City Sports, a Boston-based retail that sells athletic footwear and apparel, is gearing up for the March 16th grand opening of its new store in Chestnut Hill. Until recently, the chain operated a store nearby at the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center. When the shopping center’s owner and manager, WS Development, upgraded and rebranded the place as “The Street Chestnut Hill,” City Sports decided to close its old store and replace it with a snazzier, larger one. Dunkin’ Donuts, which updates its seasonal baked-goods menu about as often as Martha Stewart tweaks the feng shui of her breakfast nook, is ballyhooing its St. Patrick’s Day line-up of food and beverage items. Not to put too fine a point on it, the Canton-based chain of coffee-and-baked good cafes wants to alert March 17th revelers that they will able to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with an Irish Crème Donut --- and seasonal coffees and coffee-based beverages as well. A monthly index that tracks confidence among local business leaders posted a reading of 49 in February, down 1.4 points from January’s reading, as executives fretted about the impact of “sequestration,” a name given to federal budget cuts now going into effect. Those cuts have the potential to hurt the state’s economy. The Massachusetts Business Confidence Index is maintained by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, an employer association of Bay State businesses and institutions. Auction Holdings Inc., a Boston company that develops software and e-commerce applications for the auction industry, said that former Zipcar executive Rob Weisberg is its new chief executive. Weisberg joined Auction Holdings Inc., or AHI, last year as chief operating officer after leaving Zipcar, the car-sharing service, where he was chief marketing officer. Chinese firms could soon be challenging US companies that focus on medical sensor and diagnostic technology, a new report from Lux Research Inc. suggests. According to Lux, a market intelligence firm headquartered in Boston, the Chinese government is now investing in the development of sensing technologies as the country’s population ages. “Over the next three to five years, biologics-based diagnostics will catch up and offer strong domestic options to today’s imported Western technology,” a Lux Research analyst wrote. Foreclosure activity in Massachusetts “dropped dramatically” in January because of an improving local housing market, the Warren Group said Tuesday. There were 940 foreclosure petitions started in January, down nearly 30 percent on a year-to-year comparison basis. Petitions are the first step in the Massachusetts foreclosure process. Statewide, 292 foreclosure deeds wre filed during January, a year-to-year drop of 63 percent, said the Warren Group, a Boston firm that tracks real estate activity. Avedro Inc., a Waltham medical device and drug company, announced Tuesday the completion of a $43 million Series D financing. The financing was led by Abingworth along with a significant investment by Third Point; Avedro’s other investors include Prism Venture Works, De Novo Ventures, Flagship Ventures, Aperture Ventures, SCP Vitalife Partners, Borealis Ventures, and Echelon Ventures. |  | |
