Tag: Retail and wholesale
With layoffs down and spending up, US rebound gains momentum
WASHINGTON (AP) — A much-awaited economic boom coming off the pandemic recession appeared to edge closer to reality Thursday with fresh data showing the...
$1,400 stimulus checks helped March retail sales soar 9.8%
NEW YORK (AP) — Newly vaccinated and armed with $1,400 stimulus checks, Americans went on a spending spree last month, buying new clothes and...
Sydney man finds snake in lettuce bought at supermarket
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Alex White thought he was watching a huge worm writhing in plastic-wrapped lettuce he’d just brought home from a Sydney...
AP sources: Tool behind crackdown on opioids could expire
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has been slow-walking its work on the extension of a legislative order that would keep in place a...
To retain workers, Walmart moves more of them full time
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is moving more of its workers full time as the nation's largest private employer looks for more ways to...
Swap the crop? New York hemp farmers eager to grow marijuana
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Legal marijuana is coming to New York and hemp farmer Samir Mahadin sees it as a potential lifeline.
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Average US price of gas holds steady at $2.94 per gallon
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline held steady over the past two weeks at $2.94 per gallon.
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Alibaba fined $2.8 billion on competition charge in China
BEIJING (AP) — Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest e-commerce company, was fined 18.3 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) by Chinese regulators on Saturday for anti-competitive...
Amazon warehouse workers reject union bid in Alabama
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama handed the online retail giant a decisive victory when they voted against forming a union and...
Virginia becomes first Southern state to legalize marijuana
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia became the first Southern state to legalize marijuana Wednesday, as lawmakers voted to approve Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed changes...
GameStop to sell 3.5M shares after stock frenzy boosts price
Two months after a market phenomenon took shares of GameStop to the moon, the video game retailer said Monday that it will sell up...
The Latest: Navajo Nation reports 4 new virus deaths
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation on Saturday reported 18 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and four more deaths.
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China says H&M changed online map after criticism
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese regulators on Friday said H&M has agreed to change a “problematic map” online following government criticism, adding to pressure on...
The Latest: FDA authorizes 2 changes to Moderna’s vaccine
WASHINGTON— The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two changes to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine that can provide extra doses from each vial.
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Auto sales rise 11% in 1Q on strong showing in March
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto sales rose more than 11% in the first quarter, as strong March sales far outpaced last year when coronavirus...
Virginia governor seeks to accelerate marijuana legalization
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Adults in Virginia could legally possess and grow small amounts of marijuana beginning in July, about three years sooner than...
South Africa bans liquor sales over Easter to prevent surge
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa will restrict the sale of alcohol and limit the size of religious and social gatherings over Easter to prevent...
Biden, CDC director warn of virus rebound if nation lets up
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and a top health official warned that too many Americans are declaring virus victory too quickly, appealing for...
Amazon faces biggest union push in its history
NEW YORK (AP) — The second Jennifer Bates walks away from her post at the Amazon warehouse where she works, the clock starts ticking.
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Biden, CDC director warn of virus rebound if nation lets up
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and a top health official warned Monday that too many Americans are declaring virus victory too quickly, appealing...
‘Captain Underpants’ spin-off pulled for ‘passive racism’
NEW YORK (AP) — A graphic novel for children that was a spin-off of the wildly popular “Captain Underpants” series is being pulled from...
EXPLAINER: What to know about the Amazon union vote
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 6,000 Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, are deciding whether they want to form a union, the biggest labor...
Average US price of gas jumps a nickel per gallon to $2.94
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline jumped a nickel per gallon over the past two weeks to $2.94.
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Longest-serving bookseller among 25,000 Czech virus victims
PELHRIMOV, Czech Republic (AP) — A year after the Czech Republic recorded its first death from the coronavirus, the central European nation paused to...
China erasing H&M from internet amid Xinjiang backlash
HONG KONG (AP) — H&M disappeared from the internet in China as the government raised pressure on shoe and clothing brands and announced sanctions...
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry dies at 84
DALLAS (AP) — Larry McMurtry, the prolific and popular author who took readers back to the old American West in his Pulitzer Prize-winning “Lonesome...
Colorado shooting suspect passed check in legal gun purchase
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — The suspect in the Colorado supermarket shootings bought a firearm at a local gun store after passing a background check,...
UK supermarket chain Asda loses ruling over equal pay claim
LONDON (AP) — More than 40,000 store workers at Asda, Britain's third-largest supermarket chain, can proceed with their yearslong claim for equal pay following...
In shift, oil industry group backs federal price on carbon
WASHINGTON (AP) — The oil and gas industry's top lobbying group on Thursday endorsed a federal price on carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to...
China attacks foreign clothing, shoe brands over Xinjiang
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state TV called Thursday for a boycott of H&M as Beijing lashed out at foreign clothing and footwear brands following...
Free breadsticks and reasons for hope at Olive Garden
The company that runs the Olive Garden chain is raising pay for its workers and handing out one-time bonuses, a sign of optimism from...
Here’s what foreign brands have to say about Xinjiang
HONG KONG (AP) — Nike. The Gap. Uniqlo. Major clothing and footwear brands are under attack in China after Europe, the U.S. and other...
GameStop weighing stock offering to fund transformation
GameStop is considering selling some of its shares, a move that would enable the video-game retailer to capitalize on the massive surge in its...
Stock trading app company Robinhood files plan to go public
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Stock trading app company Robinhood said Tuesday that it has submitted a confidential plan to go public later this year.
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GameStop lost $215 million in fiscal year; online sales gain
GameStop, the video game retailer at the center of a social-media driven investment frenzy, said it lost $215 million in the 12 months ended...
Police: 10 people killed in Colorado supermarket shooting
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A shooting at a Colorado supermarket killed 10 people Monday, including a police officer who was the first to respond...
US businesses near border struggle with boundaries’ closure
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — Evan Kory started calling brides in Mexico’s northern Sonora state last March, asking if they wanted to get their...
L.L. Bean sees sales boom amid pandemic’s push to outdoors
FREEPORT, Maine (AP) — With Americans hunkering down and hankering to get outdoors during the pandemic, L.L. Bean recorded its best annual sales growth...
Les Wexner exits board, severs last ties to retail empire
NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire retail icon Les Wexner is severing his last ties with the retail empire that he founded in 1963.
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The Latest: Philippines imposes airport entry restrictions
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has decided to temporarily ban the entry of foreigners and limit the entry of returning Filipinos at Manila’s...
February retail sales fall 3% after soaring the month before
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans spent less last month, partly due to bad weather in parts of the country that kept shoppers away from...
Average US price of gas up 25 cents a gallon to $2.89
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline jumped 25 cents a gallon over the past three weeks to $2.89.
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The Latest: US health officials warn of false positives
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are warning health professionals about the risk of false positive results with a widely used laboratory test for COVID-19...
Ulta Beauty pauses Teen Vogue ad spending in editor outcry
NEW YORK (AP) — A major advertiser at Teen Vogue, the retailer Ulta Beauty, has paused ad spending at the Conde Nast publication amid...
From job cuts to online commerce, virus reshaped US economy
WASHINGTON (AP) — At first, it was expected to be brief. At least that was the hope.
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Oh, what a birthday week for Dr. Seuss books
NEW YORK (AP) — Oh, the books that sold last week by Dr. Seuss.
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Coupang, the Amazon of South Korea, makes its debut on NYSE
The biggest IPO in years is rolling out Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange where Coupang, the South Korean equivalent of Amazon in...
The Latest: Alaska opens vaccines to all 16 or older
JUNEAU, Alaska -- Gov. Mike Dunleavy says Alaska will become the first state to drop eligibility requirements and allow anyone 16 or older who...
Local pharmacists step up in COVID-19 vaccination effort
NEW YORK (AP) — They're just your regular neighborhood pharmacists, but some now wear superhero capes.
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Meme fav GameStop jumps again as retailer eyes digital shift
NEW YORK (AP) — GameStop took a step toward a more digital future Monday, naming an activist investor to lead company efforts to push...
Open spaces, no pharmacies: rural US confronts vaccine void
SURRY, Va. (AP) — When Charlome Pierce searched where her 96-year-old father could get a COVID-19 vaccine in January, she found zero options anywhere...
Alaska Native group, Neiman Marcus settle lawsuit over coat
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Native cultural organization and the luxury department store Neiman Marcus have settled a lawsuit over the sale of...
Costco 4Q profits rise, helped by pandemic shopping habits
ISSAQUAH, Wash. (AP) — Warehouse retail chain Costco Wholesale said its fourth-quarter profits rose slightly from a year ago, its profits weighed by wage...
Amazon opens first UK checkout-free grocery store in London
LONDON (AP) — Amazon has opened a cashier-free supermarket in London, its first bricks and mortar expansion outside the U.S. as the company bets...
The Latest: SKorean economy shrinks for 1st time in 22 years
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea’s central bank says the country’s economy shrank for the first time in 22 years in 2020 as the...
Biden stands by May timeline for vaccines for all US adults
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccine for all adults by the end of...
Michaels signs a deal with Apollo to go private
NEW YORK (AP) — Arts and crafts retailer Michaels is going private.
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The Latest: Ontario seniors won’t get AstraZeneca vaccine
TORONTO — The health minister of Canada’s most populous province says Ontario seniors won’t receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine since there’s limited data on...
Biden vows enough vaccine for all US adults by end of May
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccine for all adults by the end...
Target powers through a pandemic; 2020 sales growth explodes
NEW YORK (AP) — Target will plow $4 billion into its business each year for the next several years to redo its stores, add...
6 Dr. Seuss books won’t be published for racist images
BOSTON (AP) — Six Dr. Seuss books — including “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” and “If I Ran the...
Texas power company seeks bankruptcy protection after storm
The largest and oldest power cooperative in Texas is filing for bankruptcy protection, citing last month’s winter storm that left millions without power, and...
Swiss bask in reopened shops as COVID-19 cases drop
GENEVA (AP) — The timing couldn’t have been better for Michele Pesson for Swiss authorities to order a reopening of stores across Switzerland amid...
Fred Segal, LA celebrity fashion retailer, dead at 87
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fred Segal, a notable Los Angeles-based celebrity fashion retailer, died Thursday. He was 87.
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Virginia lawmakers vote to legalize marijuana in 2024
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers gave final approval Saturday to a bill that will legalize marijuana for adult recreational use, but not until...
Game on, again: GameStop surges and no one truly knows why
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street's GameStop saga won't stop.
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Funky electronics chain Fry’s is no more
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Fry's Electronics, the go-to chain for tech tinkerers looking for an obscure part, is closing for good.
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Macy’s closes out a tough year with hope for 2021
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's is looking ahead to a year of recovery and rebuilding from the pandemic as the iconic department store chain...
In year of pandemic, Home Depot became supplier to millions
The housing market was among the very few bright spots for the U.S. economy in the year of the lockdown and Home Depot became...
Kohl’s pushes back on investor group’s takeover efforts
NEW YORK (AP) — Kohl’s is fighting back against an investor group’s efforts to take control of the department store chain's board, arguing that...
Kroger: Some pharmacy customer data impacted in vendor hack
BOSTON (AP) — Kroger Co. says personal data, including Social Security numbers of some of its pharmacy and clinic customers, may have been stolen...
Beyond 100M: Biden team aiming for bigger vaccine numbers
WASHINGTON (AP) — It sounded so ambitious at first blush: 100 million vaccination shots in 100 days.
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Average US price of gas up 14 cents a gallon to $2.64
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline jumped 14 cents a gallon over the past two weeks to $2.64.
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Kroger is latest victim of third-party software data breach
BOSTON (AP) —
Kroger...
Walmart sales still surging, but a chill may be on the way
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is raising wages for 425,000 of its 1.5 million U.S. workers and is investing $14 billion this year to...
Asian shares mostly lower after mixed day on Wall Street
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday after a mixed session on Wall Street as losses by technology and industrial...
Houston furniture store offers shelter after winter storm
HOUSTON (AP) — For Tina Rios, her family and hundreds of other people, shelter from the winter storm that has left much of Houston...
US retail sales jumps 5.3%, thanks to $600 stimulus checks
NEW YORK (AP) — Those $600 stimulus checks got Americans shopping again.
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Online sales soar in 4th quarter for retailer Ahold Delhaize
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Online sales at retailer Ahold Delhaize soared nearly 72% in the final quarter of 2020, the company said Wednesday,...
Vaccine delays leave grocery workers feeling expendable
As panicked Americans cleared supermarkets of toilet paper and food last spring, grocery employees gained recognition as among the most indispensable of the pandemic's...
CVS posts strong Q4 numbers, but pandemic weighs on results
CVS Health easily beat fourth-quarter expectations as revenue from COVID-19 testing and prescription growth helped counter hits from an ongoing global pandemic.
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Officials: 2 dead in Texas as subfreezing cold sweeps US
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A sprawling blast of winter weather across the U.S. is likely to blame for the deaths of two people in...
Got no milk: Nestle creates vegan KitKat bar
BERLIN (AP) — Coming soon to a selected retailer near you: a vegan version of the iconic KitKat candy bar.
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Online grocery shopping drives up sales at Ocado
LONDON (AP) — Ocado, one of the biggest internet-only grocery retailers, said Tuesday that sales rose 35% during the last fiscal year as the...
Online retailer Boohoo buys 3 fashion brands from Arcadia
LONDON (AP) — British online fashion retailer Boohoo has bought three clothing brands owned by the collapsed Arcadia retail group for 25.2 million pounds...
GameStop booster did well; many devotees won’t as shares sag
WILMINGTON, Mass. (AP) — “IF HE'S STILL IN, I’M STILL IN,” was the constant refrain from followers of Roaring Kitty, the YouTube personality whose...
Grocery industry suing Seattle over new hazard-pay law
SEATTLE (AP) — Two grocery industry trade groups have filed a lawsuit against the city of Seattle over its new law mandating $4 an...
5 challenges awaiting Amazon’s new CEO
NEW YORK (AP) — In 1995, few could imagine that the modest online bookstore built by Jeff Bezos would turn into a $1.7 trillion...
The Latest: S Korea curbing travel, gatherings for holiday
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean officials are moving to limit travel and gatherings during next week’s Lunar New Year’s holidays by allowing train...
2 California supermarkets closing after city orders pay hike
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Kroger Co. will close two Southern California supermarkets in response to a local ordinance requiring extra pay for certain...
GameStop shares drop 60% as frenzied rally loses steam
GameStop shares plunged 60% Tuesday in a further reversal of the recent blockbuster gains that grabbed people's attention far beyond Wall Street.
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Biden boosting vaccine allotments, financing for virus costs
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration announced Tuesday that it is moving to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines, freeing up more doses for...
Uber will bring the booze after acquiring Drizly for $1.1B
NEW YORK (AP) — Uber is bringing the booze.
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LuLaRoe to pay $4.75M to settle pyramid scheme lawsuit
SEATTLE (AP) — The California-based multi-level marketing business LuLaRoe is paying $4.75 million to settle allegations from the Washington state Attorney General’s Office that...
German beer sales suffer as virus restrictions bite
BERLIN (AP) — Beer sales in Germany were down 5.5% last year, dragged lower by lengthy closures of bars and restaurants in the coronavirus...
UK online fashion retailer buys Topshop, three other brands
LONDON (AP) — Online fashion seller Asos says it has bought Topshop, which once boasted designs by Kate Moss and Beyonce, along with three...
Anxiety grows as long-term care awaits COVID-19 vaccines
Frustration is building over the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations at long-term care sites, where some homes still await first shots while fending off a...
Toys R Us retrenches again, shutters its last 2 US stores
NEW YORK (AP) — Toys R Us is retrenching once again.
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Brokerages limit trading in GameStop, sparking outcry
Robinhood and other retail brokerages took steps to tamp down the speculative frenzy surrounding companies such as GameStop, but the actions only sparked more...
Fugitive arrested in credit card scam targeting crafts chain
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — A California man charged in a widespread credit card scam involving arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels is back in New Jersey after...
