The Boston Globe - 08.08.2019

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019 The Boston Globe Business B7

TALKING POINTS

RETAIL Agenda

MORESEARS AND

KMART STORES TO

CLOSE, INCLUDING

ONE IN PALMER

The padlocks are coming out again for Sears stores. The struggling retailer will shutter 26

more of its large-format Sears and Kmart stores in late October, it revealed on its website.

Any of the locations with auto centers will close those divisions in late August, it said. Liqui-

dation sales are expected to start as soon as next week. The Kmart store in Palmer is among

thosethat will close. The once-dominant chain, which has already closed morethan 100 lo-

cations, is trying to rebuild itself by investing in smaller footprint stores, a key tenet of its

turnaround plan.BLOOMBERG

DELIVERY

FEDEXCUTTINGTIES

WITH AMAZON

FedEx is severingties with Amazon as the onlineretailerbuilds

out its own delivery fleet and becomesmoreof a threat. The an-

nouncementWednesday that FedEx would no longer make

grounddeliveries for Amazoncomestwo monthsafter the delivery

company said it was terminating its air delivery contract with Am-

azon.Amazon.comInc. is building its own fleet of groundand air

transportation to have morecontrol of how its packages are deliv-

ered and cut its relianceon FedEx, UPS,and the US Postal Service.

The Seattle-basedcompany has been leasingjets, buildingseveral

package-sorting hubsat airports, and launching a program that

lets contractors start businesses deliveringpackages in vans

stampedwith the Amazon logo. ASSOCIATED PRESS

RESTAURANTS

WAFFLE HOUSE

CHAIRMAN,FORMER

HOUSEKEEPERSETTLE

LAWSUIT

A settlement has beenreached in a seven-year long dispute between Waffle House Chair-

man Joseph Rogers Jr. and his former housekeeper, who secretly recorded them having sex.

The confidential deal was announced moments after Rogers’s attorney gave his opening

statementin a civil trial Tuesday in a Georgia courtroom. News outlets report the terms

weren’t disclosed and both sides declined to comment. Rogers accused his formerhouse-

keeper Mye Brindle in a lawsuit filed in 2012 of recording their sexual encounters in an at-

tempt to extort him. Rogers also sued Brindle’s attorneys for allegedly conspiring with her.

Brindle said she recorded the acts as proof of Rogers’s repeated sexual harassment. Brindle

and her attorneys wereindicted on unlawful surveillance charges but were cleared last year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ENTERTAINMENT

TAKING A LIGHTSABER

TODISNEY’S PROFITS

The force may be with them, but the

bucks, apparently, are not. Walt Disney

Co. shares took their worst tumble in

nearly four years after the opening of

the most highly anticipated theme-

park attraction in the company’s histo-

ry fell flat, hammering results in its lat-

est quarter. Profit at the company’s do-

mestic resorts slumped in the period,

which was marked by the ballyhooed

opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge,

the largest addition ever to the Disney-

land resort in Anaheim, Calif. A second version of the space-themedland opens in Florida

this month. The earnings shortfall was a shock to investors who were counting on Disney’s

market-dominating themeparks and films to shoulder the burden of growth as the compa-

ny goes head to head with Netflix Inc. in streaming. BLOOMBERG

PHARMACIES

CVS RAISES EARNINGS

FORECASTONCE

AGAIN

CVS Health Corp. raised its 2019 earnings forecast for the second time this year after top-

ping Wall Street’s estimates, driven by growingrevenue and profit at the drug-benefits unit.

The company, based in Woonsocket, R.I., expects adjusted earnings for the year to be $6.89

to $7 per share, an increase from its May forecast of $6.75 to $6.90. CVS’s success as a mix

of corner pharmacies, drug-benefit services, and health insurance is a contrast to its com-

petitors. While CVS raised its forecast, retail rival Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has been

slashing costs and closing stores — including Tuesday’s announcement that it would shut

down 200 more US locations. BLOOMBERG

SOCIAL

MATCH GROUP

SHARES SOAR, FUELED

BYTINDER

SUBSCRIBERGROWTH

Like striking a match to a tinder box? Explosive growthat the dating app

Tinder is propelling Match Group Inc. shares to record highs. The dating

company gave an optimistic earnings report and outlook, fueled by Tin-

der’s growth. The shares gained as much as 24 percent, the most intra-

day since May 2016. Match is owned by billionaire Barry Diller’s IAC/In-

terActiveCorp. Since going public in 2015, Match has quadrupled its

market capitalization, largely driven by explosive growth in Tinder, the app where people

swipe right on photos of prospective dates to indicate romantic interest. BLOOMBERG

REALESTATE

PRICES RETREAT IN

SOMEOFTHE

COSTLIESTMARKETS

Home prices slipped in someof the costliest US markets in the secondquarter, a sign that

would-be buyers are sitting out the competition for a scarcity of affordable properties. The

median price for a previously owned single-family house increased 4.3 percent from a year

earlier to $279,600, the National Association of Realtors said in a report Wednesday. Prices

climbed in 162 of 178 metropolitan areas measured. The high-cost regions of San Jose, San

Francisco, and Honolulu were among those where prices fell. Median single-family prices in

Greater Boston were up 2.2 percent over the second quarter in 2018, to $506,700.

BLOOMBERG

MEDIA

FOR NEWYORKTIMES,

THENEWSIS NOT

GOOD

The New York Times is having a week from hell. After the publisher drew flak for a headline

earlier this week on President Trump and suffered a legal setback against Sarah Palin on

Tuesday, the company warned that advertising revenue would decline sharply this quarter.

The outlook sent New York Times Co. shares down 20 percent Wednesday — their worst in-

traday plunge in almost seven years — and cast a shadowon what had been an upbeat year

for the Gray Lady. The stock was up 60 percent in 2019 through Tuesday, fueled by signs

that the 168-year-old publisher is successfully pivoting to the digital age. The Times expects

ad revenue to decrease by a percentage in the high-single digits in the third quarter. The

stock rout was another headache in a week full of them.On Monday, presidential candidate

Beto O’Rourke slammed the newspaper for running the print headline “Trump Urges Unity

Vs. Racism,” which he and other critics said mischaracterized the story in favor of the presi-

dent. New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet acknowledged to the Daily Beast that it

was a “bad headline” but noted that it was quickly changed. On Tuesday, the Times learned

that it must face a defamation lawsuitby Palin, the former Alaska governor, over an editori-

al that linked her to the shooting of Arizona lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords. BLOOMBERG

APPAREL

NIKE BUYS BOSTON

ANALYTICS COMPANY

Nike Inc. has purchaseda data-science firm that it believes will provide insight into what its

customers want, and how to deliver it. The acquisition of Boston-based Celect dovetails

with Nike’s biggest initiative — its digital presence. In just the past year, Nike has opened a

new type of retail store, enhanced its member app, and unveiled a new product line, all of

which is centered on learningmoreabout its customers on an individual level. Celect,

which last year raised $15 million from a handful of investors, offers predictive analytics

that will help Nike optimize retail inventory and predict consumerpatterns. BLOOMBERG

Thursday

➔REALESTATE

Mortgagerates

The latest mortgage rates will be released

Thursday. Last week, Freddie Mac

reported that a 30-year, fixed-rate loan

remained at 3.75 percent from the week

before.

Friday

➔TRAINING

GetSocial

Learn how social media can help you

grow your business at this class from

General Assembly. Students will learn

best practices on how to engage people

and consider case studies on the effective

use of social media. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4

p.m., GA Boston, 125 SummerSt., 13th

floor, Boston. $200. Register online or go

to the business agenda at

bostonglobe.com.

➔PANELDISCUSSION

Expandyour

side-hustle

Ponder how to turn your passion into a

job at this panel discussion and

networking opportunity presented by the

Moonlighter’s Club Podcast. Six local

entrepreneurs will discuss how they grew

their own businesses while working full

time. Drinks will be available for purchase.

Friday, 7:30 to 10 p.m., Turtle Swamp

Brewing, 3377 Washington St., Boston.

Free. Register online or go to the business

agenda at bostonglobe.com.

➔NETWORKING

Meet other

businesspeople

Build a network for referral business at

this meet-and-greet by business

organization BNI Financial District. Friday,

7 to 8:30 a.m., 125 Summer St., Boston.

Free. Register online or go to the business

agenda at bostonglobe.com.

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