Wal-Mart Stores Inc
FILE - In this May 18, 2021 file photo, fifth graders wear face masks are seated at proper social distancing spacing during a music class at the Milton Elementary School in Rye, N.Y. As more children go back to the physical classroom, families are expected to spend robustly on a wide range of items, particularly trendy clothing for the critical back-to-school season, according to one key spending measure. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
As children return to classrooms, stores expect strong sales

By Anne D'innocenzio Jun. 10, 2021 09:00 AM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2020 file photo, a woman, wearing a protective face mask due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, wheels a cart with her purchases out of a Walmart store, in Derry, N.H. Walmart says it will close its U.S. stores on Thanksgiving for the second consecutive year. The nation’s largest retailer and biggest private employer said Friday, June 4, 2021, that it wants to give workers time off for all their “hard work and dedication” to the company. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Walmart to again close its US stores on Thanksgiving Day

By Anne D'innocenzio Jun. 04, 2021 02:31 PM EDT

FILE - This April 21, 2020 file photo shows Amazon tractor trailers line up outside the Amazon Fulfillment Center in the Staten Island borough of New York. Amazon said Wednesday, June 2, 2021, that it will hold its annual Prime Day over two days in June this year, the earliest it has ever held the sales event. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Amazon to hold Prime Day over 2 days in June

By Joseph Pisani Jun. 02, 2021 09:19 AM EDT

In this image provided by AquaBounty Technologies Inc., company CEO Sylvia Wulf, poses for a photo with processing associates Skyler Miller, back left, and Jacob Clawson with genetically modified salmon from the company's indoor aquaculture farm, Wednesday, May 26, 2021, in Albany, Ind. These are the first such altered animal to be cleared for human consumption in the United States. (AquaBounty Technologies vis AP)
Genetically modified salmon head to US dinner plates

By Casey Smith May. 27, 2021 04:35 PM EDT

FILE- In this Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020, file photo, customers browse while shopping for books at the Strand Bookstore, an independent family owned bookstore founded in 1927 in New York. On Thursday, the American Booksellers Association said that membership increased from 1,635 to 1,701 since May 2020, the additions a combination of brand new stores and existing stores that had not previously been part of the independents’ trade group. While association CEO Allison Hill and others had feared that hundreds of stores could go out of business during the 2020-21 holiday season, the ABA so far has only tallied 14 closings in 2021, along with more than 70 last year. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
Indie bookstores avoid the worst — so far — from pandemic

By Hillel Italie May. 27, 2021 09:46 AM EDT

Shoppers are reflected in a retail store's windows, Tuesday, May 25, 2021, in Chicago's famed Loop. With vaccinations rolling out and shoppers freer to go out maskless, retailers are seeing an eager return to their stores after months of watching their customers focus on online buying during the pandemic. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar)
Shoppers go back to stores, but retailers face challenges

By Anne D'innocenzio May. 27, 2021 07:23 AM EDT

In this Wednesday, May 19, 2021, photograph, Bill Easton, a checker at a Safeway grocery store, is shown in the shopping center in which the store is located in Aurora, Colo. Easton, like many other workers in retail sales jobs, is fully vaccinated but is concerned about risks posed as retailers change their mask-wearing policies for customers. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Nervous workers struggle to adjust to new mask policies

By Alexandra Olson, Joseph Pisani And Anne D'innocenzio May. 20, 2021 10:28 AM EDT

Editorial Roundup: South Carolina

By The Associated Press May. 19, 2021 01:30 PM EDT
(Charleston) Post and Courier. May 15, 2021. Editorial: SC oyster farm permitting needs more transparency Regardless of...

FILE - In this July 10, 2019, file photo shoppers visit the downtown Target store in Minneapolis. Target has reported surging sales and profits for its fiscal first quarter thanks to shoppers who bought more apparel as they emerge from the pandemic. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)
Target's profit surges as Americans cast restrictions aside

By Anne D'innocenzio May. 19, 2021 06:51 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2021 file photo, shoppers arrive at a Macy's in Charlotte, N.C. Macy’s emerged from an unprecedented year by swinging to a profit and it upped its expectations for the year. The retailer on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, posted net income of $103 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
Retailer results so far show people are going out, spending

By Anne D'innocenzio May. 18, 2021 12:52 PM EDT

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2020 file photo, a woman, wearing a protective face mask due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, wheels a cart with her purchases out of a Walmart store, in Derry, N.H. Walmart Inc. blew past Wall Street projections, reporting strong sales results for the fiscal first quarter as shoppers continued to keep shopping at the discounter even as the pandemic eases. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Walmart sales still strong as pandemic eases, stimulus helps

By Anne D'innocenzio May. 18, 2021 07:37 AM EDT

A man walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Asian shares fell Wednesday, tracking a decline on Wall Street led by big technology stocks. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Asian shares drop, tracking Wall Street decline led by tech

By Yuri Kageyama May. 18, 2021 03:21 AM EDT

Student Sander Albertson, from Minnesota, wears a face mask outdoors with his friends at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, Monday, May 17, 2021. California is keeping its rules for wearing face masks in place until the state more broadly lifts its pandemic restrictions on June 15. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
California will stay masked for another month

By Don Thompson May. 17, 2021 02:37 PM EDT

A medic waits to administer Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine shots, at the Iran Mall shopping center in Tehran, Iran, Monday, May 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The Latest: Conn. plans 'signing bonus' to boost job seeking

By The Associated Press May. 17, 2021 01:32 AM EDT

This Week: Walmart earns, Fed meeting minutes, US home sales

The Associated Press May. 17, 2021 01:10 AM EDT
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week: MIXED RESULTS? Walmart reports...

FILE - In this April 30, 2021, file photo, a family takes a photo in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. A number of states immediately embraced new guidelines from the CDC that say fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors or out in most situations. But other states - and some businesses _ are taking a wait-and-see attitude. (AP Photo/Jae Hong, File)
States, business sort out what new CDC mask guidance means

By Heather Hollingsworth And Stephen Groves May. 14, 2021 01:12 PM EDT

FILE - This April 30, 2019, file photo, shows a McDonald's restaurant on the Northside of Pittsburgh. U.S. restaurants and stores are rapidly raising pay in an urgent effort to attract more applicants and keep up with a flood of customers as the pandemic eases. McDonald's, Sheetz and Chipotle are just some of the latest companies to follow Amazon, Walmart and Costco in boosting wages, in some cases to $15 an hour or higher. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Desperate for workers, US restaurants and stores raise pay

By Christopher Rugaber May. 13, 2021 03:55 PM EDT

An Amazon truck drives in in Philadelphia, Friday, April 30, 2021. Amazon is seeking to hire 75,000 people in a tight job market and is offering bonuses to attract workers, including $100 for new hires who are already vaccinated for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Amazon seeks to hire 75,000; offers $100 to vaccinated hires

By Joseph Pisani May. 13, 2021 10:48 AM EDT

In this image for the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism, shoppers walk out of a Walmart store in Waldorf, Md., May 7, 2021. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has not cited the nation's largest retailer despite employee complaints, illnesses and deaths at Walmart facilities across the country. The company says there is no proof that employees contracted COVID-19 at work. (Brittany N. Gaddy/University of Maryland via AP)
Walmart sales soared, essential workers got scant protection

By Gracie Todd, Molly Castle Work, Natalie Drum, Nick Mcmillan, Kara Newhouse, Jazmyn Gray, Aneurin Canham Clyne, Jack Rasiel, Sahana Jayaraman And Haley Chi-Sing/The Howard Center For Investigative Journalism May. 12, 2021 12:31 PM EDT

FILE - In this June 27, 2019, file photo, a meatless burger patty called Beyond Burger by Beyond Meat is displayed at a grocery store in Richmond, Va. Plant-based meat company Beyond Meat has posted a first-quarter loss after higher sales were offset by marketing costs and lower prices. The company based in El Segundo, California reported Thursday, May 6, 2021 that its revenue rose 11% to $108.2 million in the January-March period. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Beyond Meat's Q1 hobbled by marketing costs, lower prices

By Dee-Ann Durbin May. 06, 2021 05:14 PM EDT