Business

Via press release from Dunkin’ Donuts: From the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, our priority has been on the safety of our guests, franchisees and their restaurant crew. To help bring consistency to Dunkin’ locations across the country, we will now require that all guests wear a face covering while inside our restaurants beginning Wednesday, August 5. At Dunkin’, …

CNBC reports: Apple rode the company’s strong earnings report to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, surpassing the state oil giant Saudi Aramco at Friday’s market close. Apple shares closed up 10.47% Friday, giving it a market valuation of $1.84 trillion. Saudi Aramco, which had been the most valuable publicly listed company since its market debut last year, …

The New York Times reports: At the beginning of this week, the Eastman Kodak Company handed its chief executive 1.75 million stock options. It was the type of compensation decision that generally wouldn’t attract much notice, except for one thing: The day after the stock options were granted, the White House announced that the company would receive a $765 million …

Reuters reports: The iPhone maker made the surprise announcement in its quarterly report, saying it will split its stock four-to-one when trading opens on Aug. 31, Apple’s first share split since 2014. Stock splits have become rare on Wall Street in recent years, with just three S&P 500 members announcing splits in 2020, compared to an average of 10 a …

The Hill reports: Around 480 business groups have teamed up to call on lawmakers to provide liability protections for businesses against coronavirus-related lawsuits in Congress’ next relief package. The coalition, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, includes the National Association of Manufacturers, Airlines for America, National Restaurant Association, Federation of American Hospitals and the National Retail Federation. They sent …

CBS News reports: The CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google are set for a rare turn in the congressional spotlight on Wednesday, with lawmakers expected to pose a critical — and potentially perilous — question for the technology titans: Are you guys too powerful? For the executives, the issue of their companies’ massive market dominance comes at a delicate …

From the fashion site Hypebeast: Ever since Neiman Marcus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in May, there has been rumors and speculation that the retail giant would vacate its Hudson Yards location, some even suggesting that it could become a Facebook office. Regardless of what the Hudson Yards space may now be used for, Neiman Marcus has finally …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Google will keep its employees home until at least next July, people familiar with the matter said, making the search-engine giant the first major U.S. corporation to formalize such an extended timetable in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. The move will affect nearly all of the 200,000 full-time and contract employees across Google parent …

NBC News reports: A Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant who was one of 17 people to test positive for coronavirus after attending in-person training event, died Tuesday, the company confirmed. Jeff Kurtzman and 16 others contracted the respiratory illness after attending the course in Honolulu in late June, the company confirmed to NBC Los Angeles, adding that it is now investigating …

USA Today reports: McDonald’s will require customers to wear masks or face coverings when entering its 14,000 restaurants nationwide starting Aug. 1. The fast food giant is the latest business to announce it will mandate masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19 as cases spike. “While nearly 82% of our restaurants are in states or localities that require facial …

Gothamist reports: Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made it even harder for cash-strapped watering holes and restaurants to churn back to life — by declaring that a bag of chips is no longer enough to comply with the requirement that they serve food with booze. According to the new SLA guidance, a bag of chips or nuts does not meet the …

Bloomberg News report: Jeff Bezos added $13 billion to his net worth on Monday, the largest single-day jump for an individual since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was created in 2012. Amazon.com Inc. shares surged 7.9%, the most since December 2018 on rising optimism about web shopping trends, and are now up 73% this year. Bezos, Amazon’s 56-year-old founder and the …

USA Today reports: Marriott hotels will require guests to wear masks in lobbies and other public spaces starting July 27. The Bethesda, Maryland-based hotel giant — which has more than 7,300 hotels worldwide — has been requiring employees to wear masks for several months. But in a video message released Monday, CEO Arne Sorenson said the mandate is being extended …

USA Today reports: Dollar Tree and Family Dollar have reversed course. The two retailers, both part of Dollar Tree, Inc., had initially started requiring shoppers wear masks along with vendors and employees in stores, according to a July 8 update on its coronavirus updates page. But the company updated its mask policy last week to “request” face coverings in stores …

The New York Post reports: The snack loophole has been closed. Less than 10 days after reopening, Disney World has had to update its face mask policy to close a glaring loophole: Patrons are now explicitly required to stay in place and away from others if they remove their mask to eat. “Please bring your own face coverings and wear …

CNN Business reports: Delta Air Lines will now require medical screenings for passengers who can’t wear face masks due to health reasons — and asks that they reconsider flying altogether as the coronavirus pandemic rages. The strengthened policy adds another layer of protection for passengers who are already mostly required to wear masks while on flights, during boarding and in …

The New York Post reports: In a week that saw big chains like Kohl’s, CVS and Target announce that all shoppers must wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, only Walmart said it is creating a dedicated enforcement team. The Bentonville, Ark.-based behemoth said that it will install “health ambassadors” at each location to help implement the rule, which …

CNN Business reports: CVS and Target will require customers to wear masks in their stores across the United States as the retail industry moves to enforce mask mandates to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “We’re joining others in taking the next step and requiring all customers to wear face coverings,” CVS tweeted Thursday. The policy goes into effect Monday. …

NPR reports: Broadcast ratings for nearly all of NPR’s radio shows took a steep dive in major markets this spring, as the coronavirus pandemic kept many Americans from commuting to work and school. The network’s shows lost roughly a quarter of their audience between the second quarter of 2019 and the same months in 2020. People who listened to NPR …

CNBC reports: Walmart and Sam’s Club customers will soon be required to put on a mask or face covering before shopping in stores. The big-box retailer announced the new policy Wednesday and said it will take effect July 20. It said the majority of its approximately 5,000 stores and clubs — about 65% — are in areas where there’s already …