Bed Bath & Beyond closing stores, cruises prepare to sail

The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Thursday related to the national and global response, the work place and the spread of the virus.

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RETAIL:

— Bed Bath & Beyond plans to close about 200 stores over the next two years as its sales slid in the first quarter. The chain reported its quarterly sales dropped 49% due to temporary store closures amid the pandemic. Online sales soared 82%.

— The Buckle is seeing improving sales as more of its stores reopen. The fashion retailer said Thursday that sales for the five-week period ended July 4 rose 26.8% from a year ago. Buckle began temporarily closing stores in mid-March. Since then, it's reopened 438 stores. It currently runs 446 retail stores in 42 states.

— Big 5 Sporting Goods is also seeing a resurgence in its business since reopening stores. The sporting goods retailer's same-store sales dropped 28.2% in the first half of the second quarter with stores shuttered, according to preliminary data. However, the metric climbed 15.5% in the second half of the quarter as stores began reopening. For the entire fiscal second quarter, same-store sales declined 4.2% compared with a year earlier.

— Helen of Troy, whose brands include OXO, Hydro Flask and Vicks, is reporting its fiscal first-quarter sales increased 11.8%. Online sales rose about 33%. Sales for the health and home segment climbed 29%. Beauty sales rose 5%, including Drybar.

TRAVEL & LEISURE:

— Carnival Corp.'s AIDA Cruises will restart sailings next month. The German cruise line will have three ships making trips: the AIDAperla will be the first to set sail on Aug. 5 from Hamburg; the AIDAmar will depart from Rostock-Warnemünde on Aug. 12...