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Even the U.S. Postal Service is not immune to the effects of Mountain View’s hot rental market. Thanks to one landlord’s decision, residents living south of El Camino Real will lose their local post office branch on May 24.
A notice on the door of the Blossom Valley post office — which serves the 94040 zip code from an office at 1768 Miramonte Ave. next to Safeway — explains that the closure is “because of the termination of our lease at the landlord’s request,” writes Mountain View postmaster Yogi Singal, who was not available for further comment.
“What a drag,” said resident Janet Wade. “This is convenient, I like this.”
She said she prefers using the relatively quiet post office even though she lives on Shoreline Boulevard near the downtown post office, especially when making a trip to the CVS or the Safeway in the same the strip mall.
As a result, residents in Mountain View’s 94040 zip code will have to travel to the downtown post office at 211 Hope St. to pick up “notice left” mail or mail that needs to be signed for, effective May 24, according to the post office’s announcement.
“That’s going to have a hell of an impact,” said Gary Miles, who had walked with his wife Margarida to the store from their home two blocks away. “We come here all the time.”
“There’s a little old lady I know that comes here everyday, she walks down here for her PO box,” Miles said. “There’s lots of older people over there who walk here to make themselves walk, because it’s good for your health,” Margarida Miles added.
They took note that the nearest post office for them would be 1.2 miles south at Loyola Corners in Los Altos. “We’re not going to be walking, we’re going to be driving,” Gary said. According to Google maps, it’s a 50 minute round trip on foot, but only six minutes by car.
Elderly folks who live in the Villa Sienna nursing home across the street “probably have PO boxes here,” Gary said.
A post office employee said there would be no job losses for the office’s staff members, who sort mail and staff the counter at the office, among other duties. They will soon be employed at other locations, including the downtown office, he said.
Residents in the area are being directed to other post offices, including the Moffett Field Post Office at 67 N. Akron Drive and the main Los Altos post office at 221 Main St. There are also several USPS retail centers where packages can be shipped and mailing supplies purchased, including one in the Blossom Valley shopping center and another at 2409 Leghorn St.
Oh god.. the downtown post office will get even worse.
I absolutely hate going to the post office these days. The service, if you can call it that, is terrible and parking downtown is a total hassle.
Dumb move by the landlord and inconsiderate to all the other retail tenants. I go to Blossom Valley first for the post office, then stay to shop. There are better places to shop and get services like dry cleaning, pet care in Mountain View and the surrounding area.
And the landlord will do what with the space?
I mean, at what point will the insanity stop?
It was bad enough when the DMV closed down and now the post office, this is ridiculous
I hope that this site stays empty for a long, long time. The landlord is really putting it to the area. It will probably be occupied by some after school place for kids, not a real store selling things that people need.
That postal branch has been there for at least 25 years, that’s how loyalty gets treated. Very short sighted as the economy around here will go south at some point.
The law of Supply And Demand will always win out. The Post Office has to close because the demand is not high enough so supply goes down. If Post Office is in such high demand then there would be more of them not less.
Supply And Demand.
It’s not just the ’60s old-line brigade activists who have civil rights but also landlords in addition to their property rights…at least in America.
I hope Jamba Juice moves in because its time to go digital and drop the snail mail.
I hope there are some improvements at the downtown PO so that there is better access. Even when I park 2-3 blocks away, which happens frequently, I feel in danger crossing the street at the corner. I am currently using a crutch due to a foot injury and there is NO WAY I will chance that intersection on foot. As for Handicapped parking, just laugh!
What a shame that this post office is closing! I went there at least once a week. Used this location all the time to mail parcels in U.S. as well as to Canada. It is now going to be more of a hassle to drive to the other branches. As another person said, the convenience of this post office was nice as you could also do shopping after at CVS and then Safeway. Guess I won’t be doing as much shopping now in this center either. I probably will go to Nob Hill more now as they offer postal services inside their store. Too bad the landlord couldn’t work something out for the post office to stay at this location. Guess the landlord doesn’t live in the neighborhood.
I am sad to see the post office go, but I am more concerned about the obvious bias in the way the story was reported. To say that the PO lost their lease because of the hot rental market without backing that up just sets up battle. While that could be the reason, we don’t really know. The USPS has been consolidating its operations for while due to changes in the marketplace for the services it provides. There may be other reasons too. But to put blame solely on the landlord, implying greed, is just biased. I hope that the publisher and editor of this paper will hold their reporters accountable for providing substantiation for what it portrays as fact, but unless backed up with actual facts, is really opinion.
Shopping Center owner wanted more money.
USPS losing money, couldn’t new rent.
Landlord wants new terms, Post Office wants to keep old terms.
In the end I can live with this (and this is the closest post office to me).
– This particular post office is a disaster. It is a mess and looks like no one cares about it or takes pride in it at all.
– One of their main functions was to be there for pick-up/signature items. They recently cut hours on that even though there are people behind the door chatting and sorting.
– They stopped providing stamp machines, making the place even less useful.
– For normal post office functions you can use the post office in the Safeway next door
– I DO think they need to improve parking/access to the main office on Hope St.
Most of the places in Blossom Valley are unnecessary to most. The grocery store and the Post Office are the 2 necessary stores in the whole place.
What a dumb thing for the landlord to do.
Greedy! The Post Office is a consistent lease. There will probably be something that changes…like the restaurants there and the Yoga place…all changed more than once since I have lived here. Now the bagel store is gone.
For Ron, there is NO POST OFFICE in the Safeway at this shopping center. The only function this Safeway has at Blossom Valley concerning the Post Office is to sell booklets of Stamps. That is all. There is a Mail All Center at the Center. But their prices for services, including selling stamps are higher.
At any rate, I remember a time when this Post Office was very busy. And it was busy all day. I was in there last week and no one was there except one worker at the counter. I am sure there were others behind the other wall (behind the PO Boxes). But it will be sad to see this PO close, despite the downturn in snail mail.
“because of the termination of our lease … at the landlord’s request,” writes Mountain View postmaster Yogi Singal.
some of the above comment posters, need to re-read the above QUOTE.
This is not about USPS supply and demand.
It is about supply and demand. Like the above poster mentioned the traffic in there was almost none. If the post office would be doing more business then it could afford the new lease, but this way it puts the blame on the landlord.
This is America, and people are allowed to do what they want with their property,that is best suited for their interest.
People should be thanking him for the use of his property.
They could open a wine shop, with all the whiners on this article for inventory.
The law of Supply And Demand will always win out. The Post Office has to close because the Demand is not high enough so Supply goes down. If Post Office is in such high Demand then there would be more of them not less.
I hope they put in smoothie store to help sell sugar. People Demand sugar, so Supply goes up. More Supply of sugar, more diabetes and then Demand for my pharma stock goes up.
Supply And Demand rules over everything. I Am Smart.
First, that post office is busier than being given credit for her. There’s generally a line when I go. USPS has also removed many of the mail drops around town. Going to downtown to visit the post office is a major hassle for what would ordinarily be a quick errand.
But I digress. People here are arguing that demand is responsible for this. Is profit margin really built into all of the services at USPS? If I buy a roll of stamps, is the local USPS making a profit? Does it really move the bar on profitability attributed to the local store if they sell 40 vs. 200 rolls of stamps in a day? Maybe there’s more profit margin built into other services, like packages? In any case, as long as the person(s) working the counter are perpetually serving customers, and they can adjust staffing levels to match customer demand, where’s the problem?
I am a regular patron at the Blossom Valley post office. I go there at different times throughout the day…10AM, 2PM, 4PM etc., and I cannot recall there ever NOT being at least one other person in front of me when I have walked in. I will not be using the Hope Street location, as traffic and parking downtown is most unpleasant. I will most likely now patronize the Loyola Corners or Los Altos location.
Too bad the nearby residents are losing this conveniently located and easily accessible post office.
Not enough Demand for this post office so must bring Supply down. Bye-bye Post Office. That is Supply and Demand.
The Law of Supply and Demand says that only the most Demanded products and services will be Supplied. That is Supply and Demand.
Everything is Supply and Demand. Ask a question and I will tell you Supply and Demand. I am Smart.
“I go there at different times throughout the day…10AM, 2PM, 4PM etc., and I cannot recall there ever NOT being at least one other person in front of me when I have walked in. ”
Wow..so two whole people use this post office. I think the post office should have agreed to the massive rent increase asked for by the landlord…NOT!
“Wow..so two whole people use this post office. I think the post office should have agreed to the massive rent increase asked for by the landlord…NOT!”
–> No, that’s not what I was implying, but you already knew that. I could have said often times I am there during off-peak hours and the line is 4+ people long, which would be accurate, but I chose to be more conservative in my statement basically trying to convey that the post office has never been “empty” when I have been there during what might be considered “off-peak” hours.
Also, why the snark when posters express their disappointment with the closing of this post office location? What’s up with that?
Ah, so NOW your story is: “I could have said often times I am there during off-peak hours and the line is 4+ people long, which would be accurate.. ”
So, there are 5+ people that use it at any given time. Sounds like it didn’t get much use so could not afford to pay the landlord’s new rate. The good news is that it is a nice bike ride over to the downtown post office, Los Altos or even the Nob Hill in-store service. Very healthy and will reduce carbon emissions.
SoBusy: “The good news is that it is a nice bike ride over to the downtown post office, Los Altos or even the Nob Hill in-store service. Very healthy and will reduce carbon emissions.”
~~~~~
Evidently you live in a world not touched by disability. Lucky you.
Ah, the plot thickens… Apparently there are now 5 or so disabled residents who must visit the post office regularly so the USPS must pay the massive rent increase to stay in place.
SoBusy,
It’s a shame that evidently the only method of online engagement you appear to be capable of is snark, but I don’t doubt you will be able to find others who will play your little online game with you.
Peace out.
I am very concerned that the post office closed. That means I might have to spend an extra five minutes getting to one of the others in the area. That’s 10 MINUTES extra added on to my traveling.
Now, I drive over to the post office 5 times weekly and between 3 and 4 times/day. That is say, conservatively 15 trips/week x 10 minutes =
150 minutes additional/week =
2.5 hours weekly =
Approximately 130 hours/year!
Now, I live in the Cuesta Park neighborhood, so my times is worth more than most. If I could charge for my time, the rate would be $275.00/hr.
That means that thanks to this post office closing, I am losing $35,750 annually.
And that is just me. From what I read, there are five other regular post office users that would be impacted as well.
So 5 users x $35,750 = $178,750! Can this country really lose this revenue stream?
Please everybody, write the Postmaster General and ask him to address this economy collapsing problem immediately.
Thank you fellow citizens!
MvResident67 wrote:
“Too bad the nearby residents are losing this conveniently located and easily accessible post office.”
I feel your pain. I was crushed when the St. James Infirmary burned down. Now I have to travel miles to a dive bar.
So sad to see this post office close. It was there when I purchased my home in 1980. I will not go to Hope Street PO – downtown is getting too congested with reckless drivers, out-of town visitors and influx of new people. Why can’t they transfer 94040 pickup to Loyola Corner PO. Much more convenient and less congestion.
Thanks Jay Park for remembering the St. James Infirmary. I remember the place as well. I would go there many times for lunch with my father, especially in the 1970’s. I cried when the place burned down. But no incentive to rebuild it. Now I go to “The Boardwalk”, but that is in Los Altos.
It will still be a sad day when the Blossom Valley PO closes for business after they close up shop on Friday the 23rd.
This particular post office is the most convenient and quickest to serve us in the area. The person who is withdrawing from the post office their option to continue renting should be informed by all of us that we will not do business with his new higher paying renter that follows in place of our community post office, because we do not want to reinforce his greed with our patronage that we will give to our community post office only, but not the successor.
Let’s organize this and make it so serious he’ll give up on it.
Yes, I know it is his right to rent to whomever he wants, but think of the serious president it sets for all landlords who reward themselves with money at the expense of the good of the community in which they own. This behavior is spreading all over MV.
All the new, more expensive big builds flatten the affordable rental places leaving regular working stiffs no place to live at all.
And look at the Milk Pail, so loved by it’s community, which is required to have 15 more parking spaces or go out of business on the land owned by Milk Pail! Yet new small marts can be considered “walk in” and be approved with no parking provided at all! Milk Pail’s community can walk in as well, serving so many that live across the street from it, as well as those who will be living in Phase II right there!
So let’s let it be known we’ll boycott this greedy guy who is kicking out our post office! And let’s shout about the Milk Pail, too.
Let’s fight all this bad stuff!
Background of story:
Apparently it is not well known that the store front that the post office had long been planned to be freed up, allowing the post office to downsize to another store front in the same strip mall. It was not going to be terminated by the postal service because of it’s continuing popularity. So it made it through the cuts the U.S. Postal Service has suffered. And this is important because we need both fast and snail speed mail to be a strong country.
It was the landlord of the strip mall that changed up on letting the post office relocate to a smaller location at Blossom Valley. They never needed as large of a back room for sorting, and the move was to freshen it up and improve the customer side of it. But the landlord probably thinks that he can get more rent with some other business. But those do come and go and the P.O. was a steady lease. The landlord is not patriotic or caring about the community.
I say let’s inform the landlord that we want the P.O. and won’t step up to do business with the new comer at the post office’s expense. Boycott!
Though this may be landlord-driven, the USPS should feel some responsibility to provide easy access to residents. This move comes shortly after USPS opted to remove several neighborhood post box drops, leaving the option to drive to downtown, or leave letters to be mailed in one’s mailbox (not the secure way I’d like to mail my letters).
If they’re now shutting down a satellite office, USPS should re-install neighborhood mail drops. They’re not out of the way for a postman on his regular daily route, and would add significant convenience for residents (not to mention reducing car trips, and helping the parking situation downtown).
Easy fix: repeal the federal law which forbids private companies from delivering mail, and watch them compete for your business. The post office is terrible as a business, and the only reason to go is because nobody else is allowed to deliver letters, just packages.
The post office downtown is way too hectic. However, there is still USPS at Nob Hill.
Losing money left and right the post office is. The pension and the cost of new employees is driving the Post Office out of business.
“If the U.S. Postal Service was a private corporation, it would be out of business by now, but Congress seems intent, at least for the moment, on keeping it alive — even though it’s losing $25 million a day.”
http://www.newsmax.com/US/post-office-congress-pensions/2013/05/28/id/506654/
Seems like every company the govt. runs is failing badly. That’s what happens when govt. become too big, fraud and corruption.
The Nob Hill market over on Grant Road (just down Cuesta and take a left from Blossom Valley) is an excellent alternative to that Safeway. It also has a post office service counter that is open from 8am till 7pm M-F. That’s very convenient. You can not only buy stamps but also ship packages too.
The Los Altos post office on down Miramonte has a teensy parking lot and it’s not as convenient to go there. Since the Los Altos old main post office closed, people from all over Los Altos pick up packages at that Miramonte location.
Did the same landlord run fro yo out of the plaza? Now there will be no reason yo visit the plaza.
the New York Times reports:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/us/politics/postal-service-reports-loss-of-1-9-billion-in-2nd-quarter.html?_r=0
@jUst the Factsplease
What is this New York Times nonsense you’re spewing? I won’t trust anything less than The New York Post!
A response to Joe about the Fro Yo closing at the plaza; the landlord did not have anything to do with the owner closing up shop a month or two ago. The owner suddenly decided to call it quits and retire. There was hardly anyone coming inside wanting a fro yo. The owner was just sitting down waiting for the kids to come in. I guess they did not come in as much as he wanted them to. So he decided to retire and close his business.
I read a pet food store (chain) is going in.
Perhaps Carl’s Jr can come in and take over the PO spot…
Voice,
What’s your policy on choosing the 3 former articles that appear in the Town Square segment that comes with the daily news email?
Some of these are stale with very few posts; other topics are quickly removed despite significant activity (ie Dog runs in Parks).
It doesn’t appear the selection is based on volume. Is there a political process in what’s chosen to remain in view?
If you’re having trouble finding a new post office as an alternative take a quick peek over at http://www.uspostmail.org – they have all the post offices categorized and searched by state/zip/city.
So, is the USPS just taking this as attrition for downsizing? Or will they be looking for a new place to house a post office for the 94040?
I’m curious to know what the landlord’s motivations were. Is he or she going to renovate? Was the landlord looking for an increase in rent? If so, was the USPS willing to pay the increase, but asked to move out anyways?
The USPS has had budget problems for a long time. Here’s a story about how the USPS is planning to close 229 mail processing plants (note: not the same thing is branches): http://www.federaltimes.com/VideoNetwork/1646155541001/FTN-USPS-to-cut-28-000-jobs-close-229-plants-by-2014
I wouldn’t be surprised if a desire to consolidate operations on the USPS’s behalf played into this decision.
The following comment was posted to a duplicate thread, which has been removed from the site:
Just another example of how MV has gone downhill from too many jobs and too much Google driving up rents and making the city unlivable. It’s time the City Council put a freeze on ALL new office space for at least a couple years, and do everything they can to get Google to build and relocate as many employees as possible to some other locations.
by BadMV May 15, 2014 at 11:13 pm