USPS removes four Northwest Philly post offices from potential closure list

Officials with the U.S. Postal Service said this week that four Northwest Philadelphia post offices are no longer on the chopping block.

In July, the USPS announced it would start studying 3,700 of its 32,000 retail stores for possible closure. That list included locations in Roxborough, Manayunk, East Falls and East Germantown.

Spokesperson Cathy Yarosky said those stores are safe for now, but could not provide specific reasons for the change. She said a number of factors, including new data and customer input, are often part of the decision-making process.

“We look at a lot of criteria when considering an office for closure: proximity to other postal services; expected savings; transportation and logistics networks, so any of these could have been a factor or factors,” said Yarosky in an email.

The news came as the USPS continues to search for ways to offset billions in lost revenue as people continue to use traditional post offices less and less for their mailing needs.

As part of that effort, the USPS announced Monday that it wants to diminish its first-class mail service by eliminating next-day deliveries. Officials did not address possible closures.

The Postal Service is looking to make $3 billion worth of cuts to avoid going bankrupt. Those measures must be reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission before taking effect.