SEATTLE - Since 1964, the four-story U.S. Post Office on Lower Queen Anne has been the "go to" location for downtown dwellers to send mail, pick up letters and buy stamps.
Julieta Links has been going there for 20 years.
"I love this one 'cause I live close by," she said.
Links cringed at the news that it's now up for sale.
"It would be too bad 'cause we need this Queen Anne post office," she said.
The U.S. Postal Service says it just can't afford to keep it.
"We're losing far too much money and mail volume is way down due to economic times," said Postal Service spokesperson Ernie Swanson.
Technology is taking over, and people are moving to e-mail and bill-paying online, which Swanson says means there's less need for the brick and mortar.
"It's just a matter of time that this was going to happen because of the Internet," said Post Office patron Erlinda Partridge.
The other post offices for sale include Kent, Bremerton, Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland and Port Townsend. In each case, the post office wants to sell what it owns and rent instead.
Swanson says over the past few years the post office has seen a sharp decrease in the number of people using its services.
"A survey done recently found that last year 30 percent of people were using other means like e-mail and other services. By 2020 we estimate that number will grow to 60 percent," he said.
Swanson says the hope is that the buyer of the Queen Anne location would lease the retail portion of the building to them. If not, Swanson says, they're committed to finding another location on Lower Queen Anne.
