Knock on wood, but for the past several years, we have had, for the most part, good experiences with our mail delivery and with package deliveries across the board (PO, FedEx, UPS). I just about have them all trained as to our preference, which is normally to have packages left at our front door. (And there's a note on the door just in case the delivery person is different than the regular ones.)
Yeah, I guess we are lucky that stuff doesn't get stolen sometimes. I think there was one time years ago that we didn't get a particular package, but I can't remember if that finally ended up being a case of it being lost, or if it was actually stolen.
Once in a blue we might accidentally get a neighbor's mail in our mailbox, or mail addressed to the same apartment # for a complex up the street, but those times are rare.
Oh, and on the "General Store" kind of thing, I do recall as recently as the late 90s, early 00s maybe, there was a locally owned drug store that had a PO counter inside. I don't mean just selling stamps like a bunch of stores do now; this was an actual PO inside the place.