Legal

Judge Refuses Bonuses for Executives at Bankrupt Sports Authority
August 5, 2016 at 12:06 pm

A U.S. bankruptcy judge refused on Tuesday to allow Sports Authority to pay up to $2.85 million in bonuses to four executives for overseeing the winding down of the national sporting goods chain. Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy in March with hopes of keeping some of its 464 stores open, but battles among lenders and…

Whole Foods Rejected in Bid for ‘World's Healthiest’ Trademark
August 1, 2016 at 11:52 am

Whole Foods Market may be full of healthy stuff, but it can't trademark "world's healthiest." The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected Whole Foods’ bid for a trademark on "World's Healthiest Grocery Store," calling it "merely descriptive." That's the same reason the office used years ago in rejecting a previous application by Whole Foods for "America's…

Sports Authority Plans to Pay Top Execs $2.85M in Bankruptcy Bonuses
July 28, 2016 at 12:19 pm

File this one under the bizarre files. Sports Authority wants to pay its top executives millions of dollars in bonuses while the retailer is going out of business. Once an operator of 460 athletic gear outlets, Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy protection and began going-out-of-business sales in an effort to pay its debts. As the liquidation…

Zara Accused of Copying Indie Artist's Designs
July 22, 2016 at 11:10 am

Zara is in the spotlight for allegedly copying the designs of independent artist Tuesday Bassen. The Los Angeles-based illustrator and designer posted the below picture to her over 100,000 Instagram followers earlier this week showing the side-by-side comparisons of her work next to Zara’s designs. Total Retail’s Take: I get that mistakes happen, but when…

Adidas Suing Skechers … Again
July 14, 2016 at 10:53 am

The lawsuit claims Skechers violated Adidas patents by selling sneakers that allegedly “copied Springblade technology.”

Walgreens Lessens Expected Store Closures From Rite Aid Deal
July 7, 2016 at 10:22 am

Walgreens is confident that its acquisition of Rite Aid will close by the end of this year, and CEO Stefano Pessina reports only about 500 stores would need to be sold to address regulator’s antitrust concerns. Analysts first predicted that anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 stores would need to sell to satisfy the Federal Trade…

Abercrombie Sues Gap Over Poaching of CMO
July 6, 2016 at 1:58 pm

Abercrombie & Fitch last week filed litigation against Gap for the recent hire of Craig Brommers as chief marketing officer of Gap's namesake brand. In January, Gap had hired Mr. Brommers to help with the company’s turnaround. Brommers had been the senior vice president of marketing at Abercrombie for three years. The lawsuit alleges Brommers…

Trader Joe's Agrees to Settlement With EPA Over Greenhouse Gas Emissions
June 22, 2016 at 12:38 pm

Yesterday, Trader Joe's, the popular California-based company, was the third supermarket retailer (after Safeway and Costco) in recent years to agree to put funds towards reducing refrigerator coolant leaks that deplete the ozone layer and contribute to global warming. The Los Angeles Times reports the grocery retailer will spend about $2 million to correct the…