Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Family Dollar is urging its shareholders to support a buyout offer from rival discounter Dollar Tree with less than two weeks remaining before a vote on the pending deal.

Family Dollar shareholders are scheduled to vote Jan. 22. on whether to accept the Dollar Tree offer.

Family Dollar has rejected numerous approaches from Dollar General, the latest worth $9.1 billion in cash, in favor of an $8.5 billion cash-and-stock offer from Dollar Tree. It has cited risks that the Dollar General deal would be blocked because of anti-monopoly rules.

Washington, D.C. -- President Barack Obama on Monday proposed strengthening laws against identity theft, described as a growing problem that costs billions of dollars. Part of Obama’s proffered solution is requiring notification when consumer information is hacked.

Reuters is reporting a new complicating factor in the ongoing saga of efforts by Dollar Tree and Dollar General to buy Family Dollar.

Some 20 state attorneys general have joined the federal antitrust investigation of competing bids by Dollar General Corp. and Dollar Tree Inc. to buy Family Dollar Stores Inc., a development that potentially complicates the companies' efforts to win U.S. approval for a deal.

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Washington, D.C. -- Year-over-year import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to continue to rise during most of the first half of 2015 despite significant congestion still impacting West Coast ports, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Teens will soon have fewer choices when it comes to shopping for the latest fashions.

Deb Shops announced it has won court approval to launch going-out-of-business sales that will culminate with the closing of nearly 300 stores.

“We thank our many customers and dedicated employees for their tremendous loyalty over the years and are very proud of our associates’ commitment to maintaining the high level of customer service we are known for throughout this transition,” said Dawn Robertson, CEO at Deb Shops.

New York -- A.R.E. (the Association for Retail Environments) is predicting a 10% increase in spending on North American retail store construction and renovations in 2015. The forecast, based on a survey of A.R.E.’s nearly 750 member companies and input from the industry association’s economic advisors, represents the sixth consecutive year of industry growth.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation has expressed its strong support for H.R. 30, the Save American Workers Act, a bill that would restore the traditional 40-hour workweek standard for health benefits under the Affordable Care Act. The NRF sent a letter to each and every House office stating that all votes related to the bill would be considered “key votes” and factored into its annual legislative scorecard.

New York -- Safeway has agreed to pay $9.87 million in penalties as part of a settlement of a civil environmental lawsuit.

The settlement stems from allegations that more than 500 Safeway stores and distribution centers throughout California improperly handled and disposed of various hazardous wastes and materials, ranging from pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter medications to batteries and electronic devices, over a period of seven and a half years.