France’s La Poste has announced that it will open 24 “new generation” post offices by the end ofthis year as part of its multi-billion euro modernisation programme. The French post office plans
to renovate up to 2,500 outlets by 2007. The first new post office opened this week in Trélazé, inthe department of Maine-et-Loire in north-west France.The main change is a new post office layout with separate areas dedicated to different productsand services including mail and parcel acceptance and collection, advice and sales desks, bankingservices and self-service kiosks. There is also a small shop area with postal and other relevantproducts. A “reception clerk” will welcome customers as they enter the post office and guide themto the relevant service area. In rural areas, the new-look post offices will also offer furtherservices including public sector services and commercial offers such as internet access, photodeveloping and tickets in cooperation with third-party firms.
La Poste said that the initial 24 “new generation” post offices spread across France would beused to test customer and staff response to the new forms of organisation and customer interface.The key objectives of the new-look post offices are to reduce waiting times and improve customerservice with a broad range of targeted products.
