Business

New York Magazine reports: Jill Martinelli and Sabine Le Guyader have been designing the jewelry line Lady Grey since 2009, and in that time, Beyoncé and Rihanna have worn their designs. But their most famous customer interaction may be the one they just had with Ivanka Trump. Yesterday afternoon, Martinelli and Le Guyader posted a handwritten note to Trump, who …

The Washington Post reports: Target said Wednesday it is preparing to spend $20 million in the coming months to add single-stall bathrooms along with men’s and women’s restrooms in its stores, a move meant to accommodate shoppers who have expressed concern about the retailers’ policy of allowing customers and employees to use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender they …

The Huffington Post reports: The big health care news this week came from Aetna, which announced on Monday it was dramatically scaling back participation in the Affordable Care Act ― thereby reducing insurer competition and forcing customers scattered across 11 states to find different sources of coverage next year. Aetna officials said the pullout was necessary because of Obamacare’s problems …

Recode reports: Univision has won the auction for Gawker Media. The TV network and digital publisher has agreed to pay $135 million for the bankrupt blog network, according to a person familiar with the deal. Univision’s offer will encompass all seven of Gawker Media’s sites, including Gawker.com. Ziff Davis and Univision were the only two bidders for Gawker, which filed …

Back in February, Aetna reported $2.7 billion in earnings for 2015, a 15% increase over the previous year. But that’s not enough to keep them in Obamacare. CNN Money reports: In the latest blow to Obamacare, Aetna is vastly reducing its presence on the individual exchanges in 2017. The insurer will stop offering policies on the exchanges in 11 of …

Oliver reports that that tactic could spawn another subprime crisis. Mediaite recaps: Predatory loans for auto sales was the focus of John Oliver‘s deep dive Sunday night on Last Week Tonight, highlighting the questionable processes by which lenders can lure prospective car owners into the fold. One of the main hallmarks of the segment was a certain type of popular …

CNN Money reports: Macy’s announced plans on Thursday to close about 15% of its department stores, the latest effort to adapt to shifting consumer preferences for online shopping. Macy’s did not disclose which stores it will close, but said most of them will close in early 2017. The move comes as Macy’s revealed its second-quarter sales fell less than feared. …

The New York Times reports: Digital ads pop up online so frequently and ubiquitously that many people are using software to block them. But if you try to stop ads from showing up on Facebook’s desktop website, you will now be out of luck: The social network has found a way to block the ad blockers. On Tuesday, Facebook flipped …

San Francisco’s Lone Star Saloon has become the city’s first gay bar to earn “legacy business” status under a recently voter-approved program to protect culturally significant businesses from developers and their wrecking balls. The Examiner reports: When landlords sell their buildings, the “for sale” sign can feel like a death sentence for the businesses operating there, which are subject to …

Dozens of canceled conventions, boycotts from more than a dozen states and major cities, and no more NBA All-Star game. That’s just for starters. But nope, not a scratch on the economy says the budget director for North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory. From his op-ed in the Charlotte Observer: One of the benefits of being the Budget Director is that …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: Longtime conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly has lost her fight to block the maker of Schlafly beer from trademarking the brand’s name. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in a decision last week, sided with the St. Louis Brewery, which applied for the Schlafly trademark in 2012 as its sales began to take off outside of …

From the Christian Times: Conservative group American Family Association (AFA) urged American consumers to join them this back-to-school season to boycott retail giant Target as “frightening incidences” arise due to its inclusive bathroom policy. AFA marked the new season on the first day of August with a new drive to garner another million signatures to force the retail company to …

From the Atlantic City Press: Trump Taj Mahal is set to close its doors after Labor Day weekend, according to a Wednesday statement from Tony Rodio, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tropicana Entertainment. Rodio said the ongoing Unite Here Local 54 strike played a role in making the decision. “Currently the Taj is losing multi-millions a month, and now …

That “Mexican” judge strikes again. Reuters reports: A U.S. judge on Tuesday rejected Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s pretrial bid to throw out a lawsuit brought by Trump University students who said they were defrauded by its real-estate seminars. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel said in a written ruling that there was a “genuine issue of material fact” as to …

Lucas Grindley reports at the Advocate: The hotel that had become a symbol of support for Ted Cruz’s antigay policies is now closing. The Out Hotel in New York City faced a heated boycott last year after its gay owners held a fundraising dinner party at their home for the Texas senator and Republican presidential hopeful. Ian Reisner and his …

Fortune calls it the “saddest $5B deal in tech history.” They write: Yahoo was once the king of the Internet, a $125 billion behemoth as big in its time as Facebook or Google are today. Now it’s being sold to Verizon for comparative chump change. On Monday morning, Yahoo is expected to announce the end of the long process to …

But it’s a rather complicated deal. Bloomberg reports: Anheuser-Busch InBev NV won U.S. antitrust approval for its takeover of SABMiller Plc, after the maker of Budweiser agreed to give up ownership of the Miller brand and open the door to greater competition from craft beers. AB InBev will sell SABMiller’s stake in MillerCoors LLC, separating the two brands, and refrain …

That was quick. Via Bloomberg: United Airlines suspended pilot and Republican West Virginia lawmaker Michael Folk from flying pending an investigation after he said Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should be executed. “This pilot has been removed from flying pending our investigation,” United Continental Holdings Inc. tweeted Sunday. “We are appalled by his threatening comments.” Folk, a member of the …

Just in from the American Family Association’s censor-in-chief Monica Cole: Dear Joe, Some victories take place within only 2 hours of letting our voice be heard while others take much longer, and that is OK. Over a year ago, One Million Moms and AFA partnered with Enough Is Enough (EIE), an organization pioneering Internet safety, along with 75 other family …

Wow. Politico reports: Wall Street executives are hitting the sell button on the GOP convention in Cleveland next week. Bankers typically use the quadrennial Republican Party gathering to schmooze clients, host parties and flaunt their connections to the nominee and other senior officials. In 2012, they flooded the Tampa Bay area to celebrate one of the industry’s favorite sons, Mitt …