Deutsche Post says 1,000 Quelle shops to offer basic postal services

Deutsche Post World Net AG and mail-order company Quelle have signed an agreement in which about 1,000 Quelle shops will offer basic postal services, however a spokesman said it is too early to say whether this will lead to the closure of 1,000 postal branches.

The spokesman said a pilot project, in which 1,000 Quelle shops will offer postal services, will start in spring 2003 and the results will be known by the summer.

“Basic postal services means selling stamps, receiving letters and parcels and taking in registered mails,” said the spokesman.

Asked whether this would mean 1,000 postal shops closing down as a result of the latest tie-up with Quelle, the spokesman said: “It need not necessarily lead to that. We have to wait the results of the pilot project.”

“But we’ve always said that we’ve got more postal branches than are required by law,” a spokesman said.

He said the company has about 13,000 branches and the minimum number required by law is 12,000.

Deutsche Post and Quelle have a long-standing cooperation that allows the former to transport more than 40 mln Quelle parcels annually.