Downtown Northfield Post Office Could Close

Downtown Northfield could soon be without a post office.

Peter Nowacki, a spokesperson for the United States Postal Service, said Monday that the is one of 16,000 sites nationwide being considered for closure.

The USPS is considering consolidating the downtown location, which was built in 1936, with Northfield’s carrier annex on the south end of town, Nowacki said. It's too early to know the potential impact on employees, he added.

Last week, the Postmaster General told Congress that despite trimming $9 billion in costs, the United States Postal Service wouldn’t survive as a self-financing entity without significant changes to current law, according to a USPS press release.

Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said during the last two fiscal years, according to the release, the Postal Service has reduced costs by some $9 billion and the plan is to take out another $2 billion in 2011. But the Postal Service still lost a “staggering” $8.5 billion in 2010 and is projecting to be in the red this year by $6.4 billion.

Donahoe says he is in the process of aligning every aspect of the Post Service around four key strategies:

• the business-to-consumer channel by innovating to enhance the value of mail

• improving the customer experience by making every transaction a positive one

• competing for the package business

• becoming leaner, faster and smarter by simplifying rules and streamlining its network.

There are about 32,000 post offices throughout America.

Nearly 500 branches closed last year. Donahoe is expected to announce later this month plans for closures and reductions.