Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Washington, D.C. -- In a first, the International Code Council (ICC), ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) have come together and signed an agreement to collaborate on the development of Standard 189.1, the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) and the LEED green building program.

New York -- UPS Stores, a subsidiary of United Parcel Service, said that a security breach may have led to the theft of customer credit and debit data at 51 UPS stores in the United States.

In a statement, the company said that customers who had used their debit or credit cards at affected locations (which are listed on the UPS site) from Jan. 20 to Aug. 11 may have been exposed to the malware. However, the company noted, exposure began after March 26 in most cases.

The malware was eliminated as of Aug. 11, UPS said.

New York -- Christopher Finazzo, former executive VP and chief merchandising officer for Aeropostale, has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of defrauding the company and taking more than $25 million in kickbacks from a key vendor.

Finazzo, who was found guilty in April 2013 of 14 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy, was also ordered to forfeit more than $25 million and pay the company $13.7 million in restitution.

New York -- Dollar Tree Inc. reported that net income in the second quarter dipped 2.6% to $121.5 million, from $124.7 million a year earlier, amid higher freight costs and investments in higher-value products.

Revenue rose 9.5% to $2.03 billion, and same-store sales increased 4.5%, beating Wall Street estimates of a 2.5% rise. It was the chain’s26th consecutive quarter of positive comparable store sales growth.

New York -- Family Dollar said it favors a smaller deal with potential buyer Dollar Tree, and firmly rejected an offer for takeover by larger competitor Dollar General.

Following an $8.5 billion offer last week by Dollar Tree, Dollar General offered a $9 billion, all-cash deal.

New York -- Macy's Inc. has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle allegations of racial profiling at its flagship store in Manhattan.

Under the agreement with New York's attorney general, the company will initiate enhanced training and education for its loss prevention and sales associates.

“We also will be adopting an expanded role for our security monitor to help ensure that we have the right policies and procedures in place, and that we are constantly reviewing our compliance with them,” the retailer said in a statement.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation on Monday told the U.S. Supreme Court that the debate over debit card swipe fees is “of staggering importance” and asked the justices to review a ruling that left the Federal Reserve’s cap on the billions of transactions conducted each year at 21 cents rather than reducing it to a lower level.


New York -- Activist hedge fund Jana Partners revealed on Monday that it received an anonymous package detailing a PetSmart presentation around improving results over the next two quarters.

According to Jana in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a cover letter accompanied the presentation, saying that PetSmart had “missed internal projections.” Jana said it sent the documents back to the company, asking the board to “promptly release such materials after redacting any such competitively sensitive information.”

Indianapolis -- Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America launched a national campaign on Monday calling on Kroger Co. to prohibit the open carry of guns in its supermarkets. The gun control advocacy group was founded in response to the Sandy Hook school shooting and has partnered with billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett.

The Moms Demand Action campaign, which includes a petition to Kroger, follows similar actions aimed at Target, Chipotle, Sonic, Chii’s and Jack in the Box.

Eden Prairie, Minn. – Supervalu Inc. has suffered a data breach that may have resulted in theft of customer payment card data. The stolen information may include account numbers, and in some cases also the expiration date, other numerical information and/or the cardholder’s name.