Out of office: Post offices have been on the decline for over a century

12/16/23 7:00PM

Out of office

‍In addition to its fleet of trucks, the USPS has some 26,000 Postal Service-managed post offices across the nation to process all of the letters and packages. That is significantly down on the number that existed in 1901, meaning that today there are roughly one-third as many post offices… for a population that is 5x the size.

The boom in post offices in the 1800s tracked closely with America’s expanding frontier, with intrepid business and store owners often taking up the mantle of sorting and distributing much of the mail in local towns and cities, receiving a commission from the government for doing so. That created the truly enormous network of “post offices”, which peaked at 77,000 in 1901. For context on just how expansive that number is, there are “only” ~16,000 Starbucks stores in the US today.

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Starbucks disclosed on Monday evening in a regulatory filing that it will sell control of its ailing China business to Boyu Capital for about $4 billion.

Under the agreement, Boyu will own a 60% stake in the China segment, which will become a joint venture between Boyu and Starbucks. The coffee chain will retain a 40% interest in the entity and will continue to own and license the brand and intellectual property.

Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the company was looking to sell its China segment. The American coffee giant has struggled to succeed in China, its second-largest market after the US.

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Despite a record year of passenger numbers, flight cancellations, and delays, a new survey has revealed that flyers have been increasingly satisfied about their experiences in North American airports.

According to this year’s North America Airport Satisfaction Study from data analysts at J.D. Power, overall passenger satisfaction scores were up 10 points (on a 1,000-point scale), largely from “improvements in food, beverage and retail and ease of travel through the airport.” The annual survey measures overall traveler satisfaction across the region’s airports in seven categories (in order of importance): ease of travel, level of trust, terminal facilities, airport staff, airport departure experience, food and retail, and airport arrival experience.

Here are the region’s favorites:

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While a new survey showed Japan has the greatest share of perpetually online people, there was a significant number reporting not using the internet at all.

Out of office: Post offices have been on the decline for over a century

More World

Starbucks sells control of China business for $4 billion

John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports

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