Hundreds of Jared and Kay stores to close permanently
The owner of jewelry chains Jared and Kay won’t reopen hundreds of stores following the pandemic shutdown, adding to the pain for American malls as the company speeds a shift to digital. Signet Jewelers Ltd., which also owns Zales, will make lockdown-related store closures permanent at more than 150 locations in North America and 80 in Britain. The company is also in discussions with landlords as it prepares to shut another 150 shops, bringing the total planned closures to at least 380 this year, or 12 percent of total stores. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
7.7 million people were laid off in April
US employers laid-off 7.7 million workers in April — a deep the economic hole that was created by the closure of thousands of offices, restaurants, stores, and schools during the pandemic. The Labor Department also said in a Tuesday report that job openings plummeted and hiring all but disappeared in April. The number of available jobs fell 16 percent from March, to 5 million. Hires declined 31 percent to 3.5 million. The grim April — which followed an even bleaker March with 11.5 million layoffs — suggests that the economy could take time to recover nearly a decade’s worth of gains that vanished in about 60 days. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tiffany seeks to keep sale to LVMH alive
Tiffany & Co. persuaded lenders to grant more financial flexibility, a key step toward keeping a $16 billion sale to LVMH on course after the coronavirus and US social unrest clouded the jeweler’s prospects. Lenders agreed to amend the global revolving credit facility “as a precautionary measure,” Tiffany said. Greater flexibility, including temporarily raising the limit on the company’s debt-to-earnings ratio, could help ensure that the deal comes to fruition because any breach of covenants might have given the French luxury giant a loophole to alter or back away from the purchase. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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About a third of large institutional investors own cryptocurrency
About a third of large institutional investors own digital assets such as Bitcoin, according to a survey from Fidelity Investments. Across the United States and Europe, 36 percent of the survey’s 774 respondents said they own cryptocurrencies or derivatives. In the United States, 27 percent of institutions — including pension funds, family offices, investment advisers, and digital and traditional hedge funds — said they own digital assets, up from 22 percent about a year ago, when Fidelity surveyed 441 institutions just in the United States. In Europe, 45 percent of respondents are invested in digital assets. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Macy’s says reopened stores doing better than expected
Macy’s said Tuesday that roughly several hundred stores that have reopened are performing better than anticipated as it disclosed an update on its fiscal first-quarter results. Like many department stores and other non-essential retailers, Macy’s was forced to close its roughly 800 stores in mid-March and saw its sales evaporate. The New York-based company said Tuesday that it will likely report sales of $3.02 billion for the three-month period ended May 2. That would mark a 45 percent drop from the $5.5 billion in the year-ago period and is in line with its previous estimates released late last month. Late Monday, the department store chain said it completed it debt-financing deal, raising about $4.5 billion of new financing. The company said the move will give the company more financial flexibility to navigate the pandemic. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
TECHNOLOGY
Apple to allow Mac trade-ins at stores
Apple plans to launch a trade-in program for Mac computers next week at its retail stores in the United States and Canada, adding the devices to an effort already in effect for other products. The technology giant informed retail employees that the new program will begin on June 15 in the United States and June 18 in Canada, according to people familiar with the matter. Customers can exchange a Mac for credit toward a new computer or apply the trade-in value to an Apple gift card. Customers have previously been able to trade in their Macs via Apple’s website. Apple already offers trade-in programs at its stores for many other products, including the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. The move could help boost sales of Macs by giving customers a way to get credit toward a new model at the point of purchase. However, the full impact of the program will likely take several more weeks because about 200 of Apple’s retail stores are still closed due to COVID-19 precautions. Mac sales generated about $25.7 billion in fiscal 2019, or almost 10 percent of the company’s total annual revenue.
— BLOOMBERG NEWS
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ENVIRONMENT
EU urged to take action to protect insects from pesticides
Environmental groups are urging the European Union to take drastic action to protect insects, saying in a report Tuesday that more than 40 percent of the world’s insect species are in decline because of pesticide use and industrial farming. Friends of the Earth Europe and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, a think tank with close ties to the German Green Party, said the EU’s strategy to protect biodiversity and develop organic farming is not enough, as one-third of all inspect species are threatened with extinction. “The evidence is clear: pesticide use is wiping out insect populations and ecosystems around the world, and threatening food production,’’ said Mute Schimpf of Friends of the Earth Europe. The group said at least 1 in 10 bee and butterfly species in Europe is threatened with extinction, raising fears of an ensuing impact on crop production. According to figures released by the European Parliament, about 84 percent of crop species and 78 percent of wildflowers across the EU depend to some extent on animal pollination. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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INTERNATIONAL
France offers nearly $17b to struggling aerospace industry
France’s government is pumping $16.9 billion in rescue money into the pandemic-battered aerospace industry, in hopes of saving its hundreds of thousands of jobs and keeping plane maker Airbus and national airline Air France globally competitive. In exchange for aid, companies will be required to invest more and faster in electric, hydrogen, or other lower-emission aircraft, as France aims to make its aviation industry the “cleanest in the world.” As travel restrictions grounded most flights to keep the virus contained, the fallout cascaded across the industry, from airlines to airports to engine makers, maintenance contracts, and spare parts suppliers. Airlines around the world have filed for bankruptcy or sought bailouts to survive the near-shutdown in their activity, and officials predict the industry will take years to recover. The French aid money includes direct government investment, subsidies, loans, and loan guarantees. It also includes a special fund jointly financed by the government, Airbus and other big manufacturers to support small suppliers. Among bailouts elsewhere, major US airlines reached agreements with the Treasury Department for billions of dollars in grants and loans, Lufthansa won a $10 billion German government rescue and Cathay Pacific announced Tuesday it’s seeking $5 billion from the Hong Kong government to survive. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Hundreds of Jared and Kay stores to close permanently - BetaBoston
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