Legal

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…

Women’s boutique chain francesca's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, with plans to sell the business, including its brick-and-mortar stores. In a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing, francesa's said it was obtaining $25 million in financing from its existing lender, Tiger Finance, to facilitate the retail stores sales process, subject to court approval.…

This week, European Union regulators brought antitrust charges against Amazon.com, The New York Times reported. The EU claims that the e-commerce giant broke competition laws by wrongfully using its size and access to data against smaller sellers that rely on the company to reach consumers. Specifically, Amazon is accused of collecting nonpublic data from sellers…

On Monday, a New York federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Amazon.com that accused the company of failing to stop the spread of the coronavirus through unsafe working conditions, CNBC reported. The judge deferred to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The complaint against the e-commerce giant was filed by four employees at Amazon's Staten Island,…

Many retailers were forced to close their doors to customers beginning in March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic first hit the United States. This caused the stock market to plunge initially, and pushed the overall economy into a record slump. Unsure of how to proceed given the unprecedented situation where municipalities were ordering stores to…