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‘SAVE OUR POST OFFICE’ — 15th Ave E meeting to help Postal Plus find a new home

Zhang (Image: CHS)

Zhang (Image: CHS)

As what could be the biggest change for the street in decades plays out, the community around 15th Ave E’s shops and restaurants is coming together to help make a smaller change in the neighborhood work out for a longtime neighborhood business.

In October, CHS reported that mailing and package services stop Postal Plus was faced with doubling rent and needed to find a new home. Sunday, a neighborhood meeting organized by resident Ellen Taft is being held at Victrola to help postmaster Ed Zhang find a new home:

SAVE OUR POST OFFICE

Taft says Sen. Patty Murray Rep. Pramila Jayapal aide Raman Khanna will be on hand for the meeting.

The business situation around Postal Plus is more complicated than most small ventures on the street.

The US Post Office pays contract retailers like Zhang a flat fee, regardless of other expenses, to independently run a de-facto post office with the ability to offer other services. Zhang has been searching for a cheaper location on Capitol Hill, which would need to be in the 98112 zip code to keep his USPS contract. Zhang said he may also consider selling the contract to someone else to keep a USPS location operating in the area. Last we talked to him a few weeks ago, he said the search hadn’t turned up any leads.

Without Postal Plus, Capitol Hill residents and businesses would be left with using the post office on Broadway or Post Options at 12th and Pike.

The exit of Postal Plus would present an obvious opportunity for Ruckus, the recreational marijuana shop crammed into a small space next door in this small corner of Capitol Hill where zoning laws interact to provide one of the few areas in Central Seattle where cannabis retail is allowed. Owner Sam Burke told CHS in October he was interested in expanding. “I would be nuts not to,” he said. Competitor Uncle Ike’s opened across the street that month — with a small berth for longtime neighborhood business and former Postal Plus neighbor, Angel’s Shoe Repair.

Uncle Ike’s is a longtime CHS advertiser.

The last day before Postal Plus must move out is March 31st.

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Pete
Pete
7 years ago

I asked him a week or two ago and he mentioned that he’d be moving down by Bakery Nouveau, but maybe that fell through or I misunderstood.

Serra Bobearra
Serra Bobearra
7 years ago

That’s such a shame. The business is a gem in the Cap Hill community. Making way for another city weed store, eh? Lame. I moved to Ravenna Postal Plus, come here! We’ll love you!