Bijou postal branch’s final delivery in June

By Kathryn Reed

June 18 will be the last day people can retrieve mail from the Bijou branch of the South Lake Tahoe post office.

After months of speculation, the U.S. Postal Service decided May 20 to close the small facility in the middle of South Lake Tahoe. In February the Incline Village branch was closed. Talk is the Stateline branch is next to go.

All of this is an attempt to save money, though the official word from the USPS is it has to do with service, too.

“We don’t close facilities just to save money, but we have to be smart with our resources,” USPS spokesman David Rupert said.

Shuttering Bijou is estimated to save the agency $2 million over 10 years.

With only 40 percent of the boxes rented, the office is hardly bustling. Other branches can absorb the boxholders or people can choose to have home delivery.

No date has been given when a decision on the Stateline branch will be made. The difference across the state line is no home delivery exists in this area of the South Shore.

Boxholders and employees will be told of Bijou’s future today. The landlord was notified Thursday. One person is employed at Bijou. She will be relocated to another facility in South Lake Tahoe.