The Boston Globe - 08.08.2019

(Joyce) #1

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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