A simple message, such as ``I care'' or ``I remember you'' has gained immense significance in today's lifestyle. No wonder, the volume of personal mail, especially greeting cards, is on the rise.

Interestingly, `Post Shoppe' offers much more than greeting cards, such as writing pads, pens, gum bottles, envelopes, Archie-Hall mark cards, stuffed toys, gift items. There are also watches, wall clocks, table clocks, toy cars, tennis rackets, calculators, cassettes, camera reels, lipsticks, nail polishes, bottles of perfumes, after shave lotions, and toiletries, on display at these shops.

Most `Post Shoppes' have fax, STD and ISD facilities as well.Some of them are also equipped with photocopier machines for public use, at a fee.Post Shoppe as a concept came into being four years ago. Initially there were two Post Shoppes in New Delhi, one the Parliament Street Post Office and the other at the Gole Post Office. The number has now increased to 17 in the city.

Post Shoppes are there at Hauz Khas P.O., Golf Link P.O., Sarojini Nagar P.O., Jangpura P.O., Eastern Court P.O., Delhi GPO, Chankya Puri P.O., Inderprastha P.O. Three Post Shoppes at Patel Nagar P.O., Rajendra Nagar P.O., Timarpur P.O. are however non-functional owing to pending Court cases.There is a move to open more `Post Shoppes' in the city. East Delhi will have a `Post Shoppe' soon.

Besides Delhi, Post Shoppes are popular in Andhra Pradesh, too. In Mumbai plans are afoot to introduce Post Shoppes.

To make the postal services more customer friendly and business oriented, the department of posts is encouraging private hands to set up similar outlets at more and more post offices. Thedepartment plans to let out unoccupied spaces in post offices for similar businesses.

In New Zealand and Australia, post office is indeed big business. There, at post offices, a wide variety of items are sold, postal stationery being just one of them. In France, Thailand and some parts of the UK, post shoppes operate just as in India. Space in post office buildings are given out on lease to private hands and the revenue earned therefrom is booked by the post office under unclassified receipts.

In India, as per instructions, `Post Shoppes' are allowed to operate during working hours of post offices. `Post Shoppe' at Golf Links has advertised the working hours to be from 9 am to 11 pm.

The items on sale at these shops are of high quality. ``We stock gift items with brand image and charge as per the rate list printed,'' says Rajesh Madan, proprietor, Post Soppe, Gole Post Office.

Though postal authorities have no control or involvement over prices, `Post Shoppes' observe market prices. At ParliamentStreet Post Shoppe, a customer can have a cold drink for Rs 8. ``We charge market rate,'' says Mukesh Goyal, proprietor, Parliament Street Post Shoppe.

Chocolates, books, magazines are available at counters. Rajesh informs that, ``since quite a few customers are foreigners, I keep camera reels, Indian ethnic items for sale.''

The shop owners keep in mind the demands of the customers. ``We keep what sells,'' says Goyal.

Supinder Arora who runs Post Shoppe at Golf Links describes, ``We have all items under one roof.''

The concept has certainly taken off. At Parliament Street Post Shoppe, the number of visitors to the shop is around 250-300 per day, and at Gole P.O. Post Shoppe, the volume of sale is around Rs 2,500 per day.