Latest Retail Headlines

All the headlines from our Retail Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Court Hears Michigan Wal-Mart Medical Marijuana Firing Case

Nov 15 2010 // A federal judge on Friday heard arguments in the case of a medical marijuana user claiming a Michigan Wal-Mart store wrongfully fired him after testing positive for the drug.U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand...

ACE UK Launches Retail Sector Risk Management ‘Self Assessment Tool’

Sep 30 2010 // ACE UK has launched a self assessment tool for its clients in the retail sector to enable them to gather detailed risk information from multiple sites and to compare these against best practice benchmarks for a range of...

Wal-Mart Asks Supreme Court to Nix Massive Sex Bias Lawsuit

Aug 25 2010 // The world’s largest retailer has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a mammoth sex-discrimination case brought by its women workers, according to a Wednesday court filing.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is appealing an April...

As the Wholesale World Turns

Jul 19 2010 // As goes the circle of life, so goes the wholesale insurance broker world. Not even the sixth year of a soft market cycle has deterred industry veterans from launching new wholesale businesses or creating larger ones. Many...

How to Make Agent-Wholesale Relationships Work

Jul 16 2010 // It’s no secret. Insurance is a relationship business. And the agent-wholesale broker relationship is no exception. The continued soft market hasn’t stifled relationships either. Wholesale brokers are still a...

Hit a Home Run with Wholesalers

Jul 5 2010 // It’s no secret. Insurance is a relationship business. And the agent-wholesale broker relationship is no exception. The continued soft market hasn’t stifled relationships either. Wholesale brokers are still a...

Michigan Man, Fired for Legal Pot Smoking, Sues Wal-Mart

Jul 2 2010 // A Michigan man has sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for firing him after he tested positive for medical marijuana he was using legally to treat pain from an inoperable brain tumor and sinus cancer.Joseph Casias, 30, said he was...

Federal Court Strikes Blow to Wal-Mart in Sex Discrimination Suit

Apr 27 2010 // A landmark sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may proceed as a class-action case, a federal appeals court said, dealing the retailer a major blow and exposing it to billions of dollars of potential...

The Rollercoaster of M&A

Apr 19 2010 // January deal activity started out strong but continued to decline in February and further in March. Nonetheless, first quarter merger and acquisition (M&A) activity bested last year’s first quarter performance...

Brown & Brown Elects Bridges Western Regional President

Apr 6 2010 // The Board of Directors of Brown & Brown Inc. has elected C. Roy Bridges regional president responsible for most of the company’s retail operations in the western United States. He will continue to have regional...

Florida’s Market and How Surplus Lines Agents Are Faring

Mar 19 2010 // Hurricane Andrew, for all of the grief it delivered, gave wholesale broker Hull & Co. and Bruce Bowers a big opportunity.“Prior to ’92, there wasn’t much of a need for personal lines in the excess and...

State of Challenge: How Florida’s Surplus Lines Agents Are Faring

Mar 7 2010 // Interview with FSLA President Bruce BowersHurricane Andrew, for all of the grief it delivered, gave wholesale broker Hull & Co. and Bruce Bowers a big opportunity. “Prior to ’92, there wasn’t much of...

Wal-Mart to Pay $11.7 Million to Settle U.S. Gender Bias Lawsuit

Mar 3 2010 // Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will pay more than $11.7 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency said.The lawsuit accused the world’s largest...

Kentucky Court to Wal-Mart: Pay Workers’ Comp to Employee Who Sued

Feb 24 2010 // Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has lost its bid to deny workers compensation benefits to an employee who also received a $900,000 civil award from two third parties.The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruling on Feb. 19 in Wal-Mart Stores...

M&A Activity at Decade Lows

Feb 21 2010 // Leading into 2009, agencies were at a crossroads; uncertain of whether to sell, buy, or implement new or improved organic growth strategies. The path was uncertain, but it was widely believed that market, economic and...

Dispelling the Myth That Wholesalers Add Cost

Feb 21 2010 // Your current retail broker is using a wholesaler and it’s adding to the cost of business. We can reduce your costs by eliminating the wholesaler.” How many times have retail agents and brokers said this when...

Fremont Insurance Endorsed by Michigan Retailers Association

Feb 8 2010 // Fremont Insurance, a Michigan-exclusive property and casualty insurance carrier, has been named as the endorsed insurer of the Michigan Retailers Association (MRA). This is the second consecutive year that Fremont has been...

Chartis Introduces New Umbrella Program for Retail Industry

Jan 25 2010 // Chartis expanded its XSEnhanced commercial umbrella program to include the retail industry. XSEnhanced Retail is the second product in the XSEnhanced suite of industry-specific commercial umbrella coverages developed by...

California Warns Major Retailers about Products with Lead

Nov 17 2009 // California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. sent a letter last week to six major retailers, warning them that a number of children’s products on their store shelves were found to contain “illegal levels of...

California’s Edgewood Partners Names New Principal

Oct 20 2009 // Edgewood Partners Insurance Center, a retail property, casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage, has appointed Joe Vineis as principal in its San Francisco Office.Vineis brings more than 20 years of experience in...