Trading Partners

New York -- The battle between Macy’s Inc., J.C. Penney Co., and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. will go to trial Feb. 19, Bloomberg reported.

A New York State judge on Thursday said he case will not be tried before a jury and there will be no need to decide damages.
 
Instead, any potential damages in the dispute “are going to pale in comparison to the injunction,” the judge said. “That’s the real big bucks there -- if I stop this deal.”

Arlington, Va. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) issued the following statement in response to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate proposed rules filed Wednesday in the Federal Register.

The retail industry has temporarily avoided a shut down of 14 ports along the East and Gulf coasts following a 30 day extension of contract negotiations with organized labor.

The extension solves nothing, but it does give port operators and representatives of the U.S. Maritime Alliance and International Longshoremen’s Association time to iron out a new collective bargaining agreement that was set to expire on December 29. Retail industry trade groups welcomed news of the extension, while pushing for a longer term solution.

El Dorado, Ark. -- Murphy Oil USA announced Wednesday it has entered into an agreement with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for 200 new fuel stations in the midwestern and southeastern U.S.

According to the agreement, Murphy Oil will build more than 200 new fuel stations at existing Wal-Mart Super Centers over the next three years.

Steven Cosse, president and CEO, Murphy Oil Corp., said the agreement with Wal-Mart is a significant step forward for the pair’s long-term relationship.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., president and CEO Mike Duke claims to love working for a company where success and size have resulted in high expectations, but that love affair may be ending in 2013.

ISELIN, N.J. — Domino Sugar has donated $50,000 to the American Red Cross for relief and rebuilding efforts in the Northeast following Hurricane Sandy.

CANTON, Mass. and STAMFORD, Conn. — Nestle Waters North America has signed a five-year contract making it the exclusive water supplier for Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins restaurants nationwide.

Valspar will become the new paint supplier for Ace Hardware, according to Retailing Today sister publication Home Channel News.

Said to be in the final stages of inking the deal, Valspar would replace Ace Hardware’s signature brand Benjamin Moore.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Global work wear brand Dickies has signed a new licensing agreement with R & S Sales Company, a leading developer and marketer of slippers and flip-flops in the U.S.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., president and CEO Mike Duke appeared earlier this week at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations where he shed light on a range of topics that weren’t fully captured by headlines and soundbites from the event.

Duke was a participant in the organization’s CEO speaker series where for an hour he was politely grilled by Bloomberg president and CEO Dan Doctoroff and took questions on a broad range of topics.