(Image: Post Options)

Small businesses and entrepreneurs around Capitol Hill and the Central District are losing valuable resources as summer ends with the closure of two neighborhood mailbox and business center shops.

Veti Cmoesongrsi and Nongnuch Paungpornsri agonized this week as they announced their decision to permanently close Post Options and end efforts to rebuild the mailbox and small business center that has served Capitol Hill restaurants, bars, shops, salons, tattoo parlors, etc., and an amazingly diverse roster of B corps, C corps, S corps, LLCs, and more for 13 years.

Meanwhile, in the Central District, The Postman business center is also closing.

On Capitol Hill, the decision to close Post Options did not come easily.

“After weeks of emotionally draining and frantic effort to try and rebuild our former operation, we came to the realization that we do not have enough in us to rebuild, restart, and run the Post Options the way we did before,” the owners said in a message to supporters and customers who contributed to a community fundraiser started after the E Pike business center was charred in a damaging accidental electrical fire in July.

The effort to keep Post Options going included the massive outpouring of support from the fundraiser and also efforts by the neighborhood business community to lend a hand. Post Options has been operating in a temporary location — a currently shuttered “Christmas dive bar —  hastily organized with the help of neighboring businesses.

Amid tinsel and Santa decorations inside the 11th Ave bar turned temporary mailing center, Cmoesongrsi and Paungpornsri fought back tears as they explained the decision to CHS Friday morning.

“We could not start over,” Cmoesongrsi said. Neither has had a full day off in 13 years. Starting over at day one of reopening their Capitol Hill business was more than they could give, the couple said.

With thoughts on their customers, Cmoesongrsi and Paungpornsri have promised to keep Post Options running through the end of September to give existing mailbox customers time to make new arrangements.

At MLK and Union, another mailbox business is closing. KeAnna Rose Pickett announced she is permanently closing The Postman on August 31st.

Pickett had carried The Postman forward at the corner following the 2022 shooting that killed her husband D’Vonne Pickett, Jr. outside the business but said that the weight of the tragedy plus recent crime in the area made it impossible for her to continue.

Mailbox and business centers are a strange little corner of 2025-era small business. Cmoesongrsi says UPS Stores and the remaining United States Postal Service centers continue to shape the industry at the largest scale. There remains room for smaller efforts like Post Options thanks to simple things like location, and customer service. Around Capitol Hill, Cmoesongrsi said nearby Postal Plus on E Denny Way is likely to get a push of new customers with the closure.

Meanwhile, another neighborhood business damaged by smoke and water during the fire response will reopen soon. Neighboring bar Unicorn is preparing to welcome revelers again after an overhaul and repairs

For Cmoesongrsi and Paungpornsri, the realities of age and the challenges of small business added up. Cmoesongrsi said the energy and effort required to start a new location from scratch was more than they could handle. They found themselves most challenged by living up to the support the community had shown through the fundraiser.

Looking at the situation, they made a decision that was painful but necessary.

“Over the course of our journey, we saw many changes in Capitol Hill. Many events happened but we survived, thanks to all the help we got from our customers and community,” they wrote in their closing announcement. “However, this time the obstruction is too large, and our strength is too low, we cannot get over it.”

Cmoesongrsi said Friday they will always be grateful for the acceptance and support they found on Capitol HIll — from that very first day. Cmoesongrsi tells a story of the woman that came in as they were wrapping up their first holiday season at Post Options. She brought in Christmas treats and thanked them for being part of the neighborhood. The same neighbor kept up the holiday tradition every year. Capitol Hill has been that kind of place for them, Cmoesongrsi and Paungpornsri say.

For a couple more weeks in this strange Christmas dive bar turned mailing center filled with gratefulness, Post Options will be there for the neighborhood.

You can read the full Post Options announcement here.

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