Every holiday season, major parcel carriers and courier services add surcharges to cover the increased volume of packages they must deliver through the final quarter of the year. Not surprisingly, this year’s surcharges are larger and broader than ever before. In fact, 2020 may go down as the largest “peak season” in history, given the e-commerce boom that happened from the coronavirus pandemic, which shifted sales to e-commerce and away from in-person shopping. FedEx and UPS both saw 20 percent increases in packing volume through May, while USPS was hit with a massive 50 percent increase in packages they delivered through June. Switching to the leading parcel companies may save you from the potential of late or lost packages — but the peak season surcharges will affect companies of all sizes. Each carrier has specific criteria by which they assess and apply surcharges, but there are packaging strategies that can be deployed to lower fees regardless of which service you’re using.

Lands’ End and WHP Global on Monday said they are forming a joint venture, with the brand management firm paying $300 million in cash to acquire a 50% controlling stake in the apparel brand. The brand in turn will hand over all of its intellectual property and related assets, including its licensing business, and will continue to be in charge of its direct-to-consumer and business-to-business operations. Lands’ End, which struggled for years and is in the midst of a turnaround, plans to use proceeds from the sale to pay off an outstanding term loan of about $234 million “and for general corporate purposes.” Those purposes include paying royalties to license its own brand; the agreement includes annual minimum royalty payments per year, starting at $50 million for the first year, per the release.

Four of the outdoor industry's oldest print magazines—Bike, Powder, Snowboarder, and Surfer—will cease publication indefinitely this year, according to multiple sources at the brands' parent company, A360 Media. TransWorld SKATEboarding, another A360 Media property, will also pause operations until further notice. Sierra Shafer, editor-in-chief at Powder, confirmed today that staff members at all five titles received indefinite furlough notifications late on Friday, October 2. Employees at Bike and Surfer were furloughed immediately, Shafer said, while Powder and Snowboarder staff learned the same would happen to them on November 20. None of the furloughed staff will be paid after operations cease.