RETAIL
To cut costs, Walgreens will close about 200 US stores
Walgreens will shutter about 200 US stores as it expands its cost-reduction campaign, but the nation’s largest drugstore chain has no plans to shrink. The company expects to open roughly the same number of new stores and will consider more mergers and acquisitions. It recently finalized a nearly $16 billion deal to combine with Alliance Boots, which runs the United Kingdom’s largest pharmacy chain. The store closings Walgreens announced Thursday represent about 2 percent of the 8,232 stores the company runs in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The company had not by late Thursday finalized the list of stores to be closed. The chain has 167 Walgreens in Massachusetts, including 14 in Boston, and 166 in the five other New England states.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILANTHROPHY
Analogic’s founder gives museum $5m
JACK NEWSHAM
TECHNOLOGY
Founder’s return hammers Zynga’s stock
SAN FRANCISCO — The return of Zynga founder Mark Pincus as the digital game maker’s chief executive is bringing back bad memories about the problems that prompted him to step down nearly two years ago. Zynga Inc. stock shed 17.9 percent, to $2.38 as investors reacted to the abrupt change in command, disclosed late Wednesday. With Pincus at the helm, Zynga lost more than $600 million in 2011 and 2012 as once-trendy games like ‘‘FarmVille’’ fell out of favor. The downturn caused Zynga’s stock to drop more than 70 percent from its December 2011 initial public offering price of $10, pressuring Pincus to get help from a new chief executive.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANUFACTURING
Hummus recalled amid listeria fears
NEW YORK — About 30,000 cases of Sabra hummus, sold nationwide, are being recalled because of a possible Listeria contamination. Listeria bacteria can cause high fevers and nausea in minor cases, but the infections can be fatal to people with weak immune systems and to young children. The food-borne illness can also cause miscarriages. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the products. Sabra Dipping Co. is a joint venture of PepsiCo and Strauss Group.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANUFACTURING
Number of people sickened by Blue Bell ice cream grows
DALLAS — Three more people have become ill from a food-borne illness linked to some Blue Bell ice cream products. Carol Crawford, spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, confirmed Thursday that the number of people sickened by listeriosis had increased. The CDC says three people in Texas have the same strain of listeria found in five others at a Wichita, Kan., hospital. Three of the five in Kansas died. The three people in Texas were hospitalized for unrelated problems when they developed listeriosis. Texas-based Blue Bell temporarily closed a production plant in Broken Arrow, Okla., after traces of the pathogen were found there. On Tuesday, Blue Bell disclosed a third product recall as a result of the contamination.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRANSPORTATION
Airport delays spike in February
There was a surge in delays at US airports in February, including several during a snowstorm in Dallas. The Department of Transportation said 16 domestic flights were stuck on the ground for more than three hours, and eight international flights were delayed more than four hours. Overall, 72.8 percent of flights arrived on time, down from 76.8 percent in January but up from 70.7 percent in February 2014. Envoy Air, which operates many American Eagle flights, had the worst rating, 53.3 percent. Frontier Airlines and JetBlue Airways had the next-worst on-time ratings, both under 60 percent.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANUFACTURING
Gillette unveils Avengers razors
Gillette on Thursday unveiled a series of concept razors tied to the Marvel comics characters the Avengers at a press conference at its World Shaving Headquarters in South Boston. Stan Lee, the iconic comic book writer, appeared with the new XL Gamma razor, which supposedly has Hulk-like qualities. “The things I’ll do for free razors,” Lee said to the crowd. “Can I go home now?” The men’s razors are themed around four popular superheroes: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and The Hulk. Gillette said it has no plans to sell the razors at this time, though. Some of the faux razors will be given away to fans via a social media promotion, probably near the May 1 release of the Marvel movie “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
TARYN LUNA
SECURITY
Cybercrime fighters take down a botnet
LONDON — A new group of international cybercrime fighters claimed one of its first kills Thursday, pulling the plug on servers that hijacked at least 12,000 machines, most in the United States. Eliminating the Beebone botnet was an early success for the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce, created last year by the FBI, Britain’s National Crime Agency, Europol, and a host of other international agencies. Botnet is the term applied to networks of hijacked machines that criminals — or security agencies — can use to spread malicious software, empty bank accounts, and launch attacks.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ENERGY
Pipeline surveyors accused of trespass
Some Massachusetts residents say surveyors working on the route for a natural gas pipeline have trespassed on their land. The Northeast Energy Direct project, which would cross through Massachusetts and New Hampshire, has run up against stiff opposition. Many people have denied the company permission to work on their land, but residents of several towns along the route say surveyors ignored their protests. A Kinder Morgan spokesman was not available Thursday, but the company said in a statement it would respect land owners’ objections and “would not enter property unless permission were granted.” Kinder Morgan has received surveying permission from 36 percent of landowners in the part of the project that’s in Massachusetts, according to the most recent update filed with regulators.
JACK NEWSHAM
TECHNOLOGY
LinkedIn to buy Lynda.com
LinkedIn Corp. has agreed to acquire the online education business Lynda.com Inc. The $1.5 billion deal continues the professional networking service’s expansion. The transaction will be 52 percent in cash and the rest in stock, LinkedIn said, and is expected to close this quarter. Lynda.com, based in Carpinteria, Calif., offers more than 5,700 courses and 255,000 video tutorials for professional development. The company markets to individuals as well as large corporate customers.
BLOOMBERG NEWS