“7-11” convenience stores have always been favored for quick snacks, slurpies, and cigarettes. They have also been tested and used as “pick up” centers. The “pick up” centers are for packages and goods ordered online. Sometimes it is too costly to deliver things to someone’s door, because they live in a remote area. Sometimes it is not safe, because the package gets stolen from the doorstep. And, sometimes it is not just not feasible, because the package, say of fresh lobster or fresh flowers, spoils without refrigeration.
United Parcel Service is getting back into this “pick up” business. They plan to pre-arrange package drop-offs for their customers at dry cleaners, convenience stores, and pharmacies. Called “Access Point,” it is rolling out in urban areas for now, but would conceivably be extended to its 4,400 UPS stores nationwide.
This is good news, and not-so-good news for older people who will be aging in their suburban homes. On the one hand, the business of ordering online will only grow, and everything can come to them. On the other hand, not everything will come to the doorstep. For the time being this is an urban trend, not one reaching into the suburbs, with greater driving distances.