Walmart's tech chief
extends remote work
Walmart Inc.'s technology employees have performed so well while working remotely during the pandemic that their chief will keep the arrangement even after other company employees return to their offices.
"As we've moved to virtual work, we haven't just coped, we've actually thrived," Suresh Kumar, Walmart's global chief technology officer, told his team in a recent memo. "We are more focused on the things that have the greatest impact for our customers, associates and the business."
Kumar said he's also noticed the team is quicker to make decisions and act on them, and meetings now include more people regardless of their location. Most of Walmart's tech employees, such as software engineers and data analysts, are in Silicon Valley. But some work elsewhere, including at Walmart's Bentonville headquarters and in Hoboken, N.J.
"This unusual time has many companies, largely those in tech and services, thinking differently about the future of work," Kumar said, "and working virtually will be the new normal."
-- Serenah McKay
Victoria's Secret says
NYC rent too high
Victoria's Secret and its parent company L Brands Inc. are suing the landlord of their flagship store in New York's Herald Square, arguing that the coronavirus pandemic has rendered it "impossible" to continue paying more than $930,000 a month in rent.
The city's retail industry has been "shattered" and "forever altered" since New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a stay-home order in March that closed all but essential businesses, Victoria's Secret said in the lawsuit filed Monday in state court.
The coronavirus shutdowns are more severe and longer-lasting than normal downswings in the economy, the lingerie retailer said. In its lawsuit against landlord Herald Square Owner LLC, which is owned by SL Green Realty Corp., Victoria's Secret asked a judge to rescind its 2001 lease for the store at 2 Herald Square.
"The purpose of tendering a monthly rent of $937,734 or more ... is completely frustrated when that store cannot open," Victoria's Secret said in the complaint.
-- Bloomberg News
Index slips 7 points
to close at 406.15
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Tuesday at 406.15, down 7.
"The Nasdaq hit a record high on Tuesday, briefly breaking above 10,000 for the first time, while the S&P 500 fell as traders loaded up on major technology names and took profits from stocks that benefit from the economy reopening," said Chris Harkins, managing director of Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.