CRUISE LINES TO STAY DOCKED. Carnival Cruises’ flagship Carnival line, as well as its Princess and Holland divisions’ ships, with stay in ports through March in the U.S. as the company works to satisfy health restrictions imposed by state and federal authorities. Its P&O Cruises Australia division suspended New Zealand trips through 25 April. Trips in the Caribbean and along the California coast have been postponed through 25 May, the company announced.
BYE BYE BIZOU. The Quebec-based chain of 85 jewelry stores across eastern Canada will permanently close 24 sites this month, La Presse reported.
The company, which filed for bankruptcy last fall with $9.5 million in debt, attributes its woes not only to the economic crisis but also to shoppers migrating to Amazon.
POUNDLAND SHUTS STORES. Poundland, the British chain of more than 800 stores selling items for £1, is putting 44 stores into “hibernation” indefinitely during the nation’s current lockdown.
The chain has been deemed an “essential retailer” because it sells food, over-the-counter medicines, and other staples.
The 44 shuttered shops are likely those that underperformed during previous lockdowns when the company “learned valuable lessons about how buying patterns change” when people are ordered to stay home, Austin Cooke, the company’s retail director, said in a comment quoted by Yahoo Finance.
HALF OF SWISS HOTELS, RESTAURANTS FACE BANKRUPTCY. Nearly half of Switzerland’s hotels and restaurants will be bankrupt within a few months without federal aid if the nation’s government implements plans to keep these businesses locked down through February, trade group GastroSuisse warned in a 10 January statement.
About 98 percent of Swiss lodging and dining establishments are already in desperate need of support, according to a GastroSuisse poll of 4,000 businesses.
During November and December, the nation’s hospitality sector carried out a second round of layoffs. Extending the shutdown by an additional six weeks would force thousands of more people out of their jobs, the group said.
