Calling the six-days-per-week mail delivery business model “no longer sustainable,” the U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday it will eliminate Saturday delivery of mail by Aug. 1.

The plan to change delivery from six days a week to five would only affect first-class mail. Packages, mail-order medicines, priority and express mail would still be delivered on Saturdays, and local post offices will remain open for business Saturdays.

According to the U.S. Postal Service, the reasons are continued economic struggles and the increasing use of the Internet for communications and bill paying by consumers. The U.S. Postal Service is also the only federal agency required to pre-fund health benefits for retirees, and those costs are escalating quickly:

“Our current business model of delivering mail six days a week is no longer sustainable. We must change in order to remain an integral part of the American community for decades to come.”

Saturday is the lightest mail delivery day by volume and many businesses are closed on Saturdays, according to the U.S. Postal Service. However, many residents receive print magazines and ads on Saturdays in the mail that may be shifted to another day.

Over on the Parsippany Patch Facebook page, local readers were of different minds on the matter.

Kelly Solowsky called the move "lame."

"They will still lay off a ton of people anyway, so why bother? They raise their prices non-stop; they should just close," she said.

Lisa Camacho said she's "okay" with the USPS decision, "as long as they have longer hours during the work week."David Hollner cheered the news: "No bills on Saturday!"

"Lower [the] price of stamps," suggested Andrea Martone. "I like getting mail Saturday. It's also another day to mail out bills so they get there on time."

Reader and blogger Brett Bickley didn't hold much hope for that.

"Let's be honest: For $.45 they will take a letter from Parsippany, N.J., all the way to Nome, Alaska," he said, "so I don't expect the price of stamps to go down."

Patch wants to know what you think too. Take the poll! 

Have a question or news tip for Parsippany Patch? Contact editor Natalie Davis at Natalie.Davis@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox every morning, sign up for our daily newsletter.