Deutsche Post plans to sell off all its 750 remaining post offices by 2011 and will then have aretail network of 13,500 outlets operated completely by private partners or its Postbank
subsidiary. It has previously planned to retain about 100 “flagship” outlets as an in-houseoperation.A company spokesman confirmed German media reports about the post office sales, stressingthat the local branches would not be closed but taken over by private retail partners. The 2,000post office staff affected by the disposal would be transferred to other jobs within the group.
Deutsche Post’s head of mail, Jürgen Gerdes, said in a statement that the German postaloperator was committed to extending its network, improving its service and adding more productswhile keeping its retail network costs under control. “The further conversion of our own postoffices into partner branches, which we have implemented for many years with great success andgreat customer satisfaction, contributes to this,” he declared. Customers benefited from longeropening hours while retail partners generated more business, he added.
Deutsche Post, which is legally obliged to operate a minimum network of 12,000 postaloutlets, currently has about 13,500 outlets. Over the last decade it has started to divide up thenetwork into a three-tier structure with full-service “flagship” post offices, full-service postalcounters within retail stores, and streamlined postal services offered by private partners.
There are currently about 1,600 “flagship” outlets. Of these, 850 are former post offices intop locations sold to financial services subsidiary Postbank in 2006 and re-branded as “PostbankFinanzcenters”, offering a full range of banking and postal services. The other 750 DeutschePost-operated post offices, often in secondary locations, are those planned to be disposed of.
Deutsche Post has about 7,200 “partner branches” or “postal agencies” integrated into retailoutlets offering a full range of postal services and basic financial services alongside theretailer’s core business. In addition, there are about 3,800 “Post Service” outlets, mostly inrural areas, where independent retailers offer a basic range of postal services.
Furthermore, Deutsche Post has introduced 600 shop-in-shop “Postpoints” for basic consumerneeds, and is testing 50 “Post 24/7” service sites with various self-service machines for stamps,and letter and parcel collections. Gerdes said the 200 mail acceptance points for corporatecustomers would be extended to 1,000 by the end of this year.
