Consumer Affairs & Relations

Secaucus, N.J. – The Children’s Place Inc. is publicly criticizing a report from proxy advisory service Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommending that shareholders elect one of two board nominees from activist investors Macellum SPV II L.P. and Barington Companies Equity Partners L.P. ISS supports election of Robert L. Mettler but recommends against electing Seth R. Johnson.

Alibaba Holding Group Ltd. went on a buying spree at Zulily this month, but the Chinese Internet retailer wasn't buying baby shoes.

Alibaba purchased about 4.8 million class A shares in Zulily, about 17% of Zulily’s Class A stock. The stake, valued at more than $150 million, was disclosed in a securities filing that showed Alibaba this month spent $56 million buying Zulily stock as the U.S. company’s shares plunged following a disappointing earnings report.

New York - Human error was the number one cause of data security incidents in 2014. According to a new report released by the Privacy and Data Protection Team at BakerHostetler, in the incidents that the firm worked on in 2014, employee negligence was responsible 36% of the time.

That was followed by theft by outsiders (22%), theft by insiders (16%), malware (16%) and phishing attacks (14%).Incidents were self-detected 64% of the time. Of the incidents reported by a third party, 27 % were due to theft.

New York -- Dov Charney, the embattled founder and ousted CEO of American Apparel, is suing the retailer’s controlling shareholder, Standard General, for damages of at least $30 million.
 
Charney accused the hedge fund of an array of misdeeds, including defamation, false light, intentional interference with actual and prospective economic relations, unfair business acts and false advertising, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Toronto -- Canada’s Loblaw Companies Ltd. said it will pull its Joe Fresh brand from J.C. Penney stores in the United States at the beginning of next year as it looks to concentrate on freestanding Joe Fresh stores and e-commerce.  

New York – Despite some reservations, a federal judge is reportedly refusing to block a proposed settlement between Target Corp. and MasterCard related to the retailer’s 2013 data breach. According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minnesota declined a request from a group of banks and credit unions to rule against the $19 million settlement.

Chicago -- HRC Advisory, a strategic retail advisory firm and unit of Hilco Global, announced that it has promoted Farla Efros, an accomplished retailing and merchandising strategist, to the position of president. She will continue to report to Antony Karabus, CEO of HRC Advisory.  

By Bobby Koscheski, ACI Worldwide

EMV compliance is coming and when it hits, it will change the way payments happen across America. Today, when consumers make non-cash purchases at any number of their favorite merchants in the U.S., they stand in front of payment terminals, swipe their cards and follow the on-screen prompts. EMV will require new payment processes that, while seemingly small to those instituting the change, require a shift in behavior that could feel monumental to consumers.