Changes announced by the U.S. Postal Service will mean slower delivery times for first class mail and fewer mail processing centers nationwide, starting next spring.
At a news briefing Monday, postal vice president David Williams said the cash-strapped agency wants to virtually eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day, to avert possible bankruptcy next year.
The cuts could slow everything from check payments to Netflix's DVSs-by-mail, while adding costs to mail-order prescription drugs and threatening the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carriers.
The latest changes in service, along with those already implemented, could have a big impact on business at Coastal Direct Marketing Solutions, a Myrtle Beach printing and direct mail firm, said company officials.
"I think a lot of my customers will think twice about going the route of direct mail for their advertising purposes and it's really sad because it really does still drive a lot of business," said customer service manager Sharon Kolumba.
Coastal Direct's business has suffered from previous USPS cuts, Kolumba said. "Already we've had some issues with customers seeing that their mail's not being delivered in a timely manner."
Kolumba said it's all a sign of the times. Her company's direct mail business starting suffering as the Internet became increasingly popular for communication, though she said bulk mail marketing still has advantages the web cannot offer.
Kolumba pointed out there is still only one mailbox at each household. "When those people open their mailbox and they pull out your advertising piece, you're still the only one in their hands. I don't think it will ever die. I think the smart marketers will keep doing direct mail, because it works."
Patrons of the Carolina Forest Post Office agreed that times have changed and cuts in service from the postal service come as no big surprise.
"I believe with the way the Internet is now, 90 percent of the people are probably using email. Very few letters get mailed," said Bill White, who waited in the post office parking lot as his father sent some holiday mail.
Digital communication is the way society is moving today and that can't be changed, said Kip McCarty of Carolina Forest. "People are becoming more acclimated to the fact that you can do stuff electronically. It's quick, it's simple, it's just a new age."
That doesn't mean that reductions in service sit well with everyone. Lise McCaffrey went to the Carolina Forest post office Monday to purchase stamps for Christmas cards, only to find that there were no stamp vending machines in the lobby. She's not looking forward to further postal service cuts. "I'm not happy with it, I don't agree with it," McCaffrey said.
Kolumba doesn't believe that private carriers provide an answer to the postal service's woes. They would be too cost-prohibitive, she said. "There's not been any information that I've seen where FedEx or UPS can offer the same type of discounted services that the postal service has been offering."
Postal service officials said first class mail volume dropped to 78 billion pieces in 2010, from more than 100 billion in 2001. Officials said the announced cuts would save up to $3 billion by 2015.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
