Nearly all 400 boxes at his Mail Boxes Etc. Instead of getting keys to an actual box, customers go to the desk and ask for their mail. Mr. Noonan is the beneficiary of a city system in which many people will pay high prices for the right piece of real estate, even one smaller than a breadbox.
Boxes are scarce at many other Manhattan postal stations.
At the James A. Farley General Post Office at Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street, customers line up early on the 15th of every month, when box leases expire, to grab any that become available, said Tom Gaynor, a Postal Service spokesman. The dearth of post office boxes in many areas of the city has opened up a market for Mail Boxes Etc. of San Diego, the leader in the private mailbox industry, and for many independent businesses. The Mail Boxes chain added 2 new stores to the 31 in Manhattan in December and plans to add 15 more during the next few years, said Tripp Singer, who sells Mail Boxes Etc. franchises. He said the Manhattan outlets had the highest revenues in the country. There are five Mail Boxes Etc.