Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

A Wellington bookstore owner is expecting a 35% loss in revenue following the closure of their NZ Post counter - and says she’s “devastated” for affected customers, particularly the elderly. NZ Post has announced it will close 142 urban partner stores across the country after reviewing how customers use its urban retail services. No rural stores are currently affected. The decision has left many in the community outraged, saying it was already hard to access a post shop and many people who couldn’t go online would struggle. Marsden Books Karori owner and manager Briony Hogg said the shop’s estimated revenue would drop 35-40% once the post counter closes at the end of May. Speaking to Ryan Bridge on Newstalk ZB this morning, Hogg said there were only two post shops in the suburb of 18,000, with the other – a Mobil station – staying open. The postal counter itself had low margins but closing it would have a “pretty significant” effect on revenue, thanks to the loss of customers. “People would come in to do thei