Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

New York -- Best Buy Co. on Friday said it agreed to extend the deadline to Feb. 28 for founder Richard Schulze to make a bid for the company.

The company said it is in the best interest of shareholders to let Schulze and his partners include results from the holiday season in their due diligence review.

Never ones to let a good disaster go to waste, anti-Walmart forces have alerted the media to an event being held outside Walmart’s Washington, DC office.

Walmart has taken a lot of heat since last month when it was learned that a factory in Bangladesh where 112 people died in fire was being used by a Walmart supplier. Even though the facility was not on Walmart’s list of approved facilities, the incident renewed sentiment that Walmart’s quest for low prices causes its suppliers to cut corners.

Cargo volumes at U.S. ports are forecast to increase 3.9% this month following a 5.6% decline in November. That’s the good news, but now retailers and suppliers have to worry about the possibility of a strike at East coast ports.

The strike by workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach negatively affected container volumes in November, but resolution of the strike after eight days meant disruption in December was limited to just two days, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report compiled by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates

New York -- According to multiple reports on Thursday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s India unit has received a notice from a federal government agency regarding alleged violations of the country’s foreign investment rules.
 
A spokesman for Wal-Mart said: “We will be working to provide the authorities with relevant information,” but didn’t elaborate on the contents of the notice.

Bharti Walmart Pvt. Ltd., a joint venture between Wal-Mart and India's Bharti Enterprises Ltd., operates 20 wholesale stores in the country.

New York -- In a Tuesday night address at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. president and CEO Mike Duke didn’t shy away from discussing the fiscal cliff, saying that the current debate is having a negative impact on consumer spending.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates found that cargo volumes at U.S. ports are forecast to increase 3.9% in December following a 5.6% decline in November.

According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report, container volumes were negatively impacted in November by the West coast strike by workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, but resolution of the strike after eight days meant disruption in December was limited to just two days.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Department store retailer Stein Mart remains in non-compliance with NASDAQ listing requirements for failing to file its most recent quarterly report, but the company appears to be doing fine otherwise.

Cargo volumes at U.S. ports are forecast to increase 3.9% in December following a 5.6% decline in November, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report compiled by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

The West coast strike by workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach negatively affected container volumes in November, but resolution of the strike after eight days meant disruption in December was limited to just two days.