Legal

The security of online payment has been put under the spotlight with the news that the Lush.co.uk e-commerce website has been taken down following attacks by hackers. Experts say it seems the site was "riddled with vulnerabilities."

To persuade Amazon.com to build a distribution hub in Tennessee, state and local officials offered a package of economic incentives that included free land, job-training assistance and more than $12 million in property tax breaks.

Four months after Texas officials told Amazon.com Inc. that it owes $269 million in uncollected sales taxes, the online retail giant has filed a lawsuit demanding that the comptroller's office release the audit information it used in arriving at that amount.

After more than 30 years as a specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories for the teenage and young adult markets, Anchor Blue is closing all 117 stores. Store-closing sales began on Jan. 7 and will continue until all merchandise and store fixtures are sold.

J.Crew received no rival bid during a solicitation period and will stick with its nearly $3 billion buyout offer made by two private equity firms in November, according to Reuters. J.Crew agreed to be taken private by the two firms.

Apparel retailer Anchor Blue has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than two years. Although the filing is a repeat for the retailer, it's a first for the industry: it's the first bankruptcy filing of 2011.

According to an article published this week by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, organized retail crime, which includes merchandise theft, credit card fraud, gift card fraud and price tag switching, costs the U.S. about $30 billion a year.

While Barnes & Noble touts stellar holiday sales, rival Borders continues to teeter on the verge of a bankruptcy filing. Widespread reports indicate Borders CEO Mike Edwards is meeting with publishers in New York this week to get their sign off on a plan to refinance debt and suspend payments. In response, one major distributor, the National Book Network, said it will suspend book shipments to the retailer. 
 

Several sellers filed an antitrust lawsuit against eBay last week over its Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR) feedback policy instituted in 2008. The lawsuit alleges that eBay's DSR policy restrains competition between sellers within the online auctions market to the financial benefit of eBay, and it says the policy "undermines the ability of small auction sellers to compete with larger sellers."

Discount apparel retailer Loehmann’s is seeking bankruptcy protection after it failed to reach a debt-extension deal with creditors.