Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Washington, D.C. – Kids may be unhappy about back-to-school season, but importers are surely thrilled.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 7.3% in July 2015 month from the same time last year as retailers stock up for the busy back-to-school season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

New York -- The top executives at Whole Foods Market have issued a mea culpa via social media in regards to an investigation that found instances of incorrectly priced products at their stores in New York City.

After initially quibbling with an investigation that found instances of incorrectly priced products at stores in New York, Whole Foods co-CEOs, Walter Robb and John Mackey offered a mea culpa in a YouTube video.

The nearly two minute video appeared on Whole Foods YouTube channel on July 1, eight days after the New York Daily News first published an article based on an investigation by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation upped its criticism of President Obama’s proposal to extend overtime pay, saying it would turn “professionals into clock-watchers.”

New York -- The top state for business is a high-tax, high-wage, union-friendly, cold-climate state, according to an annual ranking by CNBC.
 

Several months after its CEO resigned in September, Pep Boys says it is reviewing strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, merger or other deal.

Washington, D.C. -- Retailers and restaurant owners can expect their labor costs to rise under a new proposal from the Obama administration.

On Tuesday, the Department of Labor unveiled a proposal whereby salaried workers who earn up to $50,440 a year would be eligible for time-and-a-half overtime wages when they work more than 40 hours per week. That is more than double the current threshold of $23,660, or $455 per week, established in 2004.

San Jose, Calif. – PayPal Inc, which came under public scrutiny and criticism after announcing a new privacy policy that would require users to allow prerecorded or automated “robocalls” and texts, has backpedaled on that requirement.

In a statement posted on the PayPal site, general counsel and company secretary Louise Pentland cleared up “confusion” around the new policy, which takes effect July 1.