COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A Marathon gas station and convenience store near Columbus, Ohio, has pulled out a Subway restaurant and is putting in a post office, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
I think it speaks to the convenience of convenience stores, company spokesperson Linda Casey told the newspaper.
A gas station/post office combination is rare, but it speaks to a broader trend, Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) added. It's about the customer it attracts.
Men, he said, [image-nocss] are more likely than women to use a station or c-store as their drug store, picking up a few extra items here and there. Most women do not, he said, but a post office could change the equation. It's likely to attract more females, and that's something all convenience stores are trying to do. You want to appeal to 100% of the population, not just half of it.
The Marathon station sits just south of Polaris Fashion Place on the busiest stretch of Polaris Parkway, where more than 50,000 cars and trucks pass each day, said the report. It is about three miles from the nearest post office in Westerville, Ohio.
We put them in areas where there's growth and we see a need, U.S. Postal Service spokesperson Ray Jacobs told the paper.
The Marathon location will be a contract post office staffed by c-store workers and not U.S. Postal Service workers. All services will be available except passports and post-office boxes, the report said.
Jacobs said there are 44 contract post offices in central and southeast Ohio, primarily in card shops and grocery stores, but this will be the first in a gas station. He said the Postal Service solicited bids in the Polaris area, and Marathon won. Jacobs said the arrangement is good for everyone: The business makes money and attracts customers by selling postal products; the Postal Service saves on labor and construction costs; and the public gets a new post office.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.