Business category, Page 32
Here’s a story about the history of the Like button that you might like
SAN FRANCISCO — The internet wouldn’t be the same without the Like button, the thumbs-up icon that Facebook and other online services turned into digital catnip. Like it or not, the button has served as a creative catalyst, a dopamine delivery system and an emotional battering ram. It also became...
As Rite Aid collapses, customers and other pharmacies bear the impact
It takes Kathy Younkins just a few minutes to walk to her neighborhood Rite Aid. The 67-year-old has picked up her prescriptions at the company’s Harrison location since the 2000s. But now the Philadelphia-based pharmacy empire is crumbling. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, blaming “the...
Anchor Inn owners ready to retire, close Harrison favorite founded by their dad in 1953
Ask anyone from the Anchor Inn’s former “Wednesday Night Gang” what makes the Harrison restaurant and pub so special, and the answer is simple — good food, good people. “This town has been so supportive,” owner Joe Kolek said. “It’s been a great living and so much fun.” He and...
Retail sales slow in April after a spending splurge as Americans sought to front-run tariffs
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumers spent slightly more at retail stores last month after ramping up their shopping in March to get ahead of tariffs. Sales at retail stores and restaurants rose just 0.1% in April from March, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That is much lower than the previous month’s...
‘Tariffs are messing with everybody’: Walmart shoppers wary of tariff-induced price increases on horizon
Walmart used to be Charmaine Bianco’s go-to grocery store for low-price goods. But Bianco fears she will have to search elsewhere for good deals as the nationwide grocery chain plans to raise prices this month in light of tariffs ordered by President Donald Trump. Executives at the $750 billion company...
Average rate on a U.S. 30-year mortgage rises to 6.81%, its highest level since late April
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. edged above 6.8% this week, returning to where it was just three weeks ago. The rate increased to 6.81% from 6.76% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.02%. Borrowing costs on 15-year...
McDonald’s to hire 375K new employees
This summer, McDonald’s said it will hire 375,000 employees across the United States. The plan marks one of the fast-food chain’s largest hiring pushes in years, Today reported. McDonald’s hopes to open 900 new restaurants in the U.S. by 2027 and plans to serve more customers during summer months. Specifically,...
Walmart says it will raise prices due to tariff costs after posting solid first quarter sales
NEW YORK — Walmart’s first-quarter profit slipped, and it said it must raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump. The nation’s largest retailers posted strong quarterly sales Thursday and said it expects sales growth of 3.5% to 4.5% in the second quarter. Like many...
Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy Foot Locker for $2.4 billion
Dick’s Sporting Goods announced early Thursday that it will acquire Foot Locker in a $2.4 billion deal. The Findlay-based company said it plans to operate Foot Locker as a standalone business and maintain its brands. The acquisition will place Dick’s, already one of the largest domestic sporting goods company, into...
Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy struggling shoe chain Foot Locker for $2.4 billion
Dick’s Sporting Goods is buying the struggling footwear chain Foot Locker for about $2.4 billion, the second buyout of a major footwear company in as many weeks as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Dick’s said Thursday that it expects to run Foot Locker as...
Max streaming service reviving the HBO name — the one it discarded 2 years ago
NEW YORK — HBO is returning — at least in a name. Warner Bros. Discovery said Wednesday that it was rebranding its streaming service as HBO Max this summer, instead of the current Max. The Max name dated to Warner’s merger with Discovery and was considered a curious choice when...
Dozens of Pittsburgh-area federal workers at Bruceton Research Center to keep jobs
Dozens of the 200 federal employees whose jobs were set to be cut at the Bruceton Research Center south of Pittsburgh will keep their jobs,U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio said Wednesday. The employees are respirator certification workers at the center. In layman’s terms, they test the efficacy of things like the...
Thai officials seize over 200 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from U.S.
BANGKOK — Thai officials on Wednesday said they seized 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States at the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest lots they’ve found this year. The waste, which came in 10 large containers, was declared as mixed metal scrap but turned...
Feds ask Elon Musk’s car company how its driverless taxis will avoid causing accidents in Texas rollout
NEW YORK — Federal safety regulators have asked Elon Musk’s car company to explain how its driverless taxis will avoid causing accidents when they hit the road in Texas next month before a national “robotaxi” launch that is key to keeping its stock price aloft. Tesla has been told to...
John Dorfman: Contestant rides Palantir’s 446% gain to stock derby win
A 446% gain in Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) propelled Christy Anderson to a victory in the 2024-25 running of Dorfman’s Three-Stock Derby, an annual stock-picking contest. Anderson of Las Vegas is chief operating officer of a small company that makes radio frequency amplifiers with military applications. As such, she became...
Microsoft to lay off about 3% of its workforce
Microsoft says it is laying off nearly 3% of its entire workforce. The tech giant didn’t disclose the total amount of lost jobs but it will amount to about 6,000 people. Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of last June, the last time it reported its annual headcount. About 55%...
U.S. egg prices fall for 1st time in months but remain near record highs
U.S. retail egg prices fell in April from the record-high prices they hit earlier this year, according to government data released Tuesday. The average price for a dozen Grade A eggs declined to $5.12 last month after reaching a record $6.23 in March, according to the Consumer Price Index. It...
Nissan slashes 15% of its global work force as the Japan automaker sinks into losses
TOKYO — Nissan is slashing about 15% of its global work force, or about 20,000 employees, as the Japanese automaker reported a loss Tuesday for the fiscal year that just ended amid slipping vehicle sales in China and other nations, and towering restructuring costs. Nissan Motor Corp. said it will...
Tariffs may have pushed up inflation a bit in April, government report to show
WASHINGTON — Inflation may have picked up slightly last month as President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs kicked in, a trend economists expect will become more visible in the coming months. Consumer prices are forecast to have risen 2.4% in April compared with a year earlier, according to data provider FactSet,...
UnitedHealth Group CEO steps down; suspends 2025 outlook on higher-than-expected medical costs
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty is stepping down for personal reasons and the nation’s largest health insurer suspended its full-year financial outlook due to higher-than-expected medical costs. UnitedHealth cut its 2025 forecast last month following its first quarterly earnings miss in more than a decade. Shares of UnitedHealth, which have plummeted...
As Biden-era ‘junk fee’ rule takes effect, Ticketmaster says it will display fees more clearly
As a Biden administration ban on so-called “junk fees” took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it would start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about its hidden fees, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was...
Dow leaps 1,100 points and S&P 500 rallies 3.3% following a 90-day truce in the U.S.-China trade war
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied Monday after China and the United States announced a 90-day truce in their trade war. Each of the world’s two largest economies agreed to take down temporarily most of its tariffs against the other, which economists had warned could start a recession and create shortages...
What’s that old gold ring worth? As prices surge, some are looking to sell, others buying amid volatile market
Rebecca Burns recently made a trip to The Pawn and Jewelry Exchange to find out how much her gold jewelry is worth. Skyrocketing gold prices, which have reached over $3,300 for a troy ounce of the precious metal, piqued her interest. Burns brought a necklace and other gold pieces of...
New Kensington’s Re:Build to boost U.S. production capacity for renewable hydrogen
A new partnership at New Kensington’s Advanced Manufacturing Park will put the city in the heart of the country’s growing hydrogen economy, area business leaders say. New York-based Ecolectro, a hydrogen production manufacturer, announced last week it has partnered with Re:Build Manufacturing to build next-generation electrolyzers. Ecolectro Chief Commercial Officer...
Economic jitters and soaring gold prices create a frenzy for U.S. jewelry merchants
LOS ANGELES — At the biggest jewelry center in the United States, Alberto Hernandez fired up his machine on a recent day and waited until it glowed bright orange inside before shoveling in an assortment of rings, earrings and necklaces weighing about as much as a bar of soap: just...
