The Page: January 2024

The United States Postal Service reported new service delivery performance metrics showing ongoing strong service for First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail, with a slight decline for Periodicals through the first 12 weeks of the fiscal first quarter. Since Thanksgiving, the Postal Service has accepted 11.1 billion pieces of mail and packages for delivery and anticipates it will deliver more than 12 billion pieces of mail and packages by New Year’s Day. First quarter-to-date service performance scores covering the period Oct. 1 through Dec. 24 included: *First-Class Mail: 89.8 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 1.24 percentage points from the fourth quarter. *Marketing Mail: 91.7 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a slight decrease of .73 percent from the fourth quarter. *Periodicals: 81.2 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 1.57 percent from the fourth quarter. *Overall, the average number of days to deliver a mailpiece across the network was 2.7 days.

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $18.21 billion for the retail month of March, the five weeks ended April 4, 2021, an increase of 17.6 percent from $15.49 billion last year. For the thirty-one weeks ended April 4, 2021, the Company reported net sales of $111.37 billion, an increase of 15.7 percent from $96.25 billion during the similar period last year.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. announced the return of its customer-favorite Summer Reading Program. Now in its 22nd year, the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program encourages kids across the country in grades 1-6 to celebrate the joy of reading all summer long and gives them the exciting opportunity to earn a free book by reading eight books and turning in a completed reading journal listing the books they’ve read. Free books this year include perennial favorites such as Pete the Cat, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Artemis Fowl, plus many more for children in grades 1-6. “The Summer Reading Program is one of our most popular campaigns at Barnes & Noble because it encourages kids to engage with reading material during the summer, while providing parents with the peace of mind that their families are still learning and growing,” said Stephanie Fryling, Vice President of Merchandising, Children’s Books at Barnes & Noble. “We’re really excited about this year’s exceptional lineup of recent bestsellers and timeless favorites, and we encourage kids across the country in grades 1-6 to get their journals soon so they can experience the joy of reading and earn their free book.” Click Read More below for additional information.