WEEK IN REVIEW
Monday A horse farm no more
Hundreds of grassy acres in a semirural area near Tomball for years were home to an elite horse farm. But the local family that operated the farm until a few years ago has sold it to a Houston development firm planning to build 1,000 home sites on the 370 acres. Michael Cox, president of Johnson Development Services, envisions an outdoor area with cabanas, a lanai and pools that cascade toward a lake.
Slower retail growth
Houston retail construction is tapering off as the rising popularity of online shopping gives developers some pause. An estimated 3.3 million square feet of new shopping centers are slated for completion across the Houston area this year, down 23 percent from last year, according to Wulfe & Co.’s annual retail survey.
Keurig and Dr Pepper
Keurig Green Mountain plans to buy Dr Pepper Snapple Group for $18.7 billion.
Tuesday Giants in health care
Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase made a joint announcement that they would use their collective heft to form an independent company designed to bring down health care costs while increasing medical quality for their hundreds of thousands of U.S. employees.
Back to the future again
DeLorean Motor Co. plans to bring its iconic sports car back in the not-too-distant future. The Humble-based car company is working with U.K.-based Lotus Cars to develop a prototype for a modernized replica of the DMC12 that was made a sci-fi legend by the 1985 film “Back to the Future.” The company hopes to start manufacturing the new DeLorean locally in early 2019.
Another Harvey victim
After flooding three times in as many years, the United Orthodox Synagogues has decided to demolish part of the campus, which has stood at 9001 Greenwillow, near Brays Bayou, for more than a half-century.
Wednesday HTC shutting down
The Houston Technology Center’s business acceleration program closed its doors, laying off five acceleration directors and other support staff as the city takes a new approach to nurturing startups.
Consumer agency ruling
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s director can be fired by the president only for cause, a federal appeals court ruled, restoring a measure of security to a job that has become a political lightning rod.
Xerox and Fujifilm
Xerox, an icon of corporate America that pioneered the office copy machine as well as the graphic interface and mouse used with today’s computers, only to be blindsided by the digital revolution, is coming under the control of Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings. Fujifilm would aim to cut $1.7 billion in costs in coming years.
Thursday Layoffs at Academy
Academy Sports + Outdoors laid off about 140 IT employees as the embattled retailer seeks to better compete with e-commerce and other athletic stores.
Amazon is watching?
Amazon has won two patents for a wristband that could track its employees’ every move, though it was unclear if the company planned to actually manufacture the tracking device and have employees wear it.
Power taken away
The Trump administration has stripped enforcement powers from the leaders of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unit responsible for pursuing discrimination cases, part of a broader effort to reshape an agency it criticized as acting too aggressively.
Friday Plunge on Wall Street
Stocks slumped, pulling down the Dow Jones industrial average by more than 650 points and handing the stock market its worst week in two years. Fears of rising inflation sent bond yields higher and contributed to the stock swoon after the government reported that wages grew last month at the fastest pace in eight years.
Earnings by Exxon Mobil
Exxon Mobil’s fourth-quarter profit more than quadrupled from the previous year, boosted by tax changes and higher oil prices.