Retail

Framingham retail parent TJX Cos., Inc., one of the five largest employers in Central Massachusetts, will require booster shots for its vaccinated U.S. office workforce, the company confirmed Wednesday morning.

The Worcester Flea Market on Quinsigamond Avenue has been ordered to close by the Worcester Department of Inspectional Services, according to a notice from the city posted on the market’s door and dated Nov. 24.

Christmas tree farms were taken by storm last year, as shoppers jumped at the chance to partake in a relatively safe, outdoor holiday activity. Local farms sold out their stock in a fraction of the time they’d expect in a normal year.

Plans to put a gas station in place of the vacant building next to Austin Liquors on Park Avenue in Worcester will be considered by the Worcester Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday, according to the agenda.

Retail sector sales in Massachusetts typically total about $21.25 billion in November and December, and retailers in the shopping season that is just now gathering momentum are expecting a significant 6 percent increase in sales compared to 2020.

As the second consecutive coronavirus-impacted holiday shopping season gets underway, both retailers and consumers are tussling with concerns over supply chain shortages and subsequent shipping delays, including in Central Massachusetts.

The TJX Cos. Inc., headquartered in Framingham, reported $1 billion in profits in the company's third quarter, according to an earnings report released Wednesday.

Westborough bulk retailer BJ’s Wholesale Club reported a profit of $126.7 million for the company’s third quarter in a Thursday announcement.

The 9/90 Corporate Center, a four-building office and lab campus in Framingham, sold for $93 million in a multi-property deal closed on Wednesday, Newmark Group, Inc., who brokered the deal, announced.

At a special town meeting Monday night, Charlton voters overwhelmingly approved a tax-increment-financing agreement for Amazon to construct a distribution center, Town Administrator Andrew Golas confirmed on Tuesday.