The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

By Don C. Brunell

Curbside recycling bins are packed with cardboard shipping boxes from Christmas online shopping. The uptick in consumer shipments is not only good news for the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and UPS, but our nation’s papermakers.

According to Mastercard Spending Pulse, U.S. year-end holiday retail sales rose nearly five percent compared to the same period last year while online purchases shot up more than 18 percent.

USA Today reported “despite thousands of store closings this year, Americans supplied a final flurry of spending to give retailers their best holiday sales...