Tag: Mail Services

Japan Post says may take stake in retailer Lawson

Posted by | Feb 12, 2008 | |

State-owned Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd said on Tuesday it may buy a stake in Lawson Inc., Japan’s third-largest convenience store chain, in the latest move to combine postal and retailing.

The two companies said that within three years there would be 800 stores selling Lawson products and postal services.

“Until Japan Post goes public, it won’t be possible for both companies to hold each other’s shares at the same time. But so long as it is fine for just one side to take stake for a while, we can acquire Lawson shares,” said Yoshifumi Nishikawa, the president of Japan Post.

He added that the company had yet to determine how many Lawson shares it would buy.

While some convenience store chains, including Yamazaki Daily Store, owned by Yamazaki Baking Co Ltd, have teamed up with Japan Post to deliver packages, Lawson has been the most aggressive to partner up with the state-run postal firm.

Lawson has placed mailboxes in all its stores and operates five branches inside post offices. The two companies are cooperating to deliver mail in Kochi prefecture in western Japan.

Japan Post is the holding firm of four businesses — mail delivery, banking, life insurance and counter services — which split into four companies in October.

The banking and insurance businesses are set to be privatised sometime by 2017, but the government does not plan to privatise the mail delivery and counter service operations.

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24th UPU Congress changes location

Posted by | Feb 11, 2008 | |

Given the current situation in Kenya, the Universal Postal Union’s Council of Administration on Friday decided to change the venue of the 24th Universal Postal Congress from Nairobi, Kenya, to Geneva, Switzerland.
The UPU Congress was scheduled to take place in Nairobi from 13 August to 3 September 2008. The event attended by about 1,500 delegates from the UPU’s 191 member countries will now take place in Geneva from mid-July to early August; the exact dates remain to be confirmed.
A resolution adopted by the Council also recommends that Congress approve Kenya’s chairmanship of that Congress as well as the chairmanship of the UPU Council of Administration from 2009-2012. It will also recommend promoting Nairobi as the venue for the UPU Strategy Conference in 2010.
Kenya has not yet communicated its response to this resolution.
The UPU must hold a Congress every four years. The last one was held in Bucharest, Romania, in 2004. The situation in Kenya currently prevents the UPU International Bureau to work effectively with Kenya on continuing to organize a Congress in Nairobi. As a specialized agency of the United Nations, the UPU follows UN security rules. At the moment, the UN has implemented security phase II in Nairobi and phase III in the entire Rift Valley. As such, all non-essential UN missions to Kenya remain suspended.

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Stamps increasing by one cent to 42c in May (U.S)

Posted by | Feb 11, 2008 | |

The price for a one-ounce First-Class stamp will increase from 41 to 42 cents on May 12.

Prices for other mailing services, such as Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services (including single-piece Parcel Post), and Special Services will also change (see chart below). The average increase by class of mail is at or below the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

“The Postal Service developed the Forever Stamp for consumers to ease the transition during price changes,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “We encourage Americans to buy Forever Stamps now for 41 cents, because like the name suggests, they are good forever.” The price goes up to 42 cents on May 12.

The Postal Service has sold 5 billion Forever Stamps since the launch last April and plans to have an additional 5 billion in stock to meet the expected demand before the May price change.

Consistent with a new law*, prices for mailing services will be adjusted annually each May. The Postal Service plans to provide 90 days’ notice before the price changes each year.

New prices for shipping services, including Express Mail and Priority Mail, will be announced in March. Prices for all postal products and services are available at usps.com/prices.

*The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act

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Britain to axe 2,500 post offices

Posted by | Feb 9, 2008 | |

British authorities say village post offices are becoming a casualty of the Internet as more people go online to pay bills and use e-mail.

“Customer numbers have gone down about 4 million per week compared to a couple of years ago and the losses are rising,” said Pat McFadden, the man named by the British government to pick 2,500 post offices for closure this year.

The British postal network loses about USD 7 million a week and hundreds of British post offices attract as few as 16 customers a week, on average, The Times of London reported Saturday.

Post offices in Britain, especially those in villages, continue to be used by large numbers of the elderly, who view the closures as a sign of disrespect toward them and fear their communities will change for the worse, the Times reported.

“No one comes into politics to do something that can be very unpopular locally to the people affected, and I am very aware of that,” McFadden said. “But sometimes governments have to take difficult decisions and make difficult changes. This is one of those occasions.”

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