Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

The National Retail Federation is recognizing the nation's top law enforcement officers with the organization's annual loss prevention awards.

Recipients of the Ring of Excellence, Law Enforcement Retail Partnership and Retail Case of the Year will be honored during an awards ceremony at NRF PROTECT, the retail industry’s largest event for retail loss prevention executives in North America.

Orlando, Fla. - Darden Restaurants Inc. plans to separate a portion of its real estate assets through a combination of sale leaseback transactions and a new, publicly traded real estate investment trust ("REIT"). Under the plan, Darden will transfer approximately 430 of its corporate stores to the REIT, with substantially all of the REIT's initial assets being leased back to Darden.  

Rebel flags are now a hot commodity after numerous retailers yanked Confederate-related merchandise from their stores and websites.

Wal-Mart, Sears and eBay announced their decisions Monday, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called on legislators to remove the flag from the statehouse grounds. After doing so, sales of Confederate flags spiked on Amazon to claim first, second, and third place on the site's list of biggest sales gainers in the previous 24 hours. Prices ranged from under $2 to nearly $16 per flag.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will no longer sell merchandise featuring the Confederate flag in its stores or online. The retailer is removing the flag, long a source of controversy due to its connections to slavery and use as a symbol by white supremacists, in the wake of a racially-motivated mass shooting at a historically black Charleston, South Carolina church.

Boca Raton, Fla. — A deal that would leave the nation with one giant office-supply retailer is one step nearer to completion.

Office Depot shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposed $6.3 billion buyout offer from rival Staples Inc., with 99.5 % of the votes cast in favor of the merger.

Staples proposed to acquire Office Depot in February in a cash-and-stock deal. Under the deal, Office Depot shareholders will get $7.25 per share in cash and 0.2188 of a share in Staples stock for each Office Depot share held.

Costa Mesa, Calif. – Anna’s Linens’ stores will soon be history.

Office Depot shareholders approved of the company’s acquisition by Staples in a vote that will prove to be largely symbolic if federal regulators determine a deal involving two direct competitors is not in the best interest of consumers.

Office Depot agreed to be acquired by Staples on Feb. 4 and on June 19 a preliminary vote total showed that 99.5% of shareholders approved of a deal that involves them receiving $7.25 in cash and 0.2188 of Staples stock for each share of Office Depot stock.

San Jose, Calif. – eBay Inc. has sold its 28.4% stake in Craigslist back to the online classified ad service inn a confidential settlement agreement. eBay initially purchased the stake from Craiglist in 2004, but the two parties have been involved in litigation for years.