USPS Village Post Office In A KY Liquor Store

Is this what the USPS is coming to? Establishing a Village Post Office inside a liquor store? I've heard of them in convenience stores, hardware stores and even laundromats, but a liquor store seems so far removed from the signal the USPS would want to send to its customers.

One of the commenters even points out that the USPS forbids liquor on its Postal Service properties, but I guess its okay the other way around.

Although it is still illegal to ship liquor via the USPS, with the ability of this liquor store to ship flat rate boxes, one has to wonder if it may happen.

http://www.wkyt.com/wymt/home/headl...0197971.html

I looked up the town and its population is 334, so I'd imagine there's not a ton of options as far as businesses able to host it. And a good point was mentioned in the article - liquor stores are usually open late! That being said, I'm glad I don't have to use that "post office". I don't frequent liquor stores for very good reasons and I wouldn't start doing so just because I could buy stamps there.

Sounds like a contract station, which have been around for as long as I can remember. If so, then the clerk is actually an employee of the store.

I have to say, that it has been my experience that the contract employees tend to be a LOT friendlier and more efficient. New contract stations usually have a learning curve and don't always know what they are doing at first -- but then again, the same could be said of postal service employees. Not that there aren't great postal employees (I've met more than a few), but generally speaking there tends to be considerable difference in service quality between contract and postal service employees. Of course, the contract stations offer very limited postal services and have a lot fewer postal stuff/headaches to deal with.

I agree that it is a strange choice for a contract station. If this was 30 years ago, I wonder if they might have spun the 1981 "Alcoholism" stamp to mean something else!

That's located in a very, very rural and poor part of Kentucky. I'm surprised it's not in a dry country and even has a liquor store. I've seen a few other odd postal combos before - post office / hair salon.

Since minors are not allowed in liquor stores most anywhere, and since post offices must be accessible by anyone, I would imagine there are clearly defined liquor store and post office spaces in the single storefront. I can imagine a line on the floor/wall and a sign saying "This is the post office, that is the liquor store. Minors are not allowed past the line" or something like that.

And I wouldn't count on the liquor store being open late with a population of 334.

The county that Vicco resides is surrounded by three dry counties. You'll be surprised how much business a liquor store adjacent to a dry county can muster.

khj: there is a big difference between a Contract Post Office and a Village Post Office.

Contract (Community) Post Offices are full service post offices run by a private business. The only difference between CPOs and regular post offices is that the clerk(s) are employees of the private business.

Quoting from an article I wrote about the Bennington College, VT Contract Station in the August 2010 Vermont Philatelist:

The CPO Supplier must meet the following criteria set forth by the United States Postal Service:
•Supplier's space cannot be owned or leased by the U.S. Postal Service
•A surety bond may be required
•No surcharges can be added to Postal products or services
•Contracts are competitive
•Contracts cannot be awarded to Postal Service employees or members of their immediate families
•Contracts are set up with an indefinite end date"

VPOs are not full service post offices. They only have Forever definitives on sale and no other stamps. They also have mailing supplies. That's about all. They don't even have a postmarking device. VPS are basically a place to receive mail.

Glenn Estus
Editor, The Vermont Philatelist.

Being a eBayer (and a minor...) I would hope that the post office was separated somehow from the liquor store :D