Cedar Fair sees staggering 98% drop in revenue

Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point and other parks, reported a second-quarter operating loss of $142 million, based on a 98% drop in revenue during the three-month period that ended June 28.

At that point, only three parks were open – Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri, and the company’s recently acquired Schlitterbahn waterparks in Texas. The company’s two Ohio amusement parks, Cedar Point and Kings Island, opened in early July.

During the second quarter, the company collected $7 million in revenue, compared to $436 million during the same period in 2019. And it recorded an 8 million visit decrease in attendance.

Instagram to introduce its version of Tiktok

Facebook's Instagram is launching Instagram Reels, its answer to the hit short video app Tiktok.

The new Instagram feature will let users record and edit 15-second videos with audio and visual effects. Users will be able to share Reels with followers in Instagram in a dedicated section called Reels in Explore, or in the Story feature where posts disappear after 24 hours.

The Reels option will be available in the Instagram app.

Facebook has a long tradition of cloning competitive services.

Medline to add jobs at new West Jefferson facility

Medical products manufacturer and distributor Medline has opened a distribution facility in West Jefferson.

The facility will add 100 jobs to its existing 75-member team in central Ohio to support the company’s growing customer base in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The $75 million, 1.2 million-squarefoot facility holds 20,000 kinds of products and devices that will be shipped to health care providers such as hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory surgery centers, hospices and physician offices.

All 75 current team members in Groveport will transfer to the new facility.

Medline, based in Northfield, Illinois, also has a distribution center in Canton.

Record rise in exports helps US reduce trade deficit

The U.S. trade deficit fell in June for the first time since February as exports posted a record increase, rising twice as fast as imports.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the gap between the value of what the United States buys and what it sells abroad fell 7.5% to $50.7 billion in June from $54.8 billion in May. Exports shot up an unprecedented 9.4% to $158.3 billion. Imports rose 4.7% to $208.9 billion.

Global commerce has been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. Compared to June 2019, total U.S. trade — exports plus imports — plunged 21.9% in June to $367.2 billion. But two-way trade rebounded from May to June, rising 6.7% on a surge in both exports and imports of cars and auto parts.

New York Times sees digital revenue surpass print

The New York Times Co. on Wednesday for the first time reported quarterly revenue that owed more to digital products than to the print newspaper.

As much of its staff worked remotely, The Times brought in $185.5 million in revenue for digital subscriptions and ads during the second quarter. Print revenue was $175.4 million.

The company added 669,000 net new digital subscribers, making the second quarter its biggest ever for subscription growth. The Times has 6.5 million total subscriptions, a figure that includes 5.7 million digital-only subscriptions, putting it on a course to achieve its goal of 10 million subscriptions by 2025.

CVS gets a pleasant surprise with second-quarter earnings

CVS Health reported surprisingly strong second-quarter earnings as people postponed elective medical procedures during the pandemic, and it raised its profit expectations for the year.

For the three months ended June 30, CVS earned $2.99 billion, or $2.26 per share. A year earlier, the Woonsocket, Rhode Island, company earned $1.93 billion, or $1.49 per share.

CVS Health operates one of the nation’s largest drugstore chains with about 9,900 retail locations.

From staff and wire reports