To All With Interests in The Mail:

Walmart has committed $5 million in support of Hurricane Maria relief efforts. This builds on the commitments previously announced by Walmart and the Walmart Foundation totaling $35 million to support 2017 hurricane assistance in response to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. Walmart operates 45 retail facilities in Puerto Rico, which includes two distribution centers and a satellite headquarters, supported by nearly 15,000 associates across the Island. The $5 million commitment will support organizations helping with local relief efforts supporting those in need. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Retail supply chains are working overtime to keep up as consumers return to normal shopping patterns amid increased vaccination rates. “There’s no shortage of demand from consumers, but there continue to be shortages of labor, equipment and shipping capacity to meet that demand,” said Jonathan Gold, VP for supply chain and customs policy for the National Retail Federation. “Supply chain disruptions, port congestion and rising shipping costs could continue to be challenges through the end of the year.” Supply chains are finding it difficult to keep up with demand as shipping capacity struggles, added Ben Hackett, founder, Hackett Associates, which produces the monthly Global Port Tracker report for the NRF.

Unit sales of print books rose 2.3% in the week ended May 22, 2021, over the comparable week in 2020, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The relatively small increase is due in part to last year’s release at this time of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, which sold more than 271,000 copies in its first week. As a result of Ballad’s blockbuster performance last year, units in the week dropped 24.4% in the young adult fiction category. The juvenile nonfiction category had its worst week so far this year, with units falling 21.3% compared to the week ended May 23, 2020, when parents were still heavily buying books to teach their children at home. My First Learn-to-Write Workbook by Crystal Radke was #1 in the category last year at this time, selling more than 20,000 copies, and it was tops again in the most recent week, selling just over 7,000 copies.