Wildfires Taking Toll on Booksellers, Publishers (publishersweekly.com)

As the world around us becomes more digitized, it's not surprising that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has followed suit. In a recent webinar, "Informed Delivery: Connecting Mail to a Digital Experience," sponsored by Satori Software, Tom Glassman, Director of Data Services and Postal Affairs, Wilen Direct; and Bob Schimek, Senior Director, Postal Affairs, Satori Software, discussed the USPS Informed Delivery program and its benefits, usage and adoption in a digital environment. For those who don't know much about Informed Delivery, it's a program through the USPS that gives mail recipients the ability to view their mail electronically before it hits the mailbox. Schimek explained that there are two sides to Informed Delivery: the end consumer and the direct mail industry. The end consumer side provides access to mail recipients before the mail carrier shows up at their door via email and a mobile app. The industry side gives direct marketers and mailers some independence to decide what brand identifiers will be used alongside the scanned image of the mail. Some options include a representative color image or a "ride along" image, which is supplemental content to help identify the brand and can even include a call to action. Click Read More below for more of the story.

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.

The U.S. Postal Service Gulf Atlantic District, which includes portions of northern Florida and southern Georgia, continues to prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Irma by advising customers that normal service operations in the path of the storm may be interrupted in the event of unsafe conditions such as high winds, flooding, or impassable roads. A dedicated Emergency Operations team is directing efforts to carefully and thoughtfully make decisions about our operations in an abundance of caution and out of concern for the safety and wellness of employees and customers. We will continue to temporarily adjust operations at some Post Offices in both Florida and Georgia. The information below provides the latest details on specific dates and times of temporary service suspensions. Click Read More below for additional detail.