Customers are finding it more and more difficult and time consuming to wait through long lines at the post office just to buy a small book of stamps.

It's not just the holiday season that gets the rush and lines out the door anymore. But with mail and package drop-offs, mail pick-ups, package purchases and buying stamps all filtering through the same counter, the traffic at the post office can look like rush hour on I-5 on a rainy Friday afternoon.

To make life easier, Verne Valentine has run the North Admiral Post Office, 2237 California Ave. S.W., a charter post office for the past 25-and-a-half years. In addition, Valentine ran a Farmers Insurance Group business out of the same building.

His charter post office helped main city's official post offices by taking care of the overflow of customers who may just need a box, a book of stamps or packaging material - and without having to wait in line.

"Verne owns a contract station, meaning they contract for a business," said Shelly Schrock, manager of the West Seattle Station Post Office, north of the Junction. "They don't receive mail they just send it out."

Valentine said he's closing because of a difference with Postal Service's new service direction.

As Valentine has explains it, North Admiral Post Office was to be a place to serve the community, but he says the Postal Service wants them to stop selling stamps and to encourage people to buy and print postage online and to simply be a drop-off place for packages 2 pounds and over.

"Admiral is an older community and there are a lot of people doing things the old fashion way," Valentine said. "We've taught them to depend on us. Instead of retraining them with the Postal Service's new way of service, we figured it would be a disservice," said Valentine.

North Admiral post office has supportive customers like Ron Rice, one out of many who have shown his concern over the closure.

"In the 17 years I have been patronizing this branch, I rarely walked in when I didn't have to stand behind one or more patrons," Rice said. "Having to drive to the main post office at the Alaska junction will be a major inconvenience, and flies in the face of all the political and planning efforts to create urban villages - of which I think the Admiral junction is one. And of course it will only add to gas consumption and our carbon footprint."

The Postal Service also told Valentine he would have to buy his own postal supplies, not get them from the Postal Service, apparently because of inventory losses.

"The expense for the post office is that they give a station about $40,000 of inventory however, the stewardship isn't always the best so rather than separating the bad from the good they are just closing (contract offices)," Valentine said.

The North Admiral Post Office has also been known to have popular demand for mail orders by older customers, but under the new business plan the Postal Service will discontinue this service at charter offices, but will retain it at Postal Service-owned facilities like those north of the Alaska Junction and the facility at Westwood.

Ernie Swanson, spokesperson for the Seattle District of U.S. Postal Service disagrees with a few of Valentine's claims.

"It was Mr. Valentine's decision to terminate his contract," Swanson said. "Mr. Valentine had come to the Postal Service asking for more funds to help support his contract office. The new way we are funding contract offices is there is now an incentive system where an office's performance is based on paying a percentage of the money they take in."

That amount varies at each contract station.

"Anytime a contractor wants to change their terms we refer them to the performance based system," said Swanson.

As for the push to encourage customers to buy and print stamps online, Swanson expressed that he was not aware of this matter. He said contract stations, grocery stores, and other places selling stamps cut down on lines at Postal Service facilities.

Swanson does confirms that they will not be providing the money order service to charter offices anymore and will now only be in main post offices. But he suggests Valentine work with other businesses offering money orders, such as Western Union and banks if he wants to continue this service.

"We don't want to decrease the standards our customers have been given," said Valentine.

With the option to still be a drop-off station, Valentine decided it would just be best to close down completely.

A similar charter post office in the Morgan Junction - Mailbox West, 6521 California, Ave. S.W. - has been in business for the past six years but has not heard a word about the matters Valentine is concerned about.

Due to Valentine's decision to close his services their last day will be July 12 and all North Admiral Post Office customers will be directed to the West Seattle Station Post Office, north of Alaska Junction, and to the Westwood Post office near the shopping center and to Mailbox West.

"Verne is just a nice man and he has always treated us so well," said Schrock, the manager of the West Seattle Station. "We always considered him as our partner. He has released a burden of customers who have to wait in line. But we welcome Verne's customers with open arms. We're sad to lose him but happy to help his customers. I'm confident that our sales associates will give the service they are use to and deserve."

Valentine said he only wanted to give 100 percent services for the Admiral District neighborhood.

"We don't like to leave our customers, they've become valuable friends for many years," he said. "Conversely bringing our standards down will not be good for them and us so we decided to close in everyone's best interest."

Allison Espiritu may be contacted at 932-0300 or allisone@robinsonnews.com.