NORDSTROM CLOSING CANADIAN STORES:

Nordstrom announced Thursday it is closing all of its Canadian stores and cutting 2,500 jobs as it winds down operations in the country. The Seattle-based retailer has six Nordstrom and seven Nordstrom Rack stores in Canada, which will be shuttered by late June. Its e-commerce business will cease operations Thursday. Nordstrom chief executive Erik Nordstrom said the company is exiting Canada because it does not see a realistic path to profitability for the business in the country.

AI CHAT GLASSES SPOTLIGHTED:

Tens of thousands of visitors this week flocked to the MWC tech fair in Barcelona to be dazzled by the latest advances in AI, robotics and much more. Among those spotlighted was U.K. startup XRAI Glass and its augmented reality glasses. The company’s virtual assistant app was designed to work with smart viewer glasses to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing better understand what’s happening around them. Speech is transcribed from other people nearby and the subtitles are displayed onto the lenses or an attached smartphone. Now XRAI has integrated OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology into its app and glasses setup.

WALMART TO ADD HEALTH CENTERS:

Walmart plans to add more than two dozen health care centers to some of its stores next year, as the retailer moves deeper into providing primary care and other services. The company said Thursday that it will open 28 centers in 2024, mostly in Dallas and Houston. It also will expand into the Phoenix and Kansas City, Mo., areas. The new centers will be built inside Walmart Supercenters and offer primary and dental care, and behavioral health and audiology help.

TESLA GETS NEVADA TAX BREAKS:

Tesla won more than $330 million in tax breaks from Nevada on Thursday for the company’s commitment to a massive expansion of its sprawling vehicle battery facilities east of Reno, including construction of a new electric semi-truck factory. Approval from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development came as Gov. Joe Lombardo cited the benefit of goodpaying jobs and a nearly decade-long boost to the local economy around Tesla’s huge Gigafactory. “Tesla has far exceeded every promise they made going back to 2014,” said Lombardo.