A Georgia woman is facing up to 75 years in prison after pleading no contest to racketeering and fraud charges tied to a multistate scheme that cheated TJX Companies stores out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Consumer confidence inched up in March after two straight monthly declines, even as persistent inflation, bank collapses and anxiety over a possible recession weighed on Americans.

(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)Continuing a trend, Florida last week posted its lowest total of first-time unemployment claims since the coronavirus pandemic exploded nearly a year ago. A similar revision upped the totals for the week ending Feb. 6, increasing the initial projection from 17,621 to 21,710. Nationally, the Department of Labor estimated 730,000 first-time unemployment claims were filed last week. The national estimate was a decrease of 111,000 from a revised estimate for the week ending Feb. 13. The national estimate for the week ending Feb. 13 had initially been 861,000.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. TJX Cos., the parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Homegoods, hopes to have all of its stores back open by the end of June, the company reported to the SEC on Thursday, according to NBC Boston. TJX closed stores in nine countries along with all of its online shopping sites, distribution centers and offices in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic was starting to make waves in the U.S. Since May 2, TJX opened approximately 36% of its 4,500 stores worldwide, equating to 1,600 locations reopening as well as four e-commerce sites. The company now hopes to have everything back open by the end of June as it has fully or partially reopened in 25 states, NBC Boston reported.

The discount retailer has done just fine without an online store, but now is finally launching one. The latter has had an online store for several years. Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail, told CNN Business that an online store for Marshalls was likely low on TJX's list because it was focused on expanding its profitable physical locations. He cautioned that TJX be careful that its online store doesn't cannibalize its stores. "One of the key things about the off-price model is that people will bargain hunt in a physical stores, which doesn't always translate online," he said.