With a population of 431, Claypool might seem, at first glance, one of those rural towns that has seen its best days. At one stage, Claypool was an important rail transportation hub, but over the years, businesses closed down and the population drifted to more prosperous nearby towns.

Then in 2006, Claypool was selected by French corporation Louis Dreyfus Commodities as the location for a new biodiesel manufacturing plant. The town is now home to the world’s largest fully-integrated soybean processing and biodiesel facility.

Last year, Dave Morgan and his wife, Connie, who had moved to Claypool from Warsaw because they loved the small-town atmosphere, decided to make a further investment in the town by opening Red’s Sweets, a café/sweet shop combination in the old bank building.

Today, another new venture opened in Claypool when the 52nd Village Post Office in the Greater Indiana District opened at Red’s Sweets, 111 S. Main Street, Claypool, IN 46510. The ribbon cutting is at 11 a.m. EST and an open house will follow from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

When Red’s Sweets opened on July 25, 2012, the Morgans started selling just one item — cake balls, but now the fare has expanded to cookies, candy and doughnuts, as well as hot dogs, philly dogs and hamburgers.

The café/sweet shop opens from Monday to Saturday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“When we opened Red’s, we felt we brought a different attitude to the town,” Morgan said. “So when the postal service announced it was considering reducing the hours at the local Post Office, and was also looking for businesses to operate a Village Post Office, we thought this might be a good fit for us.”

Morgan said that he almost sold out of his stamp supply, even before the official opening of the VPO, and sees it as a great convenience for the community. “People are very excited about being able to buy stamps, drop off their mail, or get Priority Mail boxes after the post office has closed for the day.”

The new postal center will be officially opened by Manager of Post Office Operations Larry Dauby. Several USPS and local officials will be present at the event.

In 2011, the Postal Service introduced the VPO model as an alternate retail location for postal products and services, especially in rural communities.

VPOs are operated by local businesses contracting with the Postal Service, and offer a range of popular postal products and services including stamps and flat-rate packaging.

Source: United States Postal Service