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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Wicker Park Postal Store Closes Friday Night, Reopens Tuesday Around Corner

By Alisa Hauser | January 14, 2014 4:32pm
 The Wicker Park Post Office branch at 1300 N. Ashland Ave. is relocating to a new storefront at 1240 N. Ashland Ave, around the corner. The office (except for the self serve kiosk) will close Saturday and reopen on Tuesday.
Wicker Park Post Office is Moving
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WICKER PARK — Call it musical storefronts.

Wicker Park's retail branch of the U.S. Postal Service, where people purchase stamps, mail packages and receive mail through rented mailboxes, is closing at 7 p.m. Friday and reopening in a new storefront around the corner on Tuesday.

Currently located at 1300 N. Ashland Ave., the Wicker Park Postal Store will move to its new home at 1240 N. Ashland Ave. this weekend, although the facility won't be open for business until Tuesday morning. The hours of the new home will be 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Though full-service "window service" will be closed on Saturday, customers can use the store's self-service kiosk to handle most postal transactions with a credit or debit card.

 Debra Lewis, supervisor of the Wicker Park Post Office, stands in front of the branch's new post office store, set to open on Tuesday at 1240 N. Ashland Ave. in Wicker Park. The new quarters face Ashland Avenue, whereas the existing branch in the same shopping plaza faces a large parking lot.
Debra Lewis, supervisor of the Wicker Park Post Office, stands in front of the branch's new post office store, set to open on Tuesday at 1240 N. Ashland Ave. in Wicker Park. The new quarters face Ashland Avenue, whereas the existing branch in the same shopping plaza faces a large parking lot.
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

Wicker Park customers needing full window service on Saturday can visit the Lincoln Park Postal Store, 2405 N. Sheffield Ave. (9 a.m. – 3 p.m.), the Nancy B. Jefferson Station, 116 S. Western Ave. (9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) or the Roberto Clemente Station, 2339 N. California Ave. (9 a.m. – 3 p.m.).

According to a Tuesday news release, Wicker Park Post Office Box customers are asked to pick up their mail by the close of business Friday, in order to help the move go smoothly.

All mail not picked up by then will be transferred when the boxes are installed in the new location, and available for pickup Tuesday.

The move comes as the shopping plaza where the store resides, now called the Wicker Park Commons, undergoes an extensive remodeling that has included the moving out of several tenants such as Blockbuster.

While hours of business will remain the same, the new storefront, located between a Great Clips and a Harris Bank branch, faces Ashland Avenue, whereas the existing branch faces a large parking lot with 624 spaces. 

The parking lot is available for use by customers from the shopping mall's several tenants, which include a Jewel, K-Mart and Staples.

Mark Reynolds, a Chicago spokesman for the U.S. Post Office, said that customers of the Wicker Park Postal Store can still park in the lot.

Felicia Trujillo, an assistant manager for Great Clips at 1238 N. Ashland Ave., told DNAinfo Chicago Tuesday that on two occasions her customers have had their cars towed by the private company that monitors the lot, even though they did not leave the shopping mall's premises.

For the storefronts that face Ashland Avenue, it can appear that customers are leaving the mall's premises when they exit the lot to go to one of the mall's Ashland avenue storefronts.

"The customer was getting his haircut when his car was towed," Trujillo said, adding that he "did not come back [to get his haircut there] again."

Debra Lewis, supervisor of the Wicker Park Post Office, would not elaborate on the relocation but told a reporter "it could be confusing" for customers since there are "Pay to Park" signs on Ashland.

Lewis said there are no plans to notify customers of the move until it happens and cited a news release that she understands is being sent out by the post office.

"I'm excited about the move and am looking forward to seeing all of our customers there," Lewis said of the new storefront.

Phillip Rohde, a Wicker Park resident, was picking up his mail from a private post office box on Tuesday afternoon.

Rohde said he was not informed of the move until being told by a reporter.

"I knew they were moving, I just didn't know when," Rohde said.