NEW YORK—Walmart says it will close its U.S. stores on Thanksgiving for the second consecutive year. The nation’s largest retailer and biggest private employer said Friday that it wants to give workers time off for all their “hard work and dedication” to the company. It follows the decision by Target Corp., which announced back in…

LONDON—Thorntons, the 110-year-old British chocolatier and retailer, said on Monday it would permanently close all 61 UK stores, putting 603 jobs at risk, blaming the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Multiple lockdowns in Britain have heaped pressure on store-based retailers already struggling with tight margins and intense competition from purely online players. Thorntons, which was…