Amazon to convert mall into warehouse
CLEVELAND -- E-commerce giant Amazon plans to build a huge warehouse outside Cleveland on the site of a closed shopping mall.
The Plain Dealer reported Friday that Amazon finalized a lease deal Thursday to build an 855,000-square-foot warehouse in North Randall, a village of just over 1,000 people.
The newspaper reported that Amazon will create more than 2,000 full-time jobs. Construction costs are estimated at $177 million.
Randall Park Mall was billed as the world's largest indoor mall when it opened in 1976. It closed in 2009 after years of decline.
Starting hourly rates at Amazon warehouses have varied from $11.50 in Chattanooga, Tenn., to $13.75 in Seattle.
-- The Associated Press
Iranians say Apple has pulled Iran apps
TEHRAN, Iran -- Apple Inc. has removed all Iranian mobile apps from its App Store, authorities said Friday.
Ali Maleki, who works for Iran's biggest e-commerce site Digikala, said that Digikala was shut down about 10 days ago. He said Digikala's app has been removed "based on the new type of sanctions which were imposed against Iran."
In reaction to Apple's decision, Telecommunication Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said Apple should respect its Iranian consumers.
Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jahromi tweeted: "11% of Iran's mobile phone market share is owned by Apple. Giving respect to consumer rights is a principle today which Apple has not followed. We will follow up the cutting of the apps legally."
The move comes two years after the historic nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, in which Iran accepted curbs on its contested nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions. U.S. legislation signed earlier this month imposed mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran's ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them.
Apple is not officially in Iran or any other Persian Gulf countries, but many Iranians purchase Apple products from stores inside Iran.
-- The Associated Press
CEO leaves after utility halts nuke plant
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The chief executive officer of South Carolina's state-owned utility is retiring and is the first executive to leave after last month's failure of a nuclear power project that customers have been funding since 2009.
The board of Santee Cooper announced Lonnie Carter's resignation Friday. Carter has been CEO since 2004.
The public utility and privately owned South Carolina Electric & Gas decided July 31 to abandon the expansion of V.C. Summer Nuclear Station after jointly spending nearly $10 billion.
The abrupt end left about 6,000 people jobless and brought a backlash from lawmakers and customers who have spent about $2 billion on the project through rate increases. Santee Cooper's customers paid more than half a billion of that.
Legislative panels created to investigate the debacle started meeting Tuesday.
Carter has worked for the utility since graduating from The Citadel 35 years ago.
Board members wanted Carter, who has been eligible for retirement for years, to remain until the project's completion, and the CEO told them last week it was time for him to retire. No other executives are expected to leave, Chairman Leighton Lord said.
-- The Associated Press
Aetna exposes customers' HIV status
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Aetna last month breached the privacy of some of its customers with HIV when the Connecticut health insurance company, which has major operations in the Philadelphia region, sent a letter with instructions on how to fill prescriptions for HIV medications.
The envelope had a plastic window that in some cases showed not just the customer's name and address, but also the names of medications, exposing some recipients' HIV status.
The casual disclosure of a person's HIV status or use of HIV medication by Aetna is far more than a violation of the law, said Ronda Goldfein, executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. "It creates a tangible risk of violence, discrimination and other trauma," she said.
The breach occurred July 28 in a mailing to about 12,000 customers. Aetna found out about the problem on July 31, the company told customers in a letter disclosing the breach.
"We sincerely apologize to those affected by a mailing issue that inadvertently exposed the personal health information of some Aetna members. This type of mistake is unacceptable, and we are undertaking a full review of our processes to ensure something like this never happens again," a company spokesman said in an email.
-- The Philadelphia Inquirer
Aston Martin posts third straight profit
LONDON -- Aston Martin Holdings Ltd. returned to profit and nearly doubled revenue in the second quarter with the British luxury-auto maker buoyed by cost cuts and robust demand for the new DB11 sports car.
Pretax earnings totaled $19.5 million compared with a $67.8 million loss a year earlier, marking the third consecutive quarter that Aston Martin reported a profit, the Gaydon, England-based manufacturer said Friday in a statement. Revenue surged to $286 million from $153.5 million, lifted by higher deliveries and selling prices on the back of the DB11.
"There's a possibility, an increasing possibility, that we might be able to report a profit on a full-year basis this year already," Chief Financial Officer Mark Wilson said in an interview. Longer term, trade and possible tariffs remain difficult to predict, since the outcome of government talks on the U.K.'s departure from the European Union is a "big unknown," he said.
Aston Martin, whose high-end sports cars are featured in James Bond films, has been eliminating jobs and and expanding its model range to reverse six years of losses.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 08/26/2017