DATE: Friday, September 19, 1997            TAG: 9709190793

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   71 lines

NEW POST OFFICE HAS A STORE, TOO

With final mopping, painting and stocking underway, the U.S. Postal Service will open the city's largest post office and retail store Monday.

The new Princess Anne Station in the city's Municipal Center will be just the second in Hampton Roads with a self-service lobby store.

Patrons will be able to buy Bugs Bunny stamp hats, Tasmanian Devil stamp neckties and postage-stamp earrings - along with standard post office products, of course.

``This is wonderful. It's beautiful. It's gorgeous,'' said distribution window clerk Jeffery Modlin, one of about a dozen veteran employees in training Thursday.

Among her favorite features of the new 32,000-square-foot station: a windowed break room for workers, more than one stall in the restroom she'll use and plenty of room to work without bumping into colleagues or customers.

``It will make it easier for us, because it will make the customers happier,'' Modlin said.

The $5 million post office, with its distinguished white columns and ornate exterior lighting, wasn't supposed to be built until the year 2000. But plans were moved up because the existing Princess Anne Road post office had outlived its early 1970s functionality.

At times, mail had to be sorted in the parking lot. Workers had to move their lunch table and chairs to buy a soda in the old break room.

``It's been long overdue,'' station manager Howard O'Connor said. ``We can offer a lot more items because of the store. It's going to ease the lines for people.''

Like the Jolliff Postal Store in Chesapeake's Western Branch, the Princess Anne station will feature traditional counter service and the self-service center.

In the stores, customers can pick up books of stamps, commemorative collections, clothing, wrapping and packaging materials. The items won't sit in locked cabinets.

The store will take credit and debit cards, cash, travelers' checks or personal checks. Customers also can pay cash for stamps 24 hours a day in a vending machine across the lobby.

The Postal Service's sprawling Richmond district - which covers much of Virginia - will have three such retail outlets once the station opens. Eight more, including one in the Great Bridge area of Chesapeake, are expected to open in the next 18 months.

Post offices can become retail centers if they surpass $500,000 in annual revenue, said Lois Miller, a district retail specialist. A successful retail store can bring in another $250,000 a year.

``The customers love it,'' she said. ``They just walk in, and they are so amazed. It's a whole different way of the Postal Service doing business.''

The center is expected to process roughly 100,000 letters daily and serve a population base of about 24,000 with 56 carriers.

Other features:

Twice the old office's parking.

Video cameras, an alarm system and magnetic strips on sales items to deter theft.

Some 1,500 post office boxes, three times the old number.

``It's the new gem of Virginia Beach post offices,'' Postal Service spokeswoman Fran Sansone said. ``It's a new concept in Virginia Beach.''

Thursday, amid the odor of floor cleaner and fresh paint, the workers underwent training on computer sales systems and credit card machines.

``Everything here is a positive,'' said Modlin, the window clerk, before she joined a session on a cash register that automatically tracks inventory. ``Now people can shop like they do at any Kmart or convenience store.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

NHAT MEYER/The Virginian Pilot

Customers at the new Princess Anne Station at the Virginia Beach

Municipal Center will be able to buy hats, neckties and earrings, as

well as the more traditional stamps and mailing materials.

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