Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

On the heels of lackluster quarterly sales, job cuts and an overcharging scandal, Whole Foods is getting another round of bad publicity, and this time it’s about prison labor.

The retailer announced that it will stop offering products made by prisoners next year. The company specifically said it will stop selling tilapia sourced from Quixotic Farming and cheese distributed by Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy, two private companies that partner with Colorado Correctional Industries (CCI), a division of Colorado's Department of Corrections.

Boston-based sporting goods retailer City Sports has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to liquidate at least a quarter of its stores.

According to the Wall Street Journal, City Sports said it has a deal with liquidators Tiger Capital Group to hold going-out-of-business sales at eight of the company’s 26 stores, which are scattered throughout the Northeast from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C.

In a not unanticipated move, American Apparel filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Monday. But the company said its stores will not be affected by the filing, and no store closings or layoffs were announced.

The Los Angeles-based retailer, which has not reported a profit since 2009, has been struggling under the weight of big debts sluggish sales and a protracted — and costly — legal battle with its founder and ousted CEO, the controversial Dov Charney.

The highly anticipated EMV deadline of October 1 has come and gone, leaving many retailers and payment solutions providers to ponder what’s next?

As of Oct. 1, 2015, any U.S. retailer that does not have the necessary POS hardware, software, and operational and network protocols in place to process an EMV-compliant chip card transaction faces a shift in fraud liability.

The highly anticipated EMV deadline of Oct. 1 has come and gone, leaving many retailers and payment solutions providers to ponder what’s next? As of Oct. 1, 2015, any U.S. retailer that does not have the necessary POS hardware, software, and operational and network protocols in place to process an EMV-compliant chip card transaction faces a shift in fraud liability.

Despite all the commotion surrounding the Oct. 1 deadline for U.S. retailers to accept EMV-compliant payment cards, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects no drastic shifts to occur.

In the two months since the Department of Labor announced its proposed new overtime standards, much has been written about what it may mean for employers big and small.

Despite all the commotion surrounding the Oct. 1 deadline for U.S. retailers to accept EMV-compliant payment cards, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects no drastic shifts to occur.