5 LV post offices to be open Sundays before Christmas

Five local post offices will open their doors for two extra days to help with the stress of the holiday season. They are among many around the country that will be open in the afternoons of the next two Sundays, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

The affected post offices in the Las Vegas Valley will be open from noon to 4 p.m. for all retail services on Dec. 14 and Dec. 21. They include:

— Westridge Station, 7925 W. Russell Road

— Meadow Mesa Station, 4904 Camino Al Norte

— Summerlin Station, 1611 Spring Gate Lane

— Spring Valley Station, 3375 S. Rainbow Blvd.

— Valle Verde Station, 1575 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway.

Zena Rabang, a post office spokeswoman in Las Vegas, said they hope to relieve the congestion they expect to come on those following Mondays.

The federal agency has also expanded its services to deliver packages on Sundays.

Sunday delivery services started on Nov. 23, just before Thanksgiving weekend, and will continue on through to the next two Sundays before Christmas, until Dec. 21, spokesman David Rupert said.

This is the first time the post office has delivered packages on Sundays on a national scale. Just a few cities have done so in the past, he said.

Some Las Vegas residents might be familiar with the extra delivery day, as Rabang said the post office has been making Amazon.com deliveries on Sundays since June. This holiday season, Sunday deliveries are only offered to priority mail, perishables and Amazon.com packages.

So far, Rupert said they post office has received a great response since they’ve expanded their services. If the overall response is successful, Rupert said it will continue with Sunday deliveries next year.

“We’re halfway deep into the season, things are flowing well and we’re caught up,” he said on the parcel volume that increased more than 12 percent over the past year.

Rupert said the post office is expecting 470 million packages to come through this season.

Even though the addition of Sunday deliveries allows the post office to keep up with the influx of parcels, Rupert still encouraged everyone to mail their packages early.

Contact Cassandra Taloma at ctaloma@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381.