Retail

Medway-based fitness equipment maker Cybex International is recalling 234 free weight benches that can collapse and pose an injury risk, U.S. regulators said.

Staples is expanding its program that allows home and business owners to control energy use from handheld devices, according to announcement today from the Framingham-based office supply retailer and the company it has partnered with in the venture.

It's home to the headquarters for Staples, Bose and uTest, as well as a Genzyme campus slated for an $80-million expansion. But what's there to do for the several thousand employees working near Exit 12 of the Massachusetts Turnpike once they finish work each day?

Staples will next week begin selling everything from cleaning products to technology to breakroom snacks, the Framingham-based retailer announced today.

Bob's Discount Furniture, which has nearly 50 retail stores throughout the Northeast, including three in Central Massachusetts, is being sold to Bain Capital, the retailer announced today.

A Springfield-based real estate investment firm has purchased the Uxbridge Center shopping plaza for $15.28 million.

Massachusetts retailers hoping to ring in robust holiday sales may not have fared as well as their counterparts in 47 other states thanks to state “blue laws” that prevented shop owners from opening on Thanksgiving evening, according to one retail expert.

Several communities across the state, including Sudbury and Ashland, have raised the age for tobacco sales to higher than 18 years old within the past year, evidence of a slow-spreading movement that activists say will reduce cigarette use among teens.

Two former assistant managers of Marshalls stores have filed suit against TJX Cos. alleging that the Framingham-based retail giant violated federal and state wage and hour laws.

The City Council unanimously approved tax breaks Tuesday for a $38 million project to build two Downtown area hotels -- a Renaissance by Marriott at CitySquare and a Hampton Inn at Gateway Park.