ATHLETIC SHOES

New Balance wins victory in Defense budget

New Balance scored an important victory in Washington on Tuesday when the Senate passed a defense bill with language requiring the Pentagon to buy US-made athletic shoes for military recruits. The House also included the shoe-purchase language in its version of the bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, last month. That puts the legislation in a good position: The broader defense bill will now be decided by a conference committee that will reconcile differences between the versions. Supporters of the shoe-procurement provision say athletic shoes should be subjected to the Berry Amendment, a 1941 law that directs the Defense Department to buy American when possible to outfit recruits. Boston-based New Balance has lobbied heavily for the measure, particularly after the Pentagon showed reluctance to buying American-made shoes from New Balance, citing their cost. But critics said the legislation would simply amount to a giveaway to New Balance, and would do little to help military recruits who might want a broader choice of shoes. New Balance is the only major shoe manufacturer that makes running shoes in the United States today, but Wolverine Worldwide has said it wants to compete for the military contract through its Massachusetts-based Saucony operation. Wolverine has publicly backed the legislation, and a spokesman on Tuesday applauded the Senate vote, calling it another positive step in the process. — JON CHESTO

FOOD

Martha Stewart gets into meal kit business

Cooking like Martha Stewart is about to get easier. The home goods mogul and cookbook author is getting into the fast-growing meal kit business. Subscribers will get a box shipped to their door with Stewart’s recipes and all the ingredients needed to cook up the dishes at home, including pre-measured raw meat, fish, vegetables, and spices. The new venture is a licensing deal with existing meal kit company Marley Spoon and brand management company Sequential Brands Group Inc., which bought Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia last year. Competition has been heating up recently and Marley Spoon hopes adding Stewart’s name will set it apart from Blue Apron, HelloFresh, Plated, and many other companies that ship boxes of raw food. Financial details of the new partnership were not disclosed. Marley Spoon will be renamed Martha & Marley Spoon in the United States and will tap Stewart’s library of thousands of recipes, including shrimp tortilla soup and chicken thighs pan-fried in coconut oil. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

RETAIL

Walmart to develop robotic shopping carts

Walmart Stores Inc. is working with a robotics company to develop a shopping cart that helps customers find items on their lists and saves them from pushing a heavy cart through a sprawling store and parking lot, according to a person familiar with the matter. Such carts are an emerging opportunity for robotics companies as brick-and-mortar stores look for innovative ways to match the convenience of Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers, said Wendy Roberts, founder and chief executive officer of Five Elements Robotics. Roberts, who spoke Tuesday on a robotics panel at the Bloomberg Technology Conference 2016, said her company was working with the “world’s largest retailer’’ on such a shopping cart. That retailer is Walmart, which is evaluating a prototype in its lab and giving feedback to the New Jersey robotics company, a person familiar with the situation said. Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala said he couldn’t immediately comment. — BLOOMBERG

MAPLE SYRUP

Vermont had a record year

Officials say Vermont has produced a record amount of maple syrup this past year, thanks to an extended season with low temperatures and more people getting into the business or expanding their operations. Vermont is by far the country’s largest producer of maple syrup. US Department of Agriculture statistics show the state yielded 1.9 million gallons this year, up from 1.4 million gallons last year. New York was second with 707,000 gallons, followed by Maine, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire. Overall, the country produced 4.2 million gallons. Maple syrup retails for an average of about $48 to $52 per gallon. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture’s maple specialist says the number of taps in trees in Vermont has jumped from a million about 15 years ago to nearly 5 million now. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

RETAIL

Sales higher than expected in May

Retail sales rose more than forecast in May, showing consumer spending will help boost economic growth in the second quarter. The 0.5 percent increase in purchases followed a 1.3 percent jump the previous month that was the biggest gain in a year, Commerce Department figures showed Tuesday in Washington. The median forecast of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 0.3 percent advance. Excluding purchases of autos and gasoline, sales climbed 0.3 percent. — BLOOMBERG

RETAIL

Toys ‘R’ Us to refinance debt

Toys ‘R’ Us Inc. reported improving earnings and announced a plan to refinance its debt, easing concerns that the retail chain will default on its loans. About half the noteholders of debt due in 2017 and 2018 are involved in the agreement, the Wayne, N.J.-based company said in a statement on Monday. The company intends to refinance 89 percent of the existing notes, replacing them with new debt that matures in five years. A third party also plans to buy as much as $50 million in new financing if the exchange offer goes through. — BLOOMBERG

TECHNOLOGY

Alibaba predicts 48 percent sales increase

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said that revenue growth will accelerate this fiscal year as China’s largest e-commerce company provided its first financial forecast since going public in 2014. The company predicts sales will rise at least 48 percent in the year ending March 2017 as it pushes into new markets and businesses beyond e-commerce. Part of that growth comes from Alibaba’s rapid deal-making: it spent about $18.7 billion on acquisitions and stock buybacks over the past year, including on e-commerce site Lazada Group SA. — BLOOMBERG

THEME PARKS

Residents, businesses evicted to make way for Shanghai Disney

Authorities have evicted hundreds of Shanghai residents and dozens of businesses to clean up the air and make way for the newest Disney theme park, which opens Thursday. Residents were paid for lost homes but hundreds of employees of shuttered factories say they don’t know where their next jobs will be. ‘‘You can find low-paying work. But jobs that pay better you can’t get,’’ said a 50-year-old equipment inspector at China Xingyue Group, which makes small utility vehicles and motorbikes. He would give only his surname, Chen. The story has been repeated thousands of times across China over the past two decades as the communist government removed farmers and small businesses for construction of factories,­office towers, hydroelectric dams, and other projects. — ASSOCIATED PRESS

Publishing

Jet, Ebony magazines sold to private equity firm

CHICAGO — Ebony and Jet magazines, which have chronicled African-American life for the past 71 years, have been sold to an Austin, Texas-based private equity firm. Johnson Publishing Co. announced Tuesday that Ebony and digital-only Jet were sold to Clear View Group but didn’t disclose the sale price. Ebony magazine, founded by John Johnson, hit the newsstands in 1945. It has been hit by declining circulation and revenues in recent years. Johnson’s daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, will serve as chairman emeritus on the board of the new company, Ebony Media Operations. Clear View Group chairman Michael Gibson says the company will retain much of its staff. — ASSOCIATED PRESS