Legal

The U.S. lawsuit to block Staples Inc. from buying Office Depot Inc. now rests with a judge who's undercut the government's case throughout the trial. During final arguments Tuesday by the companies and the Federal Trade Commission, District Judge Emmet Sullivan needled the government about why its economic expert completed his analysis about the scope of…

Sport Chalet's parent company, Vestis Retail Group, said Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The news comes two days after Sport Chalet initiated store-closing sales at its 47 locations and stopped all online sales operations. Connecticut-based Vestis also owns outdoor clothing and gear chain Eastern Mountain Sports and East Coast family apparel and shoe…

Vestis Retail Group, which operates the Eastern Mountain Sports, Bob’s Stores and Sport Chalet chains, is preparing a bankruptcy filing, extending a run of retail-industry defaults, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, owned by private equity firm Versa Capital Management LLC, could file as soon as next week, said the person, who…

Struggling surfwear chain Pacific Sunwear of California Inc is preparing to file for bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported late on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the situation. The company's shares fell as much as 70.4 percent to 10 cents in heavy trading on Tuesday. Pacific Sunwear, which has posted annual losses since 2008, did not immediately respond to…

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Wal-Mart's bid to throw out a more than $150 million class-action judgment over the retailers' treatment of workers in Pennsylvania. The case had been on hold at the high court while the justices weighed an appeal brought by Tyson Foods in a separate class-action case. On March 22, the…

The drama between Sports Authority Holdings Inc. and consignment suppliers is coming to an end with a settlement that looks to resolve more than 160 lawsuits. Sellers of shoes, gloves and other winter gear sold on consignment sought the return of their goods after Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy last month. The retailer, which is liquidating…

Affiliates and online sellers are the losers thanks to Louisiana's attempt to pressure Amazon.com to collect its state sales tax on purchases made by Louisiana residents. Amazon sent a letter to affiliates in the state last month explaining it was ending its advertising relationship with them. Not only will Amazon affiliates in the state lose out…

Staples could be on the brink of winning its case against the Federal Trade Commission, possibly clearing the way for it to acquire Office Depot, sources told The Post. The judge overseeing the FTC suit against the office supply chain said he will entertain a motion from Staples’ legal team to dismiss the case once…

A cap on debit card swipe fees enacted by the Federal Reserve five years ago has helped reduce costs for retailers and consumers, but is still higher than intended by Congress and should be lowered, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said. “In most cases, 24 cents per transaction represents a significant savings over the prior noncompetitive pricing,”…

An executive with Amazon.com Inc's unit that sells office supplies to businesses gave testimony on Tuesday that appeared to bolster a U.S. regulator's wariness over a potential merger of Staples Inc and Office Depot Inc. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit last year to block the proposed $6.3 billion acquisition of Office Depot by…