By Jenny Callison, posted Dec 16, 2020
People line up at the Magnolia Branch Post Office in Porters Neck. (Photo by Jenny Callison) The predictions have come true: early this fall, retail analysts foresaw that this year’s pandemic restrictions would drive even more holiday shoppers online, and that more gifts would be exchanged remotely as many families and friends gather virtually rather than in person.
All of which means that shippers are deluged with cards and packages, with online orders and purchased gifts filling trucks and delivery vans.
Victor Allen saw the deluge coming. The owner of the Mailbox Express store in Wilmington’s Landfall Shopping Center said the volume of parcels coming into his shop for shipment via FedEx and DHL started increasing before Thanksgiving. His business is up between 35% and 40% over a typical holiday season, he said Wednesday.