RETAIL
Suit accuses shoe store owner of discrimination
The owner of the Tannery shoe store in the Back Bay is being sued by the state for allegedly discriminating against customers based on their race and ethnic background. The owner, Hicham Ali “Sam’’ Hassan, denied service to an African-American man and a Middle Eastern woman shopping in the store, according to Attorney General Maura Healey, who filed the complaint in Suffolk Superior Court Wednesday. This treatment is part of a larger pattern of Hassan’s mistreatment of customers, according to the attorney general’s office. In December, Hassan prevented a black man from fully entering the Boylston Street store about 20 minutes before closing, according to the complaint, even though white people were walking in and shopping. Hassan allegedly told the man, “I do not want your kind in my store,’’ and implied that he didn’t have enough money to shop there. The previous March, a woman of Middle Eastern descent who was shopping for a pair of boots said Hassan repeatedly asked her where she was from, according to the complaint. Hassan allegedly told her he didn’t trust immigrants and said, “I love Trump! I am glad he is going to get rid of all the immigrants.’’ As she was leaving, Hassan allegedly shouted at her, “Get out of here! We don’t want you here! I don’t trust your people!’’ Hassan did not respond to a request for comment. — KATIE JOHNSTON
TECHNOLOGY
iRobot’s stock jumps on earnings report
Maybe it’s not a good idea to bet against iRobot Corp. The Bedford company’s stock price soared by 17 percent Wednesday to $83.29 a share as its latest earnings report proved the naysayers wrong — for another quarter, at least. Concerns about competition have weighed on the stock for much of the past year. Some investors had thought low-price rivals — most notably, Needham-based SharkNinja’s Shark Ion robot — would be mopping up iRobot’s lunch. Short sellers circled like great whites. Instead, iRobot raised its income outlook today for 2018 after seeing a 24 percent increase in year-over-year sales for the quarter. The company still expects to clear the $1 billion mark for revenue this year for the first time. CEO Colin Angle sounded jubilant as he discussed the company’s performance Wednesday (although the stock is still trading well below the $100-plus level where it was a year ago). The competition, Angle said, has barely made a dent in iRobot’s leadership position in the robot vacuum market. He’s also coming off an important International Trade Commission win with regard to patent infringement claims against three iRobot competitors. — JON CHESTO
BUSINESS DATA
Waltham company hires IBM executive as new CEO
ZoomInfo, a Waltham business data provider, has recruited an IBM executive to be its new CEO. Derek Schoettle joined the 300-person firm this month from IBM’s Cambridge office, where he was general manager of IBM’s Watson and Cloud Platform businesses. Schoettle succeeds Yonatan Stern, ZoomInfo’s founder and chief scientist. Stern left recently following ZoomInfo’s sale to private equity firm Great Hill Partners last year, athough Stern remains on the board of directors. — JON CHESTO
CANDY
KitKat shape cannot be trademarked, EU judges rule
European Union judges have ruled that the four-fingered shape of the KitKat chocolate bar is not distinctive enough to be trademarked. KitKat maker Nestle, the food multinational, has been trying since 2002 to establish a European trademark for the snack. But the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Wednesday ruled against it. That will come as a relief to lovers of a Norwegian chocolate bar, the Kvikk Lunsj, that has a similar shape. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook wins, then loses, approval to open subsidiary in China
For Facebook, success in China was brief. Very brief. For several hours, a Chinese government database showed that Facebook had gained approval to open a subsidiary in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Facebook said it would use the company to set up an innovation hub there. Then the registration disappeared, and references to the subsidiary were partially censored in Chinese media. Now the approval has been withdrawn, according to a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak on the record. While the about-face does not definitively end Facebook’s chances of establishing the company, it makes success very unlikely, the person said. The decision to take down the approval, the person added, came after a disagreement between officials in Zhejiang and the national Internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, which was angry that it had not been consulted more closely. — NEW YORK TIMES
AVIATION
US airlines to stop referring to Taiwan as independent country
US airlines will stop referring to Taiwan as an independent country on their websites after the issue generated friction between Beijing and Washington. The three largest US carriers — American Airlines, Delta and United — are among a wave of airlines that have removed references to Taiwan on their websites ahead of a Wednesday deadline set by China. Many airlines now simply list Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, as a destination while omitting Taiwan. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
TECHNOLOGY
Alexa can give you hours, addresses, phone numbers of businesses
You can now ask your Amazon Echo speaker, “Alexa, what time does Rite Aid close?’’ and get hours for the pharmacy closest to your house. Amazon.com Inc. is adding the hours, addresses, and phone numbers of more than 1 million business locations to its Alexa digital-assistant platform so customers can access the information via voice command. The Yellow Pages-ish skill comes through a new partnership with Yext Inc., which supplies business data used in Alphabet Inc.’s Google search engine, Apple Inc.’s Siri digital assistant, and Facebook Inc.’s social-media platform. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
RETAIL
Waymo to shuttle customers to and from Walmart to get groceries
Alphabet’s Waymo announced Wednesday that it will begin a pilot program with Walmart to shuttle customers to and from stores to pick up their groceries. The new initiative is part of a series of partnerships with companies to offer customers self-driving cars to run errands and shop. Customers in Phoenix who order groceries on Walmart.com will receive savings on their goods, and as their orders are assembled at the store, autonomous Waymo vehicles will take customers to and from Walmart. Waymo will also partner with AutoNation, Avis, DDR Corp., and Element Hotel, offering their self-driving cars to customers who do business with those companies. — WASHINGTON POST
BEVERAGES
Diet sodas are selling better after changes, Coke says
Coca-Cola says its diet sodas are selling better after undergoing some image changes. The Atlanta company said Wednesday it sold more Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in North America during the second quarter, following a name change to make clearer the drink doesn’t contain any sugar. Before, the drink was just called Coke Zero, and the company said not everyone knew what that meant. Diet Coke, which has been struggling for years, is also showing improvement, the company said. The familiar silver cans were recently revamped to be taller and slimmer, and the drink was offered in different flavors. Although sales volume for Diet Coke dipped 1 percent in the quarter, the company said pricing lifted revenue from the brand. — ASSOCIATED PRESS