The Holmes Beach contract post office is history.
The post office and the Lucky Shoppe in the S&S Plaza at 5354 Gulf Drive will close June 30.
“The business is going out of business,” Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson announced at the April 13 commission meeting. He received a phone call from the U.S. Postal Service notifying him of intent to terminate the post office contract.
“It’s only been going on since January, apparently,” Johnson said. “We’re looking at options that we may have in front of us, if any, to obtain if possible a contract post office.”
The current owners of the Lucky Shoppe and operators of the post office, Julie Quinlivan and Sally Woodward, said April 28 they notified USPS of their intent to terminate the contract.
“We’ve given the post office our notice,” Quinlivan said. “We are retiring.”
The issue, Johnson said, is people losing their post office boxes in Holmes Beach.
Johnson said one option would be to pursue a new contract with another business, such as Island Mail & More, 3230 E. Bay Drive.
“They’re going to look into the possibility of if they can bring in that contract,” Johnson said.
The opening also could attract a UPS Store to Holmes Beach.
A March 27 email to Johnson from Robert Wright, who works in UPS Store franchise development, speculates on bringing a UPS Store to the island after the contract office closing.
Wright asked whether the city would consider a UPS Store “differently than most typical chain stores,” due to the current moratorium on franchises.
“We intend to offer full-service 24-hour mailboxes, will sign for all incoming packages regardless of carrier, provide full USPS services, including stamp sales, meter mail and priority mail services,” Wright wrote. “Being a part of the local community and working with the current residents, vacationers and local business is our sweet spot.”
The city previously faced possible closure of the contract post office in 2015.
“There’s obviously a lot to do,” Johnson said. “And it has to be done in a very short period of time, and we’ll find out soon enough whether that’s even viable or not or whether we go to no post office. That’s kind of where we are, unfortunately.”
Commissioners meet next at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.
Rebecca StJean here again. Minor correction to the information I put out there earlier. We spoke to Mr. Nevin Thomas who leases the S & S Plaza and he stated the lease was signed. When we spoke to Bob Wright who does Franchise Development for UPS, he said the lease has NOT been signed. We are still asking the commissioners to uphold the current ban on chain stores. While we understand it’s a challenge to displace hundreds of PO Box customers, opening a UPS store in that location is NOT the answer.
Thank you again for your support!
Rebecca St.Jean
Island Mail & More
941-778-1911
Judy–We offer US Mail boxes here as well as US Mail. We do not close for lunch and we are open from 10-2 on Saturdays. Please swing by, we would love to meet you!
The solution for the PO Boxes in Holmes Beach are send some to Anna Maria Post office, some to us, some to home delivery AND a few down to Bridge Street. There is a solution other
than bringing in another competing business which would cannibalize ours.
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Rebecca & Eric StJean
Island Mail & More
3230 East Bay Drive
Holmes Beach, FL 34217
941-778-1911
As the owners of Island Mail & More on Holmes Beach, we feel the need to respond to your comments. Island Mail & More is a full service Pack and Ship store offering UPS, FedEX, DHL as well as US Postal Services. Island Mail & More has been located on the Island for almost 17 years and represents what the Island is all about–Family owned businesses that are part of the community. We are located 1.4 miles from the current contract station and we have plenty of mail boxes to offer the current PO Box customers. The current moratorium is in place to protect business owners from Formula stores. We are asking that the Mayor of Holmes Beach and the current commissioners UPHOLD the current ban on formula stores. There is simply not enough business to support 2 pack and ship stores. The benefit of Island Mail & More is that we offer more than just 1 shipper, offer a variety of other services and provide a solution to the displaced PO Box owners. We are part of the community and are asking our fellow business owners and friends to please call the commissioners and the Mayor and tell them you DO NOT WANT a UPS store moving into the contract station. As Mr. Thomas’s comments suggest, there are other businesses that can move into the space which won’t negatively impact a long standing tax payer and business on the Island.
Please let these elected officials that you do NOT want an exception to the moratorium for this store.
Mayor Bob Johnson 941-447-8323
Commissioner Marvin Grossman 941-284-1300
Commissioner Pat Morto n 941-820-4061
Commissioner Jean Peelen 703-930-0128
Commissioner Judy Titsworth 941-448-5030
Commissioner Carol Soustek 941-400-3888
We appreciate your support in this matter.
Sincerely,
Rebecca & Eric St.Jean Island Mail & More 941-778-1911
PLEASE Call the Mayor and the commissioners and Tell them you Do NOT want the UPS store going in.
The lease is already signed–we spoke to the REP. We need to NOT let the commissioners approve this!!! We need them to enforce the moratorium. The temporary one is up October 31st.
he said he has other businesses to lease this space to.
Mayor Bob Johnson 941-447-8323
County Commissioners:
Pat Morton 941-920-4061
Marvin Grossman 941-284-1300
Jean Peelen 703-903-0128
Judy Titsworth 941-448-5030
Carol Soustek 941-400-3888
Thank you for your help and support!
Rebecca & Eric
941-778-1911
As the representative of the owners of the S & S Plaza which has had the post office as a tenant for way more than 40 years we have done our best to keep the Post Office on the island and in the S & S Plaza. Unfortunately the USPO keeps lowering its payments to its vendors to the point it is not economically viable as a business which is a great loss to the island. It is our opinion the best option to keeping the mail box rentals and other postal type services available to the residents, businesses and tourist is to have the UPS Store in S & S Plaza. I have UPS Stores in other properties and they are a first class operation and offer to many services to list here. The UPS Store falls into the franchise moratorium and on behalf of the residents we urge the City Commission to approve a variance if that is what is appropriate to allow the UPS Store to move forward with its lease agreement to minimalize the disruption of mail box service to hundreds post office box renters. This is not about just renting the space for us, as we have already received numerous calls of interested prospective tenants, so finding a replacement tenant will be easy, however we feel that the island deserves better than what the Post Office is doing to the residents and feel the UPS Store is the best solution for everyone. We would appreciate any support you can give the commission for a positive outcome in approving The UPS Store to come on the island ASAP. Thank You.
The UPS store will not be a post office. It doesn’t qualify for a post office contract. So somehow the city should violate its rules and accept a franchise store to satisfy the need for someone to pay rent? No franchise, is no franchise! No more ousting local business proprietors. I hope the city commission sticks by its word. — Bonner Joy
PLEASE Call the Mayor and the commissioners and Tell them you Do NOT want the UPS store going in.
The lease is already signed–we spoke to the REP. We need to NOT let the commissioners approve this!!! We need them to enforce the moratorium. The temporary one is up October 31st.
he said he has other businesses to lease this space to.
Mayor Bob Johnson 941-447-8323
County Commissioners:
Pat Morton 941-920-4061
Marvin Grossman 941-284-1300
Jean Peelen 703-903-0128
Judy Titsworth 941-448-5030
Carol Soustek 941-400-3888
Thank you for your help and support!
Rebecca & Eric
941-778-1911
Closing the Holmes Beach Post Office would be a giant blow to all residents of Holmes Beach. Dealing with the irritating people at the Bradenton Beach Post Office is no fun. They close for an hour for lunch, and they close on Saturday. How do they get away with this? Once, when tracking a lost package, I was told by a woman who answered the phone there that I should check on the internet. That is what she would have to do. Then, she hung up on me. When I told Peggy (HB) about that, she said not to feel bad because they hang up on her all of the time. The parking there is ridiculous, as is the parking in Anna Maria. We should have the BIG post office on the island because we have the most residents!