USPS Service Performance Improvements Continue Across All Mail Categories

In a move toward growth, Target has decided to close stores, and a dozen of them at that. The Minneapolis-based Star Tribune first reported on the news Tuesday afternoon. "We have a rigorous process in place to evaluate the performance of every store on an annual basis, closing or relocating underperforming locations as needed," a spokeswoman for the big-box retailer told CNBC. "Typically, a store is closed as a result of seeing several years of decreasing profitability," she added. The 12 stores — spread across states including Michigan, Florida, Illinois and Texas — will close on Feb. 3 of next year. Click Read More below for additional information.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. announced that James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty is the top-seller in stores nationwide and online at BN.com just one day after the book’s release. “A Higher Loyalty was an instant bestseller before it ever arrived in our stores,” said Liz Harwell, Senior Director of Merchandising, Trade Books at Barnes & Noble. “Now that it’s here it is flying off the shelves. It’s one of the best pre-publication rollouts we’ve seen in many years, due to all of the publicity surrounding the book ahead of its publication yesterday.”

In the age of digital dominance, a surprising and heartwarming trend defies the wave—millennials’ and Gen Z’s preference for physical greeting cards. Even though these generations are digital natives, recent studies and surveys reveal that many prefer the tangible charm and personalization of paper greeting cards over their e-counterparts. According to a recent poll from online card and gift giant Shutterfly1, more than half (54%) of Americans say they still mail their greeting cards versus sending via digital and social platforms. The new survey of 2,000 U.S. adults split evenly by generation revealed that two out of three prefer to receive physical cards as opposed to digital ones, including younger respondents who are millennials (62%) or are part of Gen Z (59%). Personalization was a big deal to survey respondents, preferring to include family, vacation, or pet photos with cards.