the bottomline

SAN FRANCISCO:

Microsoft Corp is working on technology that would eliminate cashiers and checkout lines from stores, in a nascent challenge to Amazon.com Inc’s automated grocery shop, six people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is developing systems that track what shoppers add to their carts, the people say. Microsoft has shown sample technology to retailers from around the world and has had talks with Walmart Inc about a potential collaboration, three of the people said.

Microsoft’s technology aims to help retailers keep pace with Amazon Go, a highly automated store that opened to the public in Seattle in January. Amazon customers scan their smartphones at a turnstile to enter. Cameras and sensors identify what they remove from the shelves. When customers are finished shopping, they simply leave the store and Amazon bills their credit cards on file.

Amazon Go, which will soon open in Chicago and San Francisco, has sent rivals scrambling to prepare for yet another disruption by the world’s biggest online retailer. Some have tested programs where customers scan and bag each item as they shop, with mixed results. (RTRS)

HONOLULU:

A Hawaii hotel company has sold six of its Asia-Pacific properties to a Thai-based property development and investment holding company for $310 million.

Honolulu-based Outrigger Hotels and Resorts will continue to manage the properties in the 859-room deal with Singha Estate Public Co., the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Wednesday.

The sale includes Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort and Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort in Thailand, Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort and Castaway Island in Fiji, Outrigger Mauritius Beach Resort in Mauritius and Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort in the Maldives. (AP)

SEATTLE:

Amazon balked and Seattle is backing down.

City leaders said they plan to repeal a tax on large companies such as Amazon and Starbucks as they face mounting pressure from businesses, an about-face just a month after unanimously approving the measure to help pay for efforts to combat a growing homelessness crisis.

The quick surrender showed the power of Amazon to help rally opposition and aggressively push back on taxes at all levels of government, even in its affluent home city where the income gap is ever widening and lower-income workers are being priced out of housing. It has resulted in one of the highest homelessness rates in the US. (AP)

CHICAGO:

The Boring Company, founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has been selected to build a high-speed underground transportation system that it says will whisk passengers from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport in mere minutes.

Each electric vehicle in the proposed tunnel system will carry eight to 16 people and travel at speeds of 125 to 150 mph (200 to 240 kph), the company said on its website .

The Boring Company said it will fund the project in its entirety, and that it plans to collect ticket and advertising revenue. No information has been released about estimated construction costs or when construction might begin. (AP)

NEW YORK:

Gap Inc says it has named the former CEO of Billabong International and Eddie Bauer as the new head of its struggling namesake brand.

Neil Fiske replaces Jeff Kirwan, who left the company in February after being at the brand’s helm for nearly four years. Fiske will begin his new role as CEO and president of the Gap brand on June 20.

Brent Hyder, executive vice president of global talent and sustainability, had been serving as interim brand president.

Fiske’s appointment comes as San Francisco-based, which also operates Old Navy and Banana Republic stores, has been trying to refresh its flagship brand and turn around sales for years. (AP)

DETROIT:

Members of the United Auto Workers union have elected regional director Gary Jones as the organization’s new president.

Jones was picked in a roll-call vote Wednesday at the union’s 2018 constitutional convention in Detroit.

He’ll take over a 400,000-member union that’s facing a federal investigation in a corruption scandal involving a worker training center run jointly by Fiat Chrysler and the union. The UAW also has had trouble organizing at factories in the South run by foreignbased automakers. (AP)

BURLINGTON, Vt:

The state of Vermont and people who bought certain Volkswagen diesel models that were rigged to cheat on emissions tests will be getting a total of $6.5 million from the automaker, Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan announced Wednesday.

Under the terms of the settlement VW will pay Vermont consumers up to $1,000 for each qualifying VW, Audi and Porsche vehicle from the model years 2009 to 2016 sold or leased in the state.

VW will also pay $3.6 million, minus expenses and administration, into the state’s general fund. (AP)

LOUISVILLE, Ky:

Old Forester, the bourbon that launched a family dynasty and a spirits company, has returned to its pre-Prohibition Kentucky home in a newly renovated building that symbolizes the brand’s comeback from years of decline.

The Old Forester Distilling Co opens its doors to tourists Friday along a stretch of downtown Louisville known as Whiskey Row for its historic ties to Kentucky’s bourbon industry. Bourbon tourism has matured into big business in Kentucky, and Old Forester is tapping into the strategy to build brand awareness. (AP)

DETROIT:

Ford Motor Co and Daimler AG are winding down a joint venture formed to develop automotive fuel cell technology, Ford said on Wednesday, as both companies plan to take their respective fuel cell technology development in-house.

The Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp venture, based in Burnaby, British Columbia, will close this summer, Ford said in response to an inquiry by Reuters. (RTRS)