
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 6, 1991                   TAG: 9102060604
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DEMAND FOR 4-CENT STAMPS SWAMPS POST OFFICES

Postal officials across Virginia say they're at a loss to explain the deluge of customers buying 4-cent stamps many people need to offset the new rate increase that took effect Sunday.

"I can see no rhyme or reason for this," Danville Postmaster Curtis Mays said Tuesday.

Strong sales of supplemental denomination stamps normally follow a stamp price increase, Mays said, but "this has been lopsided."

Mays estimated his office sold 70,000 of the 4-cent stamps by midday Tuesday. They went on sale Monday.

Danville is not the only Virginia city where customers are rushing to buy new stamps now that the price of mailing a letter has gone from 25 cents to 29 cents.

"It's like they're going out of style," said Brenda Hedrick, clerk at the Chatham post office.

She said two clerks worked the window Monday, then stayed almost an hour later than usual to take care of duties they didn't get to during business hours.

Postal officials in southeastern Virginia were anxiously awaiting a shipment of 1 million 4-cent stamps to supplement a decreasing supply.

Ordered last week, the extra stamps were expected to arrive at the sectional post office in Norfolk this past weekend, U.S. Postal Service spokesman Adolph Chiappa said.

"We expect them at any moment," Chiappa said.

While most branches in the region normally have no more than 15 customers waiting at a time, some stations had as many as 30 to 40 people Tuesday.

One reason for the long lines is the inability of some stations to keep their vending machines stocked with the new stamps.

"My window clerks have been working without any break at all, all day long," said Virginia Beach Postmaster Joseph Raia.

Chiappa said postal officials are transferring stamps from stations with few customers to those with a high volume. If the 4-cent stamps sell out before new ones arrive, Chiappa said 3- and 1-cent stamps will be sold so people can use up their 25-cent stamps.

Eloise Miller, acting post office marketing director for the Roanoke region, said orders for the 4-cent stamps were based on demand after previous price increases.

Miller said she wouldn't know until later this week exactly how many small-denomination stamps have been sold statewide in the past few days.

by CNB