Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

By Liz Moughan, Kronos Incorporated

Sometimes uncertainty causes us to put off things we should do now.

This is true when it comes to retailers and their preparation for complying with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In fact, 56% of organizations reported that they hesitated to initiate any changes in 2012, preferring instead to wait until the Supreme Court decision and the 2012 elections before they took any major actions.

ATLANTA — Aaron's, a lease-to-own retailer specializing in the sales and lease ownership of residential furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories, has appointed Robert W. Kamerschen as the company’s new SVP and general counsel.

Atlanta -- Aaron's has appointed Robert W. Kamerschen as the company’s senior VP and general counsel.

Kamerschen will be responsible for managing all legal and governmental affairs for Aaron's, including employment law, regulatory matters, intellectual property, litigation, vendor relationships, financings, acquisitions and other general legal matters. As general counsel, he will report directly to chairman, president and CEO Ronald W. Allen.

New York -- Toys "R" Us has appointed Antonio Urcelay, 61, the head of its European operations, as interim CEO, according to a filing the retailer made on Monday with the Securities and Exchange commission, The Record reported.

Urcelay replaces Gerald Storch, who announced in February that he would be stepping. At the time, Storch said he would remain as CEO during the transition. While his role as chief executive ended Sunday, he continues to serve as chairman of the board.

European apparel retailer H&M and Inditex, parent company of fashion retailer Zara, are signing on to the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement, an independent, legally-binding agreement to guarantee safe working conditions in the Bangladeshi garment industry. 

H&M is a top purchaser of garments from Bangladesh, and hopes that the agreement leads to “far-reaching improvements in working conditions.” 

Fort Worth -- A former store manager is suing RadioShack Corp. with claims the chain has been failing to pay overtime wages for the past three years. Bloomberg reports that David Verderame filed suit in Philadelphia seeking at least $5.8 million in unpaid overtime wages for all Pennsylvania RadioShack employees. On Thursday, RadioShack had the suit moved to U.S. District Court due to the size of the alleged damages.

Reston, Va. -- E-commerce sales grew 13% year-over-year to $50.2 billion, marking the fourteenth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and tenth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, according to comScore. It was also just the second quarter on record to surpass $50 billion in spending.

The survey also revealed that nearly half (48%) of time spent in the retail category occurred on mobile devices, with smartphones (34%) outpacing tablets (14%).

SALT LAKE CITY — Online discount retailer Overstock.com held its annual meeting and made changes to its board of directors.

Stockholders re-elected Joseph J. Tabacco and elected Jonathan E. Johnson III to the company's board for terms of three years each. The board also named Johnson as its new executive vice chairman.