Do Not Fear Friday

Postal Service Offers Gift Options Online to Avoid Crowds on “Black Friday”

St. Louis —“Black Friday,” the busiest shopping day of the year, means crowds, lines, traffic jams and headaches. This year, stay home on Nov. 28! Pour a cup of coffee and click your way through all your holiday shopping needs in quiet comfort.

The U.S. Postal Service is looking out for its customers. Greeting cards, postcards, gift cards from more than 20 national retailers, and even year-end letters to family and friends are available at usps.com/createmail/cardstore.

Hassle free holidays start with usps.com. “No traffic jams, no crowds or lines, no noise and no headaches,” said District Manager Danita Aquiningoc. Step into a Post Office, shopping center and retail store without leaving the warm comfort of your home.”

Cardstore features three, online products:

Mailing Online provides the perfect solution for those end-of-year holiday letters and can be sent by First-Class Mail or Standard Mail rates.
“Premium Postcards” can be created in black and white or glossy, full color to announce new products, send a personal greeting, or announce a move to a new business or residential address.
CardStore allows customers to send customized greetings cards for any occasion. Add a gift card from more than 20 national retailers.

Customers may create a more personalized card by uploading a photo and selecting either a folded card with an envelope or a postcard. Once the card is selected, customers easily click through to the page that instructs the Postal Service to mail the card.

Add the perfect gift every time with a gift card in values ranging from $10 to $200 from retailers including: AMC Theatres, Blockbuster, Foot Locker, Marriott Hotels, Old Navy, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Circuit City, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chili’s Bar & Grill, Macaroni Grill, Red Lobster, iTunes, Sears, Barnes & Noble and Bass Pro Shops.

“Hassle-free holidays, courtesy of the US Postal Service. That’s our goal,” Aquiningoc said. “Whether it’s online or in person, the Postal Service is ready to make your holiday mailing and shipping quick easy and convenient.”

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.