The city of Collinsville once again has retail postal services “above the hill.”

Sandy and Bernie Kolo, the first customers at the FCB Banks CPU at 800 Beltline Road / Photo by Roger Starkey

The FCB Banks location at 800 Beltline Road opened a Contract Postal Unit Monday that offers many of the services provided by retail post offices. Services available at the CPU include stamp purchases, insured mail, certified/registered mail (expected to be available by Thursday), return receipts, United States Postal Service Tracking and guaranteed overnight delivery, all for the same price the post office charges. The CPU is open to the public, not just FCB Banks customers.

The post office closed its location at 130 S. Center Street on Jan. 31 and moved retail operations to its distribution center four miles northeast, to 1610 Eastport Plaza Drive. FCB Banks Vice President Sandy Stammer said the bank’s service was originally envisioned as a convenience for residents on the north side of Collinsville, but that changed when the post office moved retail operations.

“After it was announced that the uptown post office would close, it became a mission of necessity,” Stammer said.

The crowd was slow to trickle in Monday morning. At about 9:30, Sandy and Bernie Kolo became the CPU’s first customers.

After an enthusiastic reception in social media, Stammer expected a larger crowd. Providing a customer service was the goal of the CUP, not drawing a large crowd, Stammer said.