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Amazon offers secure lockers to help declutter apartment lobbies

COURTESY AMAZON

The Amazon logo in 2012. The company has launched a new service it pitches as a way to help bring order and security to the piles of delivered packages cluttering the lobbies of apartment buildings.

Amazon.com launched a new service this summer it pitches as a way to help bring order and security to the piles of delivered packages cluttering the lobbies of apartment buildings.

Called “Hub By Amazon,” the locker can accommodate packages from any major carrier, including United Parcel Service, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service. A modular unit measures about 7 feet by 7 feet and has 42 lockers in various sizes, accessible 24 hours a day.

The lockers are designed to prevent lobbies and mail rooms in multifamily housing units from getting overrun with packages. The units also secure packages so residents can get their items after hours when an apartment’s management office may be closed. Such lockers are becoming must-have amenities in apartment complexes as tenants shift more spending online and lack a convenient way to receive their purchases.

The “hub” service differs from Amazon Lockers, which are in public spaces such as 7-Eleven convenience stores and handle only Amazon packages. The lockers for apartments will be accessible only to residents.

Amazon’s new service was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

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