Consumer Affairs & Relations

New York -- Consumer confidence increased in January for the second consecutive month, rising to 80.7 from 77.5 in December, according to The Conference Board. Economists had expected a smaller increase, to 79. It was the second consecutive increase.

Minneapolis – An internal investigation conducted by Dorsey & Whitney LLP, independent counsel to the Audit Committee of Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. has found no wrongdoing in Tile Shop’s relationship with Beijing Pingxiu, a Chinese export trading company formerly utilized by the company and some of its Chinese vendors.

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney Co. is amending its stockholder rights plan as part of move to protect its ability to use certain funds that can be used for tax benefits.

Penney said its shareholder rights plan can now be put into effect if an individual or group acquires 4.9% or more of its outstanding stock, down from its previous 10%.

New Albany, Ohio - Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is separating its chairman and CEO roles and expanding its board's size to 12 members. The teen retailer is also terminating its shareholder rights plan.

Irving, Texas – An Illinois consumer has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Michaels Stores in federal court relating to the retailer’s possible recent data security breach. According to Bloomberg, Illinois resident Christina Moyer filed suit in Chicago federal court on Monday, Jan. 27, claiming the retailer broke an implied promise to protect the personal data of her and other consumers.

Irving, Texas – Michaels Stores has learned of possible fraudulent activity on some U.S. payment cards that had been used at Michaels, suggesting that the company may have experienced a data security attack.

In a statement posted to its website on Jan. 25, Michaels said it is working closely with federal law enforcement and is conducting an investigation with the help of third-party data security experts to establish the facts.

Columbia, Md. – A lone 19-year-old gunman killed two employees of a Zumiez store at The Mall of Columbia in Columbia, Md., on the morning of Jan. 26. Media reports indicate that local authorities began receiving 911 calls about the incident at the suburban Baltimore mall at 11:15 a.m. ET.

Shoppers still love Apple products, as evidenced by record unit sales for the iPhone and iPad.
Apple sales increased 5.7% to $57.6 billion from $54.5 billion during the company’s first quarter ended December 28 thanks to record sales of its flagship products.

The company sold a record 51 million iPhones compared to 47.8 million last year and iPad sales increased to 26 million units from 22.9 million last year. The biggest percentage gain came from the Mac business where units sold increased to 4.8 million from 4.1 million.