Consumer Affairs & Relations

Dollar Tree and Family Dollar have amended their merger agreement to include a commitment by Dollar Tree to divest as many stores as necessary or advisable to obtain antitrust clearance for the previously announced cash and stock transaction.

All other terms and conditions of the merger agreement remain the same as announced on July 28, 2014. The two companies also said that their expectations for a closing date for the transaction have accelerated to as early as the end of November 2014.

By Sanford Stein, founder, Stein LLC

With the point-of-sale tucked away in one’s backpack, pocket or purse, how does the store-based retailer expect to survive in an e-everything world? And what is to become of the malls, the meccas of economic indulgence that were driven by the shop-till-you-drop dynamic we thought would last forever? We are currently in a period of just such a change wave, driven by a dramatic demographic shift, corporate downsizing, economic stagnation, and rising costs.

Family Dollar has rejected the revised proposal made by Dollar General on Sept. 2 on the basis of antitrust regulatory considerations. The Dollar General offer may be financially superior, the dollar store operator noted, but it's not likely to pass muster with the Federal Trade Commission.
 

San Jose and Menlo Park, Calif. – EBay and Facebook both reportedly experienced technical issues on Sept. 3. According to Fox Business, some EBay users were unable to gain entry to their accounts, while others reported their accounts had disappeared and their sales were no longer listed on the site.

Walmart has reportedly issued a new dress code and staff members are not happy, according to Gawker.

Complex magazine reported that the new dress code “requires certain employees to wear white or navy blue collared shirts with khaki or pants, capris, or skirts,” according to Walmart human resources executive Barbara Simone.

Atlanta – The alleged security breach that recently hit The Home Depot Inc. may have compromised credit and debit card data at nearly all of the company’s stores. According to the security website Krebsonsecurity.com, the unique ZIP codes of a large batch of new cards listed for sale on underground hacker sites shows a more than 99% overlap with nearby Home Depot stores, suggesting a widespread breach.

New Albany, Ohio – Abercrombie & Fitch has reportedly settled a shareholder lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Columbus, Ohio, regarding its pay of CEO Michael Jeffries, who has received more than $140 million in compensation since 2007. According to Reuters, the settlement with City of Plantation Police Officers' Employees' Retirement System involves no payment to the plaintiff.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wet Seal Inc. said John D. Goodman has resigned as CEO, effective Aug. 26.