PANDEMIC
Tripadvisor headquarters to reopen as site for new vaccines
The Tripadvisor headquarters in Needham will be reopened for first-dose COVID-19 vaccinations next week, now that the state’s hospital groups are receiving the doses through the state again. Rich Copp, a spokesman for Mass General Brigham, which operates the vaccination site for the health care group’s patients, confirmed that the Tripadvisor site would resume new vaccinations. The Baker administration had curtailed vaccine distribution to hospitals because of supply constraints earlier this month, but on Wednesday a deal was announced that allowed the flow of vaccines to hospitals to resume. Because Tripadvisor is working remotely through June at least, the company had made the site available for free to nearby Newton-Wellesley Hospital, a Mass General Brigham hospital, on Feb. 3 to distribute vaccines, with a starting capacity of 630 patients a day. A Tripadvisor spokesman said the company “is happy to be a part of efforts to get more people vaccinated as we all work together to end this pandemic.” — JON CHESTO
RETAIL
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TJX says it lost $1 billion in revenue due to store closures overseas
TJX Cos., which owns the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls brands, estimates it lost about $1 billion in revenue in just the last quarter alone due to temporary COVID-19 store closures abroad. The Framingham-based company said stores were closed 63 percent of the time in Europe and 32 percent of the time in Canada in the fourth quarter, which covers the crucial holiday selling season. Stores in the United States, TJX’s biggest market, were mostly open during the fourth quarter. The estimate of lost international sales came as the retailer reported net sales that missed estimates. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
GAMING
GameStop’s CFO to leave following stock frenzy
GameStop’s chief financial officer, Jim Bell, is leaving the company in late March, following a stock-trading frenzy that briefly sent shares in the video game retailer surging. The company gave no reason for Bell’s departure in its announcement on Tuesday, but noted it would look for a successor “with the capabilities and qualifications to help accelerate GameStop’s transformation.” Bell joined GameStop less than two years ago. GameStop jumped into the headlines in late January when amateur investors used trading apps to buy options and pump up its share price, defying hedge funds that had bet the price would fall. The chaotic trading led to congressional hearings last week, but executives from GameStop, which was essentially caught in the middle, were not called to testify. GameStop’s share price soared more than 103 percent Wednesday on news of Bell’s departure. The stock had reached $483 on Jan. 28 after starting the year at $19. — NEW YORK TIMES
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TRAVEL
Carnival postpones cruises until the end of May
Carnival Cruise Line extended its COVID-19 shutdown through May 31, while the company works to resume operations. A restart date hasn’t been determined, the company said Wednesday. As it has done throughout the shutdown, Carnival is providing guests on canceled trips the choice of a future cruise credit plus an onboard credit package, or a full refund. The industry has essentially been on hold since it paused operations in mid-March, almost a year ago, after a series of dramatic and deadly outbreaks at sea. But the companies themselves don’t have the ultimate say in when they sail again. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
EU to study gig workers and labor conditions
The European Commission launched a study into the labor conditions of ride-hailing drivers, pizza couriers, and others in the gig economy, starting by gathering views from trade unions and employers. It wants to improve protections for millions of independent workers in the European Union, and the study, announced Wednesday, comes at a time when courts are repeatedly ruling their jobs should be considered employed work. Uber suffered a blow last week after the UK’s Supreme Court ruled it must treat its drivers as workers and give them vacation pay, rest breaks, and a minimum wage. A French court issued a similar ruling last year, while in Spain, the government is seeking to change laws that could require food-delivery platforms to formally employ couriers. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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AUTOMOTIVE
Geely and Volvo cancel merger
China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. and its Swedish affiliate Volvo Cars are putting off earlier plans to merge, wagering they will be more agile as standalone entities. The manufacturers will preserve their separate corporate structures while cooperating more closely on electrification, software, and autonomous-driving technology, according to a joint statement. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
WORKPLACE
Goldman CEO warns workers not to get too comfortable at home.
David Solomon wants to make sure you don’t get too attached to remote work. The Goldman Sachs CEO on Wednesday repeated his desire to see the firm’s offices fill up again. “This is not ideal for us and it’s not a new normal,” Solomon said at a Credit Suisse conference. “It’s an aberration that we are going to correct as quickly as possible.” The 59-year-old CEO has been one of the more vocal business leaders pushing government officials to move faster in making changes needed to bring employees back to work. He’s urged them to use private-sector support to speed up the process. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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CLEAN ENERGY
Maryland school district to become largest operator of electric school buses
A school system outside Washington is poised to become the nation’s biggest operator of electric school buses. The Board of Education in Maryland’s Montgomery County voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to approve a 16-year, $169 million contract to lease 326 buses, part of a plan that could result in the county replacing its entire 1,422-bus fleet over the next two decades. The deal represents the largest municipal government order of any kind for buses, according to Monique Hanis, a spokeswoman for Advanced Energy Economy, a business association that promotes clean energy use. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
HOME IMPROVEMENT
Lowe’s sees sales boost due to pandemic
Lowe’s extended its strong sales streak through the holiday season as customers kept investing in their homes during the pandemic. The nation’s second largest home improvement retailer behind Home Depot reported that fourth-quarter profits almost doubled from a year ago, while sales rose 27 percent. The strong showing, announced Wednesday, followed results from Home Depot, which reported Tuesday that fourth-quarter sales surged 25 percent. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIDE HAILING
Chinese company looks to expand into Western Europe
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Technology Co. plans to make its debut in Western Europe, people familiar with the matter said, as the company seeks new growth markets ahead of a long-awaited initial public offering. Beijing-based Didi is considering rolling out ride-sharing services in markets that could include the UK, France, and Germany by the first half of this year, according to two people briefed on the plan. The company has already set up a team dedicated to the European market and is hiring locally, another person said. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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