Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

As if competing against Target, Best Buy and Amazon.com isn’t challenging enough, nationwide the fast-food “strike” which took place Thursday offered a glimpse of the type of headline-grabbing, disruptive activities Walmart can expect from its opponents this holiday season.

Walmart will be making a progressing move and extending health insurance benefits to same-sex domestic partners of its U.S. employees starting next year, according to a Reuters report. 

The report stated that the retailer will also offer vision care to its eligible employees and their dependents.

St. Louis – Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is publicly accusing Walgreens of charging customers more for some products at the cash register than their advertised price in the store aisle. According to Bloomberg, Koster said Missouri will sue Walgreens for false and misleading advertising after a two-month undercover investigation of eight stores in cities including St. Louis, Kansas City and Jefferson City.

New York -- Mitchell Klipper, CEO of Barnes & Noble’s retail group., sold off two-thirds of his stock holdings in Barnes & Noble between Aug. 22 and Aug. 26 of this year. An SEC filing indicates that Klipper sold 400,000 of roughly 600,000 shares he held in the company, grossing more than $5.5 million.

Richfield, Minn. -- Best Buy Inc.’s founder and largest shareholder, Richard Schulze, plans to sell off an unspecified portion of his 20% stock holdings in the chain, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

The move is part of Schulze's “personal long-term strategy for asset diversification and liquidity,” according to the filing, which did not disclose the total number of shares expected to be effected by the sale.

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores will offer health insurance benefits to its U.S. workers' domestic partners, including those of the same sex, starting Jan. 1, 2014. Wal-Mart sent a postcard to its associates on Monday to tell them about the change. The chain also informed workers that it plans to begin offering vision care to its eligible employees and their dependents.

NEW YORK — Mitchell Klipper, CEO of Barnes & Noble’s retail group., has sold off two-thirds of his stock holdings in Barnes & Noble between Aug. 22 and Aug. 26, according to reports. 

An SEC filing indicates that Klipper sold 400,000 of roughly 600,000 shares he held in the company, grossing more than $5.5 million.

New York -- American Dream Meadowlands, the much-delayed shopping and entertainment complex adjacent to Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., is close to signing several major retail tenants, according to Crain’s New York.

The complex, originally called Xanadu, was started in 2004, and never completed. It has gone through several changes in ownerships, eventually falling into default. In July, it was acquired by Canadian developer Triple Five Group.