Levin's Paper Plus to take over Post Shop's postal services next month

Levin's Paper Plus will be the new home for NZ Post.

Levin Post Shop's postal services and bill payments facilities will move across the road to Paper Plus from April 11.

Paper Plus owner Bernie Wanden said offering post shop services is a natural fit for his store.

His won't be the first Paper Plus shop that goes into business with NZ Post.

"There is an established model that works well for both NZ Post and Paper Plus stores. We are used to handling substantial volumes of traffic and are long established local businesses."

NZ Post approached him with the idea of taking on that side of their business soon after it announced it wanted to separate postal services from Kiwibank in Levin.

Paper Plus Levin will make room for NZ Post at the back of the store and will provide the same amount of staffing the post shop currently has.

"The entire back wall will be for NZ Post services. This is a bit of a logistical jigsaw and I am hoping there will be some continuity from the start with the existing Post Shop staff and we will have access to the existing knowledge," said Wanden.

NZ Post had already sent people in to put in any cabling needed.

He'd been talking to other Paper Plus owners around the country while negotiations with NZ Post were in progress.

"They all said it worked well for them. There are some challenges but for each business and the local community it was a win-win everywhere."

Levin is one of the busier post shops, but Wanden is convinced his people and any staff he is taking on can handle the volume of traffic.

"We certainly understand the reality of managing that."

He said the community can be assured of retaining postal services in town for the long term when an established business takes it on.

"We know how much the local community values these services and I am happy to be able to provide these from next month," Wanden said.