Business category, Page 237
Ford shuts down Dearborn Truck Plant when worker tests positive for coronavirus
DETROIT — Ford Motor Company shut down its Dearborn Truck Plant on Wednesday afternoon because of coronavirus, releasing its early shift of UAW hourly workers. “They sent everybody home,” said a UAW worker who asked not to be named for fear of disciplinary action. “We probably got 800 people there....
In wake of coronavirus, Excela’s ink runs from black to red with nearly $36 million in losses
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the current title of Excela Health CEO John Sphon. Until early March, the financial turnaround that Excela Health officials had been expecting for the past year was in full swing. Just two months later, a nearly $3 million profit has turned...
Western Pa. Gordmans stores could close after parent company files for bankruptcy
Several local Gordmans stores, including those in Allegheny Township, East Huntingdon and Rostraver, are at risk of closing for good, another victim of the coronavirus pandemic that left stores largely shuttered across the country. Houston, Texas-based Stage Stores Inc. — the parent company of Gordmans, which has been in operation...
Stocks head higher on Wall Street a day after a late slide
Technology companies powered broad gains for stocks on Wall Street in midday trading Wednesday, as the market bounced back from a sudden drop a day earlier. The S&P 500 was up 1.9%, more than it lost on Tuesday, when the index snapped a three-day winning streak. Crude oil prices headed...
Royal Caribbean loses $1.4 billion in first quarterVideo
NEW YORK — Royal Caribbean lost $1.4 billion in the first quarter after the coronavirus forced its entire fleet to port. Wall Street, however, overlooked the massive loss Wednesday, focusing instead on bookings for next year. The Miami cruise company said that bookings for 2021 are within “historical ranges.” Shares...
Target’s online push readied it for pandemicVideo
NEW YORK — Online sales at Target more than doubled as the pandemic put millions in lockdown during the first quarter, revealing further the critical role big box stores played in getting supplies to an immobilized population. The Minneapolis company reported Wednesday that comparable-store sales, which include online purchases, rose...
Pier 1 Imports to close down all stores
Pier 1 Imports, the home decor retailer, announced Tuesday that it will begin closing all of its company’s 540 stores once they are able to reopen following mandated shutdowns. The company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, said it was forced to shutter stores because it was...
Who got what? Details scant on small-business relief effortVideo
WASHINGTON — A small, overlooked federal agency is shouldering a massive relief effort for the nation’s small businesses and their workers left reeling by the pandemic. The Small Business Administration has committed to auditing every sizable emergency loan it approves. But six weeks after the $600 billion-plus program was launched,...
Stocks open lower on Wall Street as gloom settles back inVideo
NEW YORK — Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street on Tuesday, a day after the market had its biggest jump in more than five weeks. Banks and health care companies were posting the biggest losses in the early going, while technology companies kept up their winning streak. Earnings reports...
EasyJet reveals ‘sophisticated’ hack of customer details
LONDON — U.K.-based budget airline easyJet said Tuesday that “highly sophisticated” hackers accessed the email addresses and travel details of approximately 9 million customers. It also said that following a “forensic” investigation, it found that the credit card details of only 2,208 people were accessed and that those affected have...
Walmart’s online sales surge 74% amid coronavirusVideo
NEW YORK — Walmart became a lifeline to millions of people as the coronavirus spread and its profit and sales surged during the first quarter, topping almost all expectations. Online sales jumped 74%, fueled by a rush on canned foods, paper towels and other supplies as people sheltered in place....
Trump points to good news as restaurant owners tell of fearsVideo
WASHINGTON — Restaurant owners gave President Donald Trump a sobering accounting of the widespread damage the coronavirus pandemic has dealt their industry and asked him to adjust a loan program for small businesses to address their concerns. The president put a hopeful spin on the situation, saying encouraging news on...
John Dorfman: 4 stocks you should sell right now
Weeding isn’t just for gardens. I recommend that investors weed their portfolios at least once a year. Since the United States faces a recession — a stiff one, in my view — this is a good time to look at your holdings and weed out companies that have high debt,...
J.C. Penney plans to close more than 240 stores
NEW YORK — J.C. Penney will close almost 30% of its 846 stores as part of a restructuring under bankruptcy protection. The Plano, Texas, retailer said Monday that it plans to close about 192 stores by February 2021, and then 50 additional stores in the year after that. That would...
Uber cuts 3,000 jobs as virus slashes payroll by 25%Video
NEW YORK — Uber has cut 3,000 jobs from its workforce, its second major wave of layoffs in two weeks as the coronavirus slashed demand for rides. The San Francisco company has cut a quarter of its workforce since the year began, eliminating 3,700 people from the payroll earlier this...
Stocks rally on hopes for vaccine and economic recoveryVideo
NEW YORK — The stock market bounced back from its worst week in nearly two months Monday as optimism about a potential vaccine for the coronavirus and hopes for a U.S. economic recovery in the second half of the year put investors in a buying mood. The S&P 500 climbed...
Pandemic claims another retailer: 118-year-old J.C. Penney
NEW YORK — The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the storied but troubled department store chain J.C. Penney into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth major retailer to meet that fate. As part of its reorganization, the 118-year-old company said late Friday it will be shuttering some stores. It said...
Reopening the economy doesn’t necessarily mean people are opening wallets
Suzann Ordile spent her time and money on restaurants and entertainment before the coronavirus disrupted life in the Philadelphia region and across the world. In a typical week, the Newtown lawyer ordered takeout twice, saw a couple shows with her wife and dined near a theater in Princeton. She squeezed...
University students recreate campuses in Minecraft to host graduationsVideo
The notion of a video game enthusiast as a sweaty, jobless loser alone in his mother’s basement goes back as far as video games, themselves. Not only do gamers come in all shapes, sizes, ages, genders and income brackets, but the concept of players as antisocial is equally outmoded. Many...
Tesla picks Austin, Tulsa as finalists for new US factory
DETROIT — Tesla has picked Austin, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, as finalists for its new U.S. assembly plant, a person briefed on the matter said Friday. The person says company officials visited Tulsa in the past week and were shown two sites. It wasn’t clear if there were any other...
Lawsuit: Former Mad Mex manager was fired for seeking time off after domestic violence attack
A Pittsburgh woman is suing Mad Mex and its parent company, alleging she was fired for requesting time off for medical treatment and court appearances after a domestic violence attack. The woman, a former manager at the restaurant’s Waterworks mall location, alleged in a lawsuit she was met with roadblocks...
U.S. layoffs surged to record high of 11.4 million in March
WASHINGTON — U.S. layoffs soared in March to a record 11.4 million after state and local governments closed restaurants, bars, movie theaters and other nonessential businesses in response to the intensifying viral outbreak. The Labor Department also said Friday that job openings plunged, and hiring fell, though those changes weren’t...
Zoom to open research and development center in Pittsburgh
Zoom, the video-conferencing software company whose popularity has skyrocketed in the social-distancing age, announced Thursday it will open two new research and development centers, including one in Pittsburgh. The company is seeking an office location near Carnegie Mellon University in Oakland. It will open another center in the greater Phoenix...
Uber to require all drivers and riders to wear masks starting Monday
Uber will require all of its drivers and riders worldwide to wear masks over their faces for the foreseeable future, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said Wednesday. Khosrowshahi made the announcement during a conference call outlining new health and safety steps Uber is taking in order to ease concerns about the...
Drive-in theaters across Western Pa. set to open Friday
Drive-in movies theaters are set to open Friday across southwestern Pennsylvania as the state begins to loosen some coronavirus restrictions that have been in place since March. They include Evergreen Drive-In Theatre near Mt. Pleasant and Dependable in Moon. Others are Brownsville in Fayette County, Riverside in Armstrong County, Skyview...
