The Costco Connection

ish,” says Mastervich, adding that the program can help match local businesses with nearby printers. Many printers and marketing service providers can not only help produce and print Every Door Direct Mail pieces, he says but also get those mailings to the Postal Service for you.

EDDM offers two options:

• Every Door Direct Mail—Retail®. Most local businesses choose this service, says Mastervich, because it’s USPS’s simplest, most cost-effective option. Every Door Direct Mail —Retail lets you send up to 5,000 mailpieces a day per ZIP code. And, using the approved Every Door Direct Mail—Retail indicia, you don’t need to purchase a postage permit.

• Every Door Direct Mail®. This option is designed for businesses that send larger mailings using a mailing permit. With this option, you need a postage permit and entry into a Business Mail Entry Unit. This option is great for announcing new store openings, sales or other major events. You can also reach homes during the week for a weekend event. And, there’s no need to print names and addresses on every mail piece.

Businesses wanting to get more information about EDDM can visit USPS.com and click “Business Solutions.” For a free kit, go to www.eddmkit.com/Costco1. C

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Answers to Mr. ZIP quiz (questions on page 25)

TV commercials told kids that if they’d
add a ZIP code to Santa’s letters, the
big guy would get them faster. FYI:
The ZIP code for North Pole, Alaska,
is 99705.

1. Several employees, including Robert Aurand Moon, a career postal worker in Pennsylvania, suggested a national coding system as early as the 1940s. In 1962, a committee was appointed to study coding alternatives and to recommend a plan for adoption. Numerical mail systems had been previously used in Germany, the UK and Ukraine.

6. Slightly more than 42,000 ZIP codes.

2. Harold Wilcox, son of a letter carrier and a member of the Cunningham & Walsh advertising agency, first created Mr. ZIP in a bank-by-mail ad campaign for a New York bank.

7. The first number represents a general geographic area of the nation, “0” in the East, moving to “ 9” in the West. The next two numbers represent regional areas, and the final two identify specific post offices. The ZIP+ 4 code allows mail to be sorted to a specific group of streets or a high-rise. Today, the codes extend beyond mailing and are part of the nation’s 911 emergency system.

3. Zoning Improvement Plan. After World War II, with business expanding, the pre-ZIP system wasn’t effective with new and large volume mailings of advertisements and periodicals.

8. No city has that ZIP code, but Ketchikan, Alaska, is closest with 99950.

4. That bar code is printed on the mail piece to make it easier for automated machines to sort, plus it’s required for postal automation discounts.

Zippy (Mr. ZIP’s nickname) can now join AARP, but retirement? No way. Mr. ZIP is too busy helping to zip along about 153 billion pieces of mail this year.—ES

5. To achieve widespread acceptance of the ZIP code, postal officials did a media blitz. Print advertisements and

The Costco Connection Costco members can purchase “Forever” stamps, as well as envelopes and other mailing items, at Costco. Envelopes, mail carts and mail vaults are available on Costco.com.