Czech Post to overhaul its branches: what will replace the old ones

Czech Post will keep its network of almost three thousand branches and begin rebuilding them under a new concept. The first such branch is due to open next February or March in Děčín, in a retail park. The management of the state-owned company presented the plans in Prague on Thursday.

What will change in the branches

“We see the future of branches in services that make everyday life easier and bring government services closer to people,” said Štěpán Svoboda, head of the branch network division. According to him, a small village needs one set of services, while a shopping center in a big city needs another.

Svoboda allows that people may be able to arrange a car re-registration or a license plate replacement at the post office. In Italy, he noted, post offices even issue ID cards and passports. Some branches may get a small self-service area and a café. New financial and commercial services are also planned, but management is not yet revealing details because of competition.

The network will stay: almost three thousand branches, about 1,200 of them Partner post offices run under contract by municipalities or entrepreneurs. According to Czech Post chief Richard Hodul, there are no plans to close rural post offices. The Balíkovna parcel unit will remain part of the company, although the previous management had considered selling it.

Why the post office is losing money

Last year the state-owned company ended with a loss of about two billion crowns. The causes were a fall in letter volumes, a delay in state subsidy payments and a large loss at Balíkovna. At the same time, the parcel business as a whole is growing, and private competitors are making money in it.

According to Hodul, Balíkovna is inefficient because it missed the automation of sorting, still has no pickup-point network of its own and carries high transport and delivery costs. Some contracts are unprofitable. The loss is supposed to shrink next year, but the post office will remain in the red for now, and management expects a gradual return to profit from 2028.

“Closing a couple of hundred branches or selling off assets is not a solution; you only buy a little time,” Hodul said, referring to the closure of three hundred branches three years ago. Rebuilding a single branch will cost millions or tens of millions of crowns, so the process will be gradual. “We will definitely not rebuild three thousand branches, that would cost billions,” Svoboda admitted. Key branches will be upgraded first.

Czech Post has been loss-making since 2018. Last year it delivered 52 million parcels and 233 million letters. The company employs almost 17 thousand people, 44 percent fewer than in 2016.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz