Delivering Revenues With an In-Store Post Office

For over 40 years, the Brownsboro Road location of Brownsboro Hardware & Paint in Louisville, Kentucky, has provided an extra level of service to customers with an in-house U.S. Postal Service contract post office. The store also touts a UPS shipping department that can ship packages anywhere in the U.S. and accepts most return packages.

Owner Doug Carroll says nearly 25% of the store’s customers come in to use the post office, with around 200 customers mailing packages, purchasing stamps and conducting other business services each day. Of those customers, he estimates 20% purchase items from the hardware store during their visit.

Carroll purchases the supplies for the post office and hires and manages the employees who work in that part of the store.

“Because of where it is in our store, people walk through many departments to get to it. It’s almost like milk in the grocery store; on your way to the back, you pass other items you may not have known you needed,” Carroll says. “I feel the post office is a huge part of our business and provides an extra layer of service to our customers.”

See how other independent retailers have tapped into unconventional revenue streams here.