Holiday Planning Guide: This Week In Connecticut Post Offices

Hartford —   According to a report in today's (December 1, 2008) Detroit Free Press, retailers scored a record of $733 million in sales on Cyber Monday 2007.   This season, those shoppers who again go online to find bargain.  This season, savvy shippers will also find postage bargains online – some, for the first time – from the Postal Service.

Starting today, Post Offices across Connecticut and the nation gear up for holiday mailers.   Here is a planning guide to ways the Postal Service will reach out to customers around the state this week:

Special Events this week:

December 2nd:  Fairfield County customers will enjoy Post Office in Pajamas promotions across Fairfield County.  Look for demonstrations by postal workers in their PJs www.usps.com and after-hours services of Automated Postal Centers. 

Pajama parties will take place throughout the day at:

• Danbury Main Post Office, 23 Backus Avenue, from  9 am  to 10:30 am,  
• Stamford Post Office, 24 Camp Avenue, from noon to 1:30 pm,
• Stratford Postal Store, 411 Barnum Ave, from 3 pm to 5 pm and
• the Trumbull Postal Store, 50 Quality Street,  6 pm to 8 pm
  • Local contact:  Rich Bulan, Danbury Customer Relations,  203-796-1906

December 2nd:  Hartford area customers can also learn more about 24 hours of postal services available through www.usps.com and local Automated Postal Centers with hands-on demonstrations in Newington starting at noon.  Postal cusotmers in Wethersfield and Elmwood Stations can learn more about the convenience of Stamps By Mail with a day-long promotion at those sites.

• Local Contact:   Vicki Lincoln, Hartford Customer Relations (860) 524-6039

December 3rd:  For business mailers of all sizes, the New Haven Main Post Office on Brewery Street
will be the site of a seminar titled Expanding Global Horizons.   The session, which runs from 9 am until 1 pm, covers International Mailing with displays and speakers from the Postal Service, US Department of Commerce and eBay.  A vendors hall and a buffet luncheon are included in the $10 admission.

• Local Contact:  Postal Business Development Team (203) 782-7319

December 5th:  Mrs. Claus comes to the Waterbury Main Post Office, 135 Grand Street, to demonstrate the Automated Postal Center and provide holiday mailing tips while the Nutcracker Ballet Company is scheduled to visit the New Haven Post Office on Brewery Street to get their own supply of holiday 2008 Nutcracker stamps.

• Local Contacts:  Erin Eglinton, Waterbury Customer Relations, (203) 574-6523 and Leigh A. Piscitelli,  New Haven Customer Relations,  (203) 782-7192

Military Mailing Deadlines this week:

December 4th:  Recommended deadlines for Military Mail destined for Iraq or Afghanistan(.  All other overseas military bases should be entered into the mail no later than December 11th. 

Mail to overseas military addresses is charged at domestic mail prices, with an opportunity for an additional discount.   While the domestic mail price for the largest Flat-Rate Priority Mail box is $12.95, packages to APO/FPO addresses overseas earn a price bump down to $10.95.

Flat-Rate boxes are available at no charge at local post offices. 

The Postal Service has also created a special mailing and shipping kit designed specifically for military families sending packages overseas. Each Care Kit contains two Priority Mail boxes, six Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes, eight Priority Mail labels, one roll of Priority Mail tape and eight customs forms with envelopes. Call 1-800-610-8734 and ask for the Care Kit.

What's the Connecticut Story this week?

December 1st:  Postal customers will be rocking around the APC this month, as all Automated Postal Centers (AP
Cs) in the state begin to dispense this year's holiday Nutcracker Stamps starting today.   The 24-hour self-service stations also offer shipping services and zip code look-ups, with recent upgrades that permit post office box payments. 

Automated Postal Centers (APCs) offer a Spanish-language option for all transactions.   

APCs are located in Bridgeport, Danbury, Enfield, Fairfied, Glastonbury, Greenwich (Greenwich Avenue Station, Greenwich Postal Store),  Hamden, Hartford, Manchester, Milford, New Canaan, New Haven, Newington, Southbury, Stamford, Stratford, West Hartford and Wilton.

Bargain of the Week:

In 2008, seasonal bargain hunters will find new postage discount for online shippers, even for low volume users .  This week, mailers who ship overseas will find postage bargains online.  This marks the first holiday season with significant postage discounts available, even for low volume users of usps.com.

The first recommended mailing deadlines for international mails begin this week.  First Class Mails and Priority Mail International heading to Africa, Central American and South America should be in the mail by Thursday, December 4 for timely receipt by the holidays. 

These early mailers will find a bargain when shipping from the convenience of home, with new online postage discounts available for international services for the first time this holiday season.   The complete list, with highlights of the earliest deadlines, follows:

The Postal Service’s Connecticut District serves more than 3.5 million postal customers over more than 5,000 square miles through 218 post offices and an additional 80 stations and branches.

IN THE NEXT PLANNING GUIDE: This weekend in Connecticut Post Offices:  Extraordinary hours in unlikely sites, meet the photographer for the Nutcracker Stamps and the Bethlehem tradition.