It's easy to believe your local post office will always be there when you need it. But the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) may have no choice but to suspend services at your go-to facility under any number of circumstances, like severe weather, lease issues, or safety hazards. These closures are often only temporary, but that's not always the case. In fact, postal customers in different states are facing new post office closures—and one will have permanent consequences. Read on to find out more about the latest closures, which start today.
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The USPS is permanently closing a post office in New Jersey.
iStockResidents in Longport, New Jersey, no longer have a local Postal Service facility to call home. The Longport Post Office is marked as permanently closed on Google, and a recent news report from Downbeach.com also confirmed the closure.
In a July 31 local press release, the USPS announced that services at the facility had been impacted "due to an expired lease and subsequent building sale."
A majority of post offices across the U.S. are not actually owned by the Postal Service. Instead, more than 25,300 of the agency's facilities are leased out. In terms of the Longport Post Office, realtor Matt Vassallo of Compass Real Estate told Downbeach.com that the owner of the building decided not to renew the facility's lease, because they are trying to sell the property.
"It closed on Saturday, but today is the final day of the lease," Vassallo told the outlet.
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The facility's operations are being moved.
iStockAs a result of the lease expiring, the USPS has decided to relocate the Longport Post Office's services. Starting Aug. 1, all retail operations will be moved to the Margate Post Office in Margate City, New Jersey, the Postal Service confirmed in its release. P.O. Box services will also move to the Margate facility, which is located about two miles away.
"P.O. Box mail for Longport Post Office customers will be delivered seamlessly to new boxes at Margate Post Office," the USPS said. "Customers should present their old P.O. Box key along with valid identification to pick up mail at the Margate Post Office."
When Best Life reached out to the USPS to see if there are plans to find a new location for the Longport Post Office, spokesperson Xavier Hernandez said that "postal officials are reviewing local options."
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The agency is also suspending services at a North Carolina post office.
iStockSome Raleigh, North Carolina residents will also be unable to access their local post office later this week. But unlike the Longport Post Office closure, this suspension is only set to last a few days.
According to a July 28 update to the USPS Service Alerts website, the Century Finance Station in Raleigh will be "temporarily closed" starting Aug. 3. The post office is expected to be shuttered to customers through Aug. 5 because of repairs.
"During this closure, retail and PO Box services will be available at the Capital Station," the Postal Service said in its alert.
Also in Raleigh, the Capital Station facility is located less than a mile away from the Century Finance Station post office.
Best Life reached out to the USPS to find out more information about this closure, and we will update this story with their response.
These are not the only facilities that have been impacted recently.
ShutterstockPostal customers in New Jersey and North Carolina are hardly the only ones dealing with service disruptions right now.
Early last month, severe flooding in Vermont pushed the USPS to temporarily close several facilities across the state. And on July 27, the Postal Service sent out a new alert to inform residents that a post office in Montpelier is still shuttered as result.
"We're hoping to reoccupy the Montpelier facility as quickly as feasible," USPS spokesperson Stephen Doherty previously told Best Life. "However it did suffer extensive damage from recent flooding and there is no timetable established as yet."
Prior to this, the agency also suspended services at facilities in Indiana and Ohio. The Wheeler Post Office in Indiana has been closed temporarily "for building repairs," which USPS spokesperson Desai Abdul-Razzaaq told Best Life were prompted by plumbing issues in the building.
And in Ohio, the agency closed both the Prospect Post Office and Commercial Point Post Office because their leases had expired.
