Get moving: Fitness boutique barre3 will open its first Baton Rouge location Monday at 3535 Perkins Rd, Suite 380 in the Acadian Village Shopping Center. Barre3 is taking over the suite next to Kean’s, in the space formerly occupied by Studio 7. Owner Nicole Cummins is opening the Portland, Oregon-based fitness studio that combines yoga, pilates and ballet in the Bayou State. “Opening a barre3 studio has been a long-time dream of mine and I am grateful to share it with the incredible Baton Rouge community,” says Cummins, who is offering free classes during the first week of business. Barre3 has more than 126 locations.
Waiting: The CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said his company is pressing on with its purchase of Rite Aid Corp., which was announced in October 2015 and has not closed. Reuters reports Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina told shareholders at an annual meeting that the drug store chain is continuing its efforts to get regulatory approval for the acquisition. Pessina declined to provide details about issues raised in the review, saying “the only thing I can repeat is that we are actively engaged in dialogue with the FTC and we are doing everything we can to support their work.” Rite Aid has said it would sell 865 stores to rival Fred’s Inc. for $950 million to satisfy antitrust concerns on the deal, which was valued at $9.4 billion when it was announced in October 2015. Read more.
In defense: Lawmakers appeared sympathetic to the former head of the state’s wildlife and fisheries agency in response to an audit raising questions about the propriety of millions in spending during his tenure. The Associated Press reports former department secretary Robert Barham defended his performance to a legislative review panel today. Barham, secretary during former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s two terms, called the audit “one of the worst points of Monday morning quarterbacking.” The legislative auditor’s office found extensive financial problems across the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Auditors say Gulf oil spill recovery money intended for fish testing was diverted to buy unnecessary equipment.
