Is the Post Office a victim of the changing face of retail?

Currently one in five rural Post Offices have fewer than 70 customers a week, meaning that 90% of the rural network operates at a loss to Post Office Ltd. As the first announcements of Post Office closures are made, I can’t help but think we’re staring missed opportunity right in the face. For instance, when the National Lottery was first set up in 1995, with hindsight the perfect outlet for rural ticket sales was the local Post Office. Lottery sales totalled £5.1 billion in the first 13 months of operation, representing about 3 per cent of retail spending according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. National Lottery ticket sales for the year to 31 March 2007 were £4,911.4 million. Whether such a move would have saved rural PO’s is debatable, but lottery sales to appear to be fairly steady. However, 13 years after the Lottery start up the face of urban retailing is changing rapidly and today I like thousands of others, buy my lottery tickets on-line and I simply await the email to tell me of exactly how many millions we’ve won.

I can remember our first trip to New York in the mid ‘80s. I was like a kid in a sweet shop. Record stores abounded and I’d spend hours flicking through sleeves finding previously unheard of titles. Last month in Los Angeles I found one DVD/CD store in Hollywood! The fact is I can do my browsing from the comfort of my own home and buy cheaper from someone whose overheads are just warehouse costs and staff. Prohibitive rents and commercial rates stifle any budding entrepreneur from establishing a traditional alternative and that’s without the giant supermarket chains squeezing the life out of every High Street in the land by offering to sell everything from groceries to computers, clothes, furniture and televisions.

I became acutely aware of that even more so this morning. I happened to drop off our daughter’s car for an MOT and walking a few yards towards home awaiting Julie picking me up, I couldn’t help but nose at the recycling boxes awaiting emptying. Each and every one had numerous wine and beer empties. When the supermarkets sell a fairly decent bottle of wine for £5-6, is it any wonder pubs in the UK have been closing at a rate of 27 a week over the past year with 1,409 pubs closing during 2007? The closure rate in 2007 was seven times faster than 2006 and 14 times faster than in 2006. Folks simply refuse to pay the £3-5 for a 175ml glass of wine which absorbs all the overheads a public house experiences.

Of course many will rightly argue that rhe rural Post Office fulfils a need way beyond that of selling stamps. It was a social occasion for my Taid to collect his pension from the PO in Llanerchymedd, catching up on the ‘hanes’ since the week previous. I’d agree and I know that the social aspect is important for many especially the elderly. Sadly I suspect the Post Office like many others, is simply a victim of the changing face of retail and only those that are community-run with a viable business plan will stand any chance of a long-term future.


nick