: 800.STAMP.24; or online: www.usps.com. Ruiz said the postal service is considering including philatelic items at its satellite station in Willow Glen's Garden Theater, 1165 Lincoln Ave., Suite 150.
Chirayunon said the streamlining efforts should benefit both the postal service and its customers.
"It's nothing to do with trying to drive customers out," Chirayunon said. "The more money we use, the more we're going to have to charge you."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
