Kroger plans to close around 60 U.S. grocery stores over the next 18 months to improve efficiency.

The Cincinnati-based company announced the plan during a corporate earnings call June 20. The company hasn’t said which stores it plans to shutter, but it said the closures will happen around the country. It also said employees at impacted stores will be offered jobs at other locations.

“We see this as an opportunity to move these closed store sales to other stores, and we think that should improve profitability,” Kroger’s interim Chairman and CEO Ronald Sargent said during the call.

Kroger is the nation’s largest supermarket chain, with 2,731 stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia. It operates stores under multiple brand names, including Smith’s, Ralphs, King Soopers and Fred Meyer.

Kroger’s plan to close stores comes as the company is facing labor unrest over issues including chronic understaffing at stores, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers union. Union members in Southern California began picketing at a Los Angeles Ralphs recently. Workers at King Soopers stores in Colorado also went on strike earlier this year.

WW members can get cheaper Wegovy

Novo Nordisk A/S added a deal with WeightWatchers to boost access to its Wegovy obesity drug, just days after axing a collaboration with telehealth company Hims & Hers Health Inc.

WeightWatchers subscribers will be able to access Wegovy via CenterWell Pharmacy as of Tuesday, Novo said Thursday. The drugmaker is also offering a $299 introductory price to self-pay patients who start on Wegovy, as well as for people who redeemed an earlier $199 offer and need a refill.

The move comes as the Danish drugmaker battles for market share in the US, where rival Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound has been taking the majority of new obesity prescriptions. Novo canceled its deal with Hims last week, saying the company had continued to mass-market its own copied version of Wegovy despite the deal to sell the brand-name drug.

WeightWatchers, known for its celebrity endorsed diet programs, filed for bankruptcy last month after struggling to compete with the popularity of weight-loss medicine. It has pivoted to offering drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound — and later sold copycat versions — but struggled to attract patients.

Still, WeightWatchers had 3.4 million subscribers as of May.

Fortnite players get more refunds

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is sending out the latest round of refunds to consumers it says were “tricked” into purchases they didn’t want from Fortnite maker Epic Games — and eligible players who haven’t been compensated yet still have time to apply.

In an announcement last week, the FTC said it was distributing more than 969,000 refunds totaling over $126 million to consumers on Wednesday and Thursday. That follows the regulator’s first round of payments amounting to more than $72 million, which went out in December 2024.

The refunds are part of a $520 million settlement that Epic agreed to pay back in 2022 — to address complaints revolving around children’s privacy and payment methods on its popular Fortnite video game. At the time, the FTC had alleged that the gaming giant used deceptive online design tactics to trick Fortnite players, including children, into making unintended purchases “based on the press of a single button.”

Eligible consumers who have not been compensated yet now have until July 9 to file a claim. To apply, go to the FTC’s website at ftc.gov/enforcement/refunds/fortnite-refunds.

Tesla sales in europe continue to decline

Europeans still aren’t buying Teslas, with figures out Wednesday showing sales plunged for a fifth month in a row in May, a blow to investors who had hoped anger toward Elon Musk would have faded by now.

Tesla sales fell 28% last month in 30 European countries even as the overall market for electric vehicles expanded sharply, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. The poor showing comes after Tesla’s billionaire CEO had promised a “major rebound” was coming last month, adding to a recent buying frenzy among investors.

Musk had said Tesla was sure to get a boost once the company was done retooling its factories to produce a new version of its biggest seller, the Model Y. But that was finished months ago, and the new models are widely available.

Compiled from Associated Press and Bloomberg reports.