Residents and business owners in Five Points are scrambling to save the U.S. Postal Service’s contract postal unit at ADD Drug.
Store owner Kevin Florence said he received notice from postal officials in August about the closure. He subsequently learned that contract units are closing across the country, as part of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s campaign to “restore the USPS’s financial stability.”
The ADD Drug postal unit has been operating since Dec. 1, 1980, when Jim Horton owned the drugstore. A notice from Shaun LaBay, a post office official, says “nearby postal facilities are able to fully serve the community,” meaning that customers can drive to the post office downtown, the main post office on Olympic Drive or a smaller one near Barnes & Noble on Atlanta Highway.
Some customers visit ADD Drug (located at 1695 S. Lumpkin St., next to Earth Fare) to mail a letter or buy stamps several times a week. If the online banter is any indication, they are very upset to think the postal unit could disappear. To express their frustration, they have repeatedly called the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Jackson), as well as Democratic U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
From the ADD Drug postal counter, you can buy stamps and postage supplies, send packages and parcels, and drop off pre-paid mail. During the Christmas holidays, the ADD staff is kept busy weighing, metering and preparing packages for sending.
According to longtime Five Points resident Marilyn Vickers, all the concern has paid off because Mike Collins has promised an inquiry, and LaBay told residents that an appeal to the postmaster general would help. Now, people are staffing a petition table in front of ADD Drug through Saturday, hoping to gather enough signatures to convince DeJoy to change his mind and let the service continue.
According to the notice Florence received, the ADD postal contract unit is expected to close on Sept. 30, before the federal fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
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