One of Vermont’s state agencies is telling big retailers to stop in-person sales of non-essential goods.  “The edict impacts retailers that sell apparel, such as Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp., and those that do not, such as The Home Depot Inc. and Lowe’s Cos. Inc. ,” according to Sourcing Journal. “These big boxes could continue to sell items serving basic human needs such as food, beverage, animal feed and essential supplies.”

Hobby Lobby once again closed stores in Ohio and other Midwest states after defying orders that non-essential stores close in those state. The retailer had complied at first with the initial order, but then reopened several stores without authorization, bringing on a Twitter rebuke. “Hobby Lobby properly closed its stores during Ohio’s stay-home order,” the state's attorney general tweeted. “Now they’re open again — what’s changed? Neither the order, nor the seriousness of the health threat, for sure. I sent a cease & desist letter to their general counsel.”

Grupo Modelo, the company that produces Corona beer, announced on Twitter it will temporarily stop brewing its beverages. As in many U.S. states, the Mexican government has declared breweries non-essential businesses. “Early on in the pandemic, some consumers mistakenly associated Corona beer with the virus, with an increase in Google searches for ‘Corona beer virus’ and ‘beer virus,’’ according to MSN. However, Constellation Brands, which oversees the company's beer in the U.S. said that sales were unaffected by the virus, CNN reports.

Apartments once reserved for well-heeled tourists in the world’s major cities have seen bookings slump anywhere by 41% to 96%. “As Airbnb hosts apply for financial support to tide them over, they might reflect on a future that could be very different,” according to Bloomberg. “Post-coronavirus tourism and city life may not rebound as quickly or smoothly as after previous disasters.

Americans are staying in thanks to concern over contracting the coronavirus, so food shopping for cooking at home has become paramount. The Kroger grocery market chain experienced a 30% jump in March identical-store sales. The Cincinnati-based supermarket giant is giving a “hero bonus” of $2 per hour for all frontline grocery, supply chain, manufacturing, pharmacy and call center associates for hours worked between March 29 and April 18.

"When a company emails its entire client list after years of silence, or sends an email more to praise itself as a 'do-gooder' than to serve customers, it can backfire," notes a post on Built In with tips on how to navigate a new age of marketing uncertainty. "It's hard to know what to say," though "what not to say is clearer. In mid-March, major brands like KFC and Hershey’s pulled ad campaigns that didn’t fit with our new reality of constant handwashing and social distancing."

Royal Caribbean Cruises is refusing to give refunds to nurses who were supposed to attend an on-board networking convention called Nursecon at Sea, which was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Instead, they are being issued a rain check for another convention event in the future. Nurses told TMZ that they feel “the no-refund policy is a slap in the face -- and a promise for a future sail isn't making up for it either.”

Amazon is buckling under the pressure of increased orders due to COVID-19.  But the struggle isn’t simply one of demand, it is also drawing attention to the company’s “increasingly fractious relationship with its own workforce.” according to The Verge. “And as fulfillment center employees are diagnosed with the virus across the country, Amazon’s already-restive workforce has escalated its efforts to win better pay and safer working conditions. Among other things, employees at affected locations have simply walked off the job.”