Latest Retail Headlines

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

Ex-CEO, 7 Other Execs Blamed for $7.4B Accounting Fraud at S. Africa Retailer Steinhoff

Mar 19 2019 // Former Steinhoff Chief Executive Markus Jooste and seven others were involved in a 6.5 billion euro ($7.4 billion) accounting fraud at the South African retailer, the new CEO said told lawmakers on Tuesday.Steinhoff said...

Walmart’s Stills Named to RIMS 2019 Risk Management Honor Roll

Mar 7 2019 // David Stills, vice president, Global Risk Management at Arkansas-based Walmart Inc. has been named to the Risk Management Honor Roll by RIMS, the risk management society.Stills leads a team of over 550 risk management and...

Woman Injured at West Virginia Walmart Awarded Nearly $17M

Mar 7 2019 // A jury in West Virginia has returned a nearly $17 million verdict after a woman was injured when staffers tried to detain a shoplifter in Walmart.Jurors in Wood County, West Virginia, issued the verdict Monday. A lawyer...

Companies Still Learning About Fire Risks Around Robots

Mar 6 2019 // The Andover fire brigade was alerted at 2.34 a.m. About 2 miles across town, a fire had broken out in the early hours of Feb. 5 at a state-of-the-art Ocado Group Plc warehouse. Within minutes, firefighters were tackling a...

Gun Retailer Sued by Families of Texas Church Shooting Victims

Mar 4 2019 // Family members of victims of a Texas church shooting are suing a sporting goods chain that sold the weapons used in the 2017 massacre. The lawsuit filed in state district court in San Antonio alleges Academy Sports &...

UK Online Grocer Ocado Learns Lessons About Robotic Warehouses After Massive Fire

Mar 4 2019 // The Andover fire brigade was alerted at 2.34 a.m. About 2 miles across town, a fire had broken out in the early hours of Feb. 5 at a state-of-the-art Ocado Group Plc warehouse. Within minutes, firefighters were tackling a...

Things to Consider When Charging Broker Fees

Feb 18 2019 // A broker fee is a fee in addition to premium and commission that is charged by retail and wholesale insurance brokers and that ultimately is paid by the insurance buyer. Such fees are subject to two overriding rules: (1)...

Big deals

Feb 4 2019 // Marsh/JLT, Brown & Brown/Hays Topped 2018 P/C Agency MergersA handful of big deals dominated the very busy property/casualty insurance agency and broker merger news cycle for 2018. Based on Insurance Journal reporting,...

Brightway Goes ‘All In’ on Independent Agents, Unveils No-Cost Path to Agency Ownership

Jan 21 2019 // On the heels of celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Jacksonville, Fla.-based Brightway Insurance, a national property/casualty insurance retailer selling through a network of franchised independent agencies, has unveiled...

Brightway Goes ‘All In’ on Independent Agents, Unveils No-Cost Path to Agency Ownership

Jan 10 2019 // On the heels of celebrating its 10-year anniversary, Jacksonville, Fla.-based Brightway Insurance, a national property/casualty insurance retailer selling through a network of franchised independent agencies, has unveiled...

Charman Promoted to CEO, Sompo Holdings Overseas Insurance; Frudd Named Int’l CEO

Dec 19 2018 // Sompo International Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, announced that John Charman, currently chairman of the board of directors and chief executive...

Toy Wars: Lego Sues to Halt Sales of Zuru ‘Copycat’ Figurines at Walmart

Dec 14 2018 // Lego A/S wants to make sure any plastic toy figurine unwrapped in an American home during the holidays isn’t what the toymaker calls a copycat of its own products.The Danish toymaker is asking a federal judge in...

Patrick Ryan Hails Program Business Amid Retail Consolidation, Moves Toward MGAs

Nov 8 2018 // Insurance industry trailblazer Patrick Ryan thinks the insurance program business could be headed for interesting times given recent consolidation in the retail insurance agency sector, an influx of capital and the recent...

U.S. Lawsuit Accuses Walmart of Bias Against Pregnant Employees

Nov 5 2018 // Walmart is again being accused of violating federal law by failing to accommodate workers’ pregnancy-related medical restrictions.According to a lawsuit that was brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity...

Walmart Paying $65M to Settle California Suit Over Seating For Cashiers

Oct 12 2018 // Walmart Inc. has agreed to pay $65 million to nearly 100,000 current and former cashiers in California who accused the retailer of violating state law by refusing to provide them with seating while they worked.Walmart...

Oregon Department Store Sued over Camera Pointed at Dressing Room

Oct 11 2018 // A Fred Meyer customer in Clackamas, Ore. who says she was caught on store video while half-naked in a dressing room has filed a $300,000 lawsuit.The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Carlee Gish filed the lawsuit against the...

How New Business Is Creating a New Wholesaler-Retailer Relationship

Oct 2 2018 // An influx of new business is presenting surplus lines wholesalers and their retail partners with new opportunities to work together even as other forces are changing how they work together.The surplus lines insurance...

Walmart Ready to Mandate Blockchain for Certain Food Suppliers

Sep 27 2018 // After several years of tests, Walmart Inc. is ready to mandate use of blockchain technology by a swath of its U.S. suppliers, marking one of its biggest commercial uses.Starting in September 2019, Walmart and its...

U.S. Lawsuit Accuses Walmart of Bias Against Pregnant Employees

Sep 24 2018 // Walmart is again being accused of violating federal law by failing to accommodate workers’ pregnancy-related medical restrictions.According to a lawsuit brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...

Managing the Retail Agent’s Risk in Surplus Lines

Sep 17 2018 // While it is common for retail agents to turn to E&S wholesalers for help, there are several reasons they should carefully consider which wholesalerto call upon and how they submit business, according to Bobbie Duke,...