Legal

At Home, a popular home goods retailer with 260 stores across 40 U.S. states, has filed for bankruptcy, citing the backdrop of tariff increases and a slowdown in consumer spending. The Dallas-based company announced Monday that it had entered an agreement with its lenders that “will eliminate substantially all” of its roughly $2 billion in debt and…

Regulators have increased their focus on addressing workplace violence risks, including some with particular attention to risks associated with retail employers. Retailers from New York to California should monitor continued developments within state legislatures and adjust their workplace policies to account for these rules — new and old. California now requires virtually all employers in…

Skechers has agreed to be taken private by 3G Capital for $9.42 billion in the footwear industry's biggest buyout to date, reports Reuters. The popular shoe brand is exiting public markets after 26 years as it grapples with the impact of steep U.S. tariffs. Investment firm 3G Capital has offered $63 per Skechers share in…

Rite Aid on Monday announced it's filing for bankruptcy for a second time, barely just seven months after the retailer exited Chapter 11 and emerged as a private company. The financially strapped drug store chain said it's looking for a buyer, and re-filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will help facilitate that process. Rite Aid…

Global retailers face constant whiplash as countries adjust their value-added tax (VAT) regulations, complicating cross-border operations. Recent updates — including zero-dollar VAT thresholds in Indonesia and the Philippines and revisions to the European Union’s Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) — demand urgent attention. These unpredictable changes create more than administrative burdens. When customers encounter unexpected VAT…

On Feb. 12, Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), the new chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, together with his vice chairman, Rep. John Joyce (R-PA), announced the creation of the Committee's data privacy working group (PWG) “to bring members and stakeholders together to explore a framework for legislation that can get across…

Much has been written — including by me in this publication one year ago — about the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) 2023 attempt to make it easier for two companies to be considered joint employers. Instead of requiring one company to have direct and significant control over a worker, the new rule would have…

Later this year, the New York Fashion Workers Act will go into effect on June 19. The Fashion Workers Act requires model management companies to register their businesses and imposes several duties and responsibilities on both model management companies and clients related to work with models in New York. Who is Covered by the Act…

The word loophole often conjures a slightly negative image of closed-door lobbying efforts and provisions slipped into law a few years ago to favor a special interest. This is far from the case when it comes to de minimis, at least until recently. The de minimis law promotes trade and lowers barriers to global commerce…

Liberated Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection over the weekend and is looking to shutter its U.S. retail stores where it sold brands like Quiksilver, Billabong, and Volcom. The company said in a Monday press release that it filed for bankruptcy to "implement an orderly monetization and disposition of its businesses." It submitted a…