Paper Plus Cambridge’s Hamish Wright in the spot about to be transformed to accommodate postal services in the store.
Cambridge’s PostShop is moving most of its postal operations into the local Paper Plus outlet from July 4.
From that date, all postal services, with the exception of postboxes and courier pick-ups, will be available at Paper Plus Cambridge. Postboxes in the current box lobby will remain where they are and will continue to operate as they do now.
Courier collections will also remain at the current Duke St premises due to a lack of storage space at Paper Plus Cambridge, but customers wanting to process outgoing courier packages, or pay bills currently payable at the PostShop, will be able to do so at Paper Plus.
KiwiBank will remain in situ; it is expected to expand to fill the Duke St outlet.
The shift is being made as part of New Zealand Post’s wider move to partner with local businesses in order to make postal services available in locations where customers can also access other products. NZ Post Head of Retail, Mark Yagmich, said the organisation had already partnered successfully with other businesses in more than 800 New Zealand locations.
“It is a more financially sustainable way of working for NZ Post in an ever-changing mix of postal services usage – the decline of mail versus the significant increase in parcel services,” he said. “It’s also good for the businesses we work with as they enjoy additional income, both from transacting postal services on our behalf and by having more customers coming through their doors.”
This latest move sees PostShops move location in both Cambridge on July 4, and Matamata on July 11.
Cambridge Paper Plus franchisee Hamish Wright said he was “excited” about the shift and will soon start on the in-store layout changes needed to accommodate the postal services.
“It’s going in at the back of the store [Empire Street entrance] – we’re putting in two new counters. The Post Office will close in its current premises at days end on July 3 and will re-open here for business on July 4. I’m excited about it. We have always seen ourselves as being here for the community, and bringing the postal service here makes that even more apparent.”
He is currently in talks with PostShop employees who have been made redundant, with a view to bringing some of them on board.
Hamish conceded there might be space issues at peak times such as Christmas, but said they were prepared to be as flexible as possible with integrating the service into Paper Plus. “For example, customers will be able to purchase boxes of stamps from the main counter.”
He is also in discussions with Waipa District Council staff over parking implications. “But in reality, I don’t see that being any bigger an issue than it is at the PostShop’s current location.”
The ‘store-within-a-store’ concept was nothing new, Hamish added: “It’s been part of the fabric of many communities before, and I’m confident it will work as well here as it has done elsewhere.”
