Update: WH Smith and Post Office Fryern Arcade Christmas 2014 opening times:
I saw this notice on the window of WH Smith and Post Office at the Fryern Arcade recently, about its Christmas 2014 opening times:
Monday 22 Dec and Tuesday 23 Dec: 8am to 6pm
Wed 24th Dec: 8am to 12.30pm
Thursday 25 Dec to 26 Dec: closed
Sat 27 Dec: 8am to 6pm
Sunday 28 Dec: closed
Update: Fryern Arcade WH Smith Local & Post Office Open on 29th August 2014
Update 20 October 2014: WH Smith in Chandler’s Ford opens from Monday to Saturday from 8am to 6pm. Shop closes on Sunday.
Update 13th August 2014: Fryern Arcade post office will close on Thursday 28th August at 17:30, and will open at the new location at 6-7 Fryern Arcade SO53 2DP on Friday 29th August 2014 at 13:00.
See the notice on the post office:
Original post below:
Are you excited by the changes at the Fryern Arcade In Chandler’s Ford?
The post office at the Fryern Arcade will also move early this year within the arcade.
It is likely that the post office would take the space of the old Arcade Bookshop and Fryern Dry Cleaners.
How do I know this?
I saw this notice at the post office at the Fryern Arcade: Post Office Local Public Consultation – Proposed Branch Move.
The consultation period is between 26/11/2013 to 17/01/2014.
The proposed new location is 6-7 Fryern Arcade – where the Arcade Book Shop and Fryern Dry Cleaners used to run their businesses.
Interestingly, in this proposal, it indicates that the Post Office will open seven days a week.
The Post Office counter opening times will be from 9am to 5.30pm from Monday to Saturday.
However, the Post Office services at retail counter would open from 7am to 7pm from Monday to Saturday. On Sunday, the Post Office would open from 7am to 4pm.
In recent years, many post offices which open 7 days a week are moved into the WH Smith store, such as the post offices in both Southampton and Winchester.
My very trusted local friend told me, “I think the WH Smith will be here. I think the post office in Fryern Arcade will be moved into the WH Smith.”
Do you think my friend could be right?
The current post office at the Fryern Arcade covers many businesses, such as travel insurance and the very helpful Passport Check and Send service. It also sells sweets and stationery. As I collect new stamps, I would visit this post office to collect my beautiful Presention Packs regularly.
For quite a long time, this post office also sold second-hand books in aid of a charity for Southampton General Hospital. The second-hand books were sold through the shop owner’s teenage daughter, and they are called Nikki’s Breezy Books.
I love the Enchanting Hursley Village Post Office, which opens 7 days a week. It sells stamps, eggs and milk.
What is your view of a post office which opens 7 days a week, at the Fryern Arcade in Chandler’s Ford? Please share your views in the comment.
Related posts on the Fryern Arcade, Chandler’s Ford:
- New Grover Butchers At Fryern Arcade
- Fryern Arcade: Butchers And Post Office
- Fryern Arcade WH Smith Local & Post Office Open
- Fryern Arcade Post Office: Open 7 Days A Week?
- What Had Happened To The Fryern Arcade Public Toilets?
- Fryern Arcade D & G Hardware Store
- Fryern Arcade Old And New
- Fryern Arcade’s Fresh Look: MIBI, D & G
- Fryern Arcade In Chandler’s Ford: Major Changes Are Coming
- Buying Christmas Trees At Fryern Arcade
- “We’re Sorry To Be Leaving Fryern…But…”
- Where Is The Centre Of Chandler’s Ford?
- How I love Your Comments
- Coffee And Free WiFi In Chandler’s Ford
- In Love With Chandler’s Ford Coffee Shops
- D & G Hardware: From Canberra To Chandler’s Ford
- Nostalgia: My Stamp Collection
- The Big Issue In Chandler’s Ford
- The Myth Of Thomas The Tank Engine
- Who Are The Heavenly Knitters in Chandler’s Ford?
- Table Hogging
It seems to me quite likely that the post office would move into a W H Smith or similar. The growth of the internet means that it is no longer economically viable to run “just a post office”. Not just because email means fewer stamps, but because we can now get things online that we used to get from the post office (driving licence, road tax, passport etc). And the growth in the number of cash machines means that we don’t even have to cash cheques, as I remember my parents doing.
If cities such as Southampton and Winchester can’t support a dedicated post office, I can’t see that Chandler’s Ford can.
Similarly, if a shop is to open seven days a week it has to sell enough each day to make this worthwhile. That means more than sweets and stationery.
Maybe the post office will be in Costa 😉
Hi Ruby,
I love your mathematical mind.
The problem with a post office within a W H Smith or similar shop is that the shopping experience will change dramatically. It may become less enjoyable and more complicated. Sometimes the W H Smith + post offices in both Southampton and Winchester get too crowded, and the awkward layout of the shops makes shopping/visiting post office rather stressful.