Legal

Online marketplaces eBay, Etsy, Mercari, OfferUp, and Poshmark have launched "the Coalition to Protect America's Small Sellers" or the PASS Coalition, in opposition to a federal bill aimed at curtailing sales of fake and stolen goods through online marketplaces, reports Yahoo Finance. The federal bill in question is the bipartisan INFORM Act, which was introduced in…

Earlier this week, former Gap Inc. CEO Art Peck filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise money for a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Peck’s SPAC, Good Commerce Acquisition Company, plans to buy companies that sell apparel, accessories, home goods, among other products. "Our objective is to create a next-generation consumer holding company by combining…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Ashley Chiaradio and Kristina Stidham discuss an article recently published on Total Retail titled, “The Wave of COVID-19-Related Litigation for Retailers is Looking Like a Tsunami,” authored by Carrie Gonell and Kate McGuigan, partners at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. The authors discuss how retailers can…

Retailers, in response to the global pandemic, have spent the last year in a balancing act to keep their employees safe, their businesses afloat, and their policies compliant with ever-changing and sometimes conflicting federal, state, and local laws and orders. Despite these efforts, employers are facing not only pre-litigation demands and threats, but also litigation…

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many retailers to temporarily close their doors or operate at minimum capacity, proving to be the most trying year for retailers in recent memory.  However, as the first rounds of vaccines are being rolled out across the nation, there appears to be some positive news along with the expectation…

Belk, the North Carolina-based department store chain which has catered to generations of shoppers for nearly 190 years, announced Tuesday it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The chain's owner, private equity firm Sycamore Partners, said in a news release that Belk will continue with "normal operations" as it goes through bankruptcy, The Charlotte Observer…

As one of the most dynamic sources of state and local revenue, sales tax is subject to frequent change. Each year, Avalara explores emerging trends in its annual sales tax changes report. In 2021, we expect to see additional COVID-19 tax relief programs, new economic nexus and marketplace facilitator laws, and more state efforts to…

Apparel retailer Christopher & Banks, which caters to women over 40, is the latest clothing chain to file for bankruptcy protection amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Minneapolis-based company announced Thursday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Christopher & Banks said in a press release it "expects to close a significant portion, if not all, of its brick-and-mortar stores." Hours after the bankruptcy…

California’s Proposition 24, which expands the state’s consumer privacy law, was passed by voters on Nov. 3, 2020. Starting January 2023, the new law, called the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act (“CCPRA”) will take effect and allow consumers more control over how businesses collect and use their personal information. Today, advancements in technology allow retailers…

COVID-19 has all companies scrambling to make sense of what the future will look like for their businesses. For retailers, brick-and-mortar real estate is perhaps the most integral part, leaving many to question the best path forward should the country face an even more prolonged lockdown. Do you shutter certain stores? What's the right balance between…