Business category, Page 257
Facebook, Instagram go down on Thanksgiving morning
Facebook and Instagram went down for several hours Thursday morning. Service to both appeared to have been restored just before noon. As of noon, there was no word on the company’s Twitter feed as to what the issue might have been. According to Down Detector, the social media platforms’ blackout...
Papa John’s founder has 40 pizzas in 30 days, says pizzas are not good
Papa John’s founder John Schnatter, who was ousted as CEO in 2017, said the pizza and company are not the same. In an interview with WDRB-TV in Kentucky, Schnatter said the company he started in 1984 has declined since he was pushed out. “I’ve had over 40 pizzas in the...
Ad business a boon for Amazon but a turn-off for shoppers
NEW YORK — Mike Maddaloni went to Amazon.com knowing exactly what he wanted to buy. But instead of showing him the Synology router he was searching for at the top of his results, Amazon bombarded him with ads for hard drives and routers that he didn’t want. Maddaloni, a web...
McDonald’s agrees to $26M settlement with California workers
LOS ANGELES — McDonald’s has agreed to a $26 million settlement of a long-running class-action lawsuit over wages and work conditions at corporate-run locations in California, the parties said Monday. The agreement, which estimates the settlement covers about 38,000 individuals, requires the approval of a Los Angeles County Superior Court...
EBay selling StubHub to viagogo for $4.05 billion
EBay is selling StubHub to ticket seller viagogo for $4.05 billion in cash. The transaction is part of a review that eBay undertook earlier this year following pressure from an activist investor. The San Jose, Calif.-based company then said it was also reviewing options for its classified ads business. EBay...
Charles Schwab buys TD Ameritrade in brokerage blockbusterVideo
NEW YORK — Charles Schwab is buying rival TD Ameritrade in a $26 billion stock swap, a blockbuster agreement accelerated by massive disruption in the online brokerage industry. Competitive pressure has already forced brokerages to make it free for customers to trade U.S. stocks online, and Schwab’s buyout combines two...
Uber loses license in London over safety, vows to appealVideo
LONDON — London’s transit authority on Monday refused to renew Uber’s license to operate, putting the ride-hailing company’s future in the British capital in doubt. It’s the latest chapter in Uber’s rocky history with London transport officials, who have been subjecting the San Francisco-based company to ever tighter scrutiny over...
Tesla edges into pickup truck market with electric modelVideo
Tesla is aiming for the heart of the auto industry’s profit machine with its own version of the heavy pickup truck. Rolling onstage before a wall of lasers and flame at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the introduction of Tesla’s sharp-angled, stainless-steel “cybertruck” was not a quiet one. Nor was...
WeWork cuts nearly 20% of workforce in restructuring effort
NEW YORK — WeWork is slashing nearly 20% of its workforce, embarking on a painful restructuring of its money-losing operation that doomed its stock market debut and left the office-sharing company on the brink of bankruptcy. WeWork said it has laid off 2,400 of its approximately 12,500 employees to “create...
U.S. home sales rose 1.9% in October, lifted by lower rates
WASHINGTON — Americans took advantage of lower mortgage rates and purchased more homes in October, though sales were held back by a shortage of available properties. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales of existing homes rose 1.9% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.46...
GM sues Fiat Chrysler over union bribes
DETROIT — General Motors is suing Fiat Chrysler, alleging that its crosstown rival got an unfair business advantage by bribing officials of the United Auto Workers union. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, alleges that FCA was involved in racketeering by paying millions in bribes to...
New Belgium Brewing sold to international beverage company
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The Colorado brewery responsible for making Fat Tire beer, among many others, is being sold to an international beverage company after nearly 30 years in business, officials said. New Belgium Brewing Co. in Fort Collins is being sold to Lion Little World Beverages, The Coloradoan reports....
Nerf gun, Power Rangers claw among latest unsafe toys, watchdog says
BOSTON — A Nerf dart gun, ice cream-scented Nickelodeon slime and a plastic Power Rangers claw are among the toys topping a consumer safety group’s list of worst toys for the holidays. World Against Toys Causing Harm unveiled its annual list Tuesday at a Boston children’s hospital. A realistic toy...
GateHouse, Gannett join, become largest U.S. newspaper chain
NEW YORK — GateHouse has closed its $1.1 billion takeover of Gannett, promising a $300 million cut in annual costs as it becomes the country’s largest newspaper company by far at a time when print publications are in precipitous decline. The new company keeps the Gannett name and brings about...
These stocks could bounce high in January and beyond
Energy stocks, and to a lesser extent bank stocks, have been the market’s whipping boys in 2019. Now they are being punished anew, as investors sell shares to establish tax losses. In the fall frenzy of tax-loss selling, certain stocks are often pushed below their intrinsic value, and that is...
Chick-fil-A no longer funding Salvation Army, Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Atlanta-based Chick-Fil-A has stopped donating to The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, two organizations that have come under fire from LGBTQ activists. The company told the Thomson Reuters Foundation it has stopped donating to the organizations on Monday, according to CNBC. “We made multiyear commitments to both...
This is what the trade war looks like in bourbon country
ATLANTA — After Europe retaliated with tariffs on Kentucky bourbon in response to President Donald Trump’s trade war, the James E. Pepper distillery in Lexington so far this year has suffered a more than 20% sales decline internationally. “We’re collateral damage,” said Amir Peay, the 42-year-old owner. While tensions may...
HP rejects takeover offer from Xerox
HP Inc. says its board has rejected a roughly $33.5 billion takeover offer from Xerox. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company said Sunday that the cash and stock deal undervalues its business and its board cited concerns about “outsized” debt levels should the companies combine. HP, which makes computers and printers,...
Experts speculate on Amazon’s approach to future grocery stores — a new format, lots of automation?
As Amazon readies its grocery chain, analysts and competitors are trying to predict how the commerce giant will make what many expect to be a major move into the biggest category of retail spending. Picture a grocery store with a miniature version of a highly automated fulfillment center on an...
Twitter details political ads ban, issue ads allowed
Twitter says its new ban on political ads will cover appeals for votes, solicitations for campaign contributions and any political content. Twitter is defining political content to include any ad that references a candidate, political party, government official, ballot measure, or legislative or judicial outcome. The ban also applies to...
GE to close Georgia plant, move work to Charleroi, Pa.
An eastern Georgia industrial plant will close by the end of 2020, laying off up to 200 workers. General Electric Co. tells local media it will close its high-voltage electrical switchgear plant in Waynesboro, consolidating work to a similar plant in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. The company’s renewable energy unit blames the...
Amazon appeals $10B Pentagon contract won by Microsoft
SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon is protesting the Pentagon’s decision to award a $10 billion cloud-computing contract to Microsoft, citing “unmistakable bias” in the process. Amazon’s competitive bid for the “war cloud” project drew criticism from President Donald Trump and its business rivals. The project, formally called the Joint Enterprise Defense...
Cold snap may be your signal to get new tires for winter
DETROIT — With the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. shivering through an early blast of arctic air, it’s time to start thinking about whether your car’s tires will get you safely through the winter. Italian tiremaker Pirelli recently started a campaign telling people that winter tires aren’t just for climates...
Sizing up the 2019 holiday shopping season for retailers
NEW YORK — With two weeks until the official start of the holiday shopping season, the nation’s retailers are gearing up for what should be another brutally competitive shopping period. The good news? Many retail CEOs say the U.S. consumer is financially healthy given the economy remains strong and the...
Study: Water onboard most U.S. airlines is unsafe, refrain from washing hands
Do you opt drink coffee or hot tea while flying the friendly skies? Well, you might want to reconsider that. According to a recent study highlighted by People.com, many of the U.S.’s top airlines are not providing safe drinking water. The 2019 Airline Water Study, which was conducted by DietDetective.com...
