Legal

Love Culture, a women's-wear retailer with more than 80 stores, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The chain will seek to continue operations and sell itself as a going concern, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. Jenny Rim, general counsel for the Los Angeles-based company, declined to comment. Love Culture was founded in 2007 by Jai Rhee and Bennett Koo, former executives at fast-fashion retailer Forever 21, with the aim of selling affordable style to young women. 

Comedian Tracy Morgan is suing Wal-Mart over the deadly limo crash that left him critically injured and killed his close friend. The 45-year-old Morgan was returning from a gig when a Wal-Mart truck traveling 20 miles per hour over the speed limit rear-ended his limo. Morgan suffered broken ribs, a broken nose and a broken leg in the crash early in the morning of Saturday, June 7, while his friend and comedian colleague James McNair was killed. Morgan was a regular on "Saturday Night Live" for seven years and later starred in the series "30 Rock." 

The attorney representing online merchant Hard 2 Find Accessories Inc. in a lawsuit against Amazon.com and Apple told EcommerceBytes the two companies were served on July 3, and the next step is up to them. Matthew Crotty of Crotty & Son Law Firm confirmed that the seller had included an antitrust claim, among others, in the complaint, and said Apple and Amazon would likely either answer the complaint or move to dismiss it. Hard 2 Find Accessories filed the lawsuit against the companies after Amazon suspended his account due to takedown notices filed by Apple. 

Amazon.com says it's prepared to go to court against the Federal Trade Commission to defend itself against charges that it hasn't done enough to prevent children from making unauthorized in-app purchases. The FTC alleged in a draft lawsuit released by Amazon that unauthorized charges by children on Amazon tablets have amounted to millions of dollars. Amazon said in a letter Tuesday to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez that it had already refunded money to parents who complained.

J.C. Penney appealed a New York state court ruling Monday that found it had interfered with a contract between Macy's and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia by selling the celebrity's home goods, according to a filing. J.C. Penney's lawyer Martin Edel confirmed the case had been appealed but declined to comment. Retail spokesmen at each company weren't immediately available for comment. Macy's sued J.C. Penney in 2012 for breaching a deal that guaranteed exclusive rights to sell cookware, bedding and bath products from Martha Stewart Living.

The contract that keeps thousands of dockworkers on the job at ports from San Diego to Seattle expired Tuesday afternoon, but both sides pledged to continue negotiations without a disruption in the billions of dollars of trade that crosses the West Coast waterfront. The union which represents dockworkers and the association which represents shipping lines and terminal operators at 29 ports issued a joint statement saying that while the current six-year contract won't be extended, both sides will keep talking — and working.

American Apparel is suddenly facing a cash crunch. A key lender to the embattled clothing company on Thursday demanded repayment of a $10 million loan, threatening a liquidity crisis for the retailer on the heels of its ouster of CEO Dov Charney, The Post has learned. Lion Capital, a UK-based investment firm that has been friendly to Charney, denied a waiver on the default triggered by the executive's dismissal, forcing American Apparel to raise funds to pay it off - either b

Amazon.com drones aren't taking off anytime soon — at least not until the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says otherwise. On Monday, in a document inviting public comment on drone policy, the FAA clarified that delivering packages using a drone isn't legal. The agency didn't mention Amazon in the document specifically, but the FAA seemed to suggest that Amazon — like every other business — falls under its regulations which, it says, already prohibits the commercial use of drones.

Brookstone, the luxury-gadget retailer, won bankruptcy court approval of its plan to sell the chain to a group of Chinese buyers for about $174 million that will be used to pay creditors. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Linehan Shannon yesterday in Wilmington, Delaware, approved the sale to a company backed by the Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group and the Hong Kong-based private equity firm Sailing Capital. The sale is the cornerstone of the retailer's bankruptcy exit plan, also approved today. "Today marks a new chapter in Brookstone's history," CEO Jim Speltz said in an emailed statement. 

Over at lululemon, it looks like there's a civil war brewing. On one side: Chip Wilson, the yoga retailer's founder, largest shareholder (with a 27 percent stake in the company), former CEO and up until last month, chairman. On the other: the company's current board, led by newly inducted chairman Michael Casey. Events came to a head two weeks ago when, just hours before the company's annual shareholder's meeting, Wilson announced that he was voting against the election of two outside board members (including Casey), citing concerns that the board was sacrificing long-term corporate goals for short-term results.