The FaceFirst team gathered at the Los Angeles headquarters for a
strategic growth meeting and team-building dinner last week.
 

Left to right (seated): Jason DeVinney, Dwayne Healy, Rachel Sever, Dyan Clancy, Lora Mekikian, Peter Trepp, Cory Wilson, John Powers, Ross Haimson, Dara Riordan

Left to right (standing): Jeff Ready, Michelle Tutino, Roger Angarita, Gary Brown
 

Left to right: Gary Brown, Roger Angarita, Dwayne Healy, Ross Haimson, Michelle Tutino, John Powers, Rachel Sever, Dara Riordan, Dyan Clancy, Lora Mekikian, Cory Wilson, Jeff Ready, Jason DeVinney

 

Coronavirus Update

Nationwide Store Closures - Restaurants Shut Down - Panic Shopping
 

Coronavirus Map: March 16 Update

US: 3,927 Cases, 68 Dead -- Globally: 173,800 Cases, 7,281 Dead

Retailers announce temporary nationwide store closures or reduced hours in historic, unprecedented move to prevent the spread of coronavirus

Major retailers across the U.S. are shutting down their stores or reducing hours in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The decisions, while smart for customers, workers and the community at large, will no doubt weigh heavily on the already-stressed retail industry. One analyst has estimated this could result in a record year for permanent retail store closures, which could mount to over 15,000.

Public health officials have asked people to refrain from large gatherings to help stem the spread of the virus. They say the virus can be spread from person-to-person when they are in close contact with one another, often through respiratory droplets emitted when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Researchers say the virus can live on surfaces for several days. For this reason, retailers that remain open have stepped up cleaning measures.

Jefferies analyst Randal Konick said he expects to see more retailers close stores, and if they don't, they likely will see little demand as malls become ghost towns.

"With stores accounting for 75% of sales for most retailers, we anticipate massive EPS declines for 1Q, especially as most retailers appear to be paying employees during the 2 week closures," Konick wrote in a research note.

In Italy and France, where COVID-19 cases have been rising rapidly, all non-essential retail has been ordered to be shut down to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Below is a list of retailers that have made announcements so far. This list is being updated daily as new announcements come in: (cnbc.com)

Shelves Are Empty -- When Will They Be Restocked?

If stores cut hours excessively or if hourly employees like shelf stockers or cashiers self-quarantine and don't show up for work, lines could grow, a retail consultant said.

Stores are racing to replenish depleted shelves and to calm shoppers anxiously preparing for coronavirus disruptions, but they are having trouble meeting the heightened demand.

"Hand sanitizer is going to be very difficult to have 100 percent on stock on for some time," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said at a White House news conference Friday. "We're still replenishing it and shipping it, but as soon as it hits the stores, it's going."

McMillon said a stressed supply chain was responsible for the racks bare of paper products, water and cleaning supplies. Retailers are rerouting supplies to areas of the country that need it most. To prevent hoarding, they're applying or giving store managers power to set limits on the number of specific items a customer can buy in a single trip.

Some stores said they'd been preparing for the possibility that the outbreak could lead to more buying and were poised to switch to additional supply options and modified operations. nbcnews.com

Grocers Fail to Keep Up With Demand as Coronavirus Pandemic Spreads

Kroger says two workers test positive for the virus; Walmart, others adjust hours to restock

U.S. grocers are adjusting their operations to try to keep up with customers who are emptying their shelves amid angst over the new coronavirus, even as their own employees face heightened risk of infection.

Across the country, lines to get into stores snaked around corners, checkout times stretched as long as an hour and whole aisles were rendered bare this week as companies told more workers to stay home and schools began to cancel classes.

President Trump on Sunday held a conference call with more than two dozen grocery and supply chain executives, including those from Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp., Sysco Corp. and Tyson Foods Inc.

Kroger Co. Chief Executive Rodney McMullen wrote in a memo to employees on Sunday that a worker in Colorado and another in Washington tested positive for Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. He said the stores will remain open and that the nation's biggest supermarket chain would give paid time off to workers diagnosed with Covid-19 and those placed under mandatory quarantine.

Some retailers added security in their stores. Target said it has increased off-duty police presence in some stores and Costco said it is adding additional security at a handful of locations. wsj.com

Walmart, Target, CVS, and Walgreens to offer drive-through coronavirus testing
Walmart, Target, and pharmacy giants Walgreens and CVS Health will play a central role in the U.S. government's plan to make COVID-19 tests accessible across the country as the outbreak of the illness worsens.

The CEOs of the four retailers, along with their peers from a number of healthcare companies, stood on Friday afternoon in the Rose Garden as President Trump announced a plan to widely expand the availability of tests for the coronavirus. The administration recruited a number of health companies to produce more tests at a faster pace, and, thanks to their massive store fleets across the country, the four retailers as test centers.

Walmart, which operates some 4,600 stores in the United States, will make parts of some of its parking lots available for drive-through testing. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said his company would add more of its parking lots as the availability of the test grows. Walmart's lots have often served as staging areas during emergencies, most notably after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Target, which has 1,800 stores, will do the same. CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens, which operate about 10,000 locations across the U.S. will also take part. fortune.com

Business leaders commit to fight
More than 850 business leaders and public figures have signed a pledge to help fight the spread of coronavirus. The letter, co-authored by Guild Education's Rachel Carlson and General Catalyst's Ken Chenault, asks businesses to adopt work-from-home policies, support frontline workers and more. medium.com

Growing number of states ban dining in at restaurants, bars
While the federal government weighs closing restaurants and bars amid the coronavirus outbreak, restaurant companies and at least 11 states are already closing dining rooms. Photos of Americans in restaurants and bars circulated on social media over the weekend, leading many to call for mandated closures to enforce "social distancing."

Starbucks and Chick-fil-A, two of the three biggest U.S. restaurant chains by sales, are only letting customers receive their food and drinks to go. Both said Sunday that they will pause the use of seating in their restaurants.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has placed restrictions on restaurants in five counties within the state. Governors in California, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Illinois, Rhode Island, Maryland and Washington have all announced polices that place restrictions on restaurants and bars. Affected consumers will have to receive their orders for takeout or curbside pick-up or via delivery or drive-thru lanes. cnbc.com

Screening chaos at major US airports
Airports nationwide were thrown into chaos this weekend as workers scrambled to roll out the Trump administration's hastily arranged health screenings for travelers returning from Europe. Scores of anxious passengers said they encountered jam-packed terminals, long lines and hours of delays as flights from more than two dozen European countries were routed through 13 of the busiest travel hubs in the United States. Airport workers queried them about their health and instructed them to self-quarantine as part of the "enhanced entry screenings" announced Friday to slow the spread of the coronavirus. washingtonpost.com

Travel industry hammered by crisis
As corporate travel and vacation activity comes to a standstill, the travel industry is reeling, The Wall Street Journal writes. Tour organizations, airlines, hotel groups and cruise companies are under siege as customers seek refunds. Hotel companies that had already previously slashed room rates as the coronavirus outbreak unfolded are now heavily cutting staff numbers. U.S. airlines are drastically reducing flights, with United axing 50% of flights in April and May. The beleaguered $38 billion cruise ship industry has also committed to an "unprecedented shutdown." linkedin.com

NRF/RILA Joint Statement: Retailer leaders issue statement on responsible shopping
during COVID-19 pandemic

NRF: Retailers step up to support COVID-19 response

RILA: Leading Retailers Step Up to Partner on COVID-19 Testing

FMI: COVID-19 Challenges Supply Chain, but Reinforces Trading Partner Relationships

Huge lines in gun stores across America as country panic-buys weapons

Disney to Close All North American Stores Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Large King of Prussia mall closes amid coronavirus concerns

From Walmart to Starbucks, these 12 retail companies are changing their benefits policies

Uber Eats waives off delivery fee for independent restaurants amid virus outbreak

Out-of-stocks surge at Amazon amid panicked shopping

Factories make production changes to address massive out-of-stocks in stores

Retail sales in China dropped by 20.5% after coronavirus hit

UK: Supermarkets issue joint warning over panic buying as shoppers leave shelves bare

Australia sets aside hours for elderly to shop in supermarkets

German grocer recruits students to help restock shelves left empty by panic buying

TSA now allowing up to 12 ounces of hand sanitizer through airport security

Microsoft Bing team launches COVID-19 tracker


ISC West 2020 Rescheduled to July 20-22
Originally scheduled to take place in March, ISC West 2020 was pushed back to July due to rising concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus.
 

2nd Annual Midwest LP Conference Canceled Originally scheduled for May 20 at the University of Indianapolis, the 2nd Annual Midwest LP Conference has been canceled.

NYPD issues policy on facial recognition software after nearly a decade of use
The NYPD has issued its first detailed public policy on how cops use facial recognition to fight crime in the Big Apple - after using the controversial technology for nearly a decade.

"It's incumbent upon us to get out there and tell our story to inform the public to inform and quite frankly legislators, that this is how we use this technology," Police Commissioner Dermot Shea told The Post Thursday.

The department has embraced the tech - creating its own dedicated Facial Identification Section staffed with nearly a dozen cops - since it tapped the digital tool for policing in 2011.

Pro-policing experts have lauded the face-scanning software as a boon for law enforcement - with some recent high-profile successes.

But the NYPD's new-age tool has faced backlash from privacy advocates over the lack of a comprehensive public policy - and a proposed statewide ban after a few dozen cops were said to be using controversial third-party facial-recognition software on their private phones. nypost.com

Amazon Courts Walmart, Target to Join Cashierless Tech Group
Amazon.com Inc. is trying to interest the nation's largest retailers in collaborating on the technology behind cashierless stores. So far, they aren't sold.

Amazon is making some of the software that underpins its "Go" stores available through an organization called Dent, which has had talks with officials at Walmart Inc. and Target Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

The talks are continuing, the people said, but neither retailer currently plans to participate, according to a person close to Target and a Walmart spokesman.

The talks highlight Amazon's ambition to have other retailers adopt its technology, and the interest of retailers like Walmart and Target in modernizing their stores with cheaper, faster networking technology and more automation and data-driven decision-making. The Go technology, in addition to cashierless purchasing, also provides automated inventory management.

Amazon faces an uphill battle in winning over retailers, which for years have viewed the Seattle-based company as a threat. Walmart, for instance, has asked some of its traditional vendors not to use Amazon's cloud-computing services to avoid giving a competitor more financial muscle. Other retailers also have tried to avoid using Amazon's data storage and computing services. wsj.com

Five retailers have filed for bankruptcy in 2020 so far
Last year sent 17 major retailers into bankruptcy. For some - including Payless, Gymboree and Charming Charlie —​ it was their second trip to court. Bankruptcy also proved fatal for more retailers in 2019, as liquidations increased. Inside and outside of bankruptcy, retailers closed more than 9,000 stores.

This is all to say that, while retail sales on the whole increase and the strong players become ever stronger, there are still many ailing retailers and sectors. The forces that pushed dozens of retailers into bankruptcy over the last four years or so are still present.

Here is a closer look at the major retail bankruptcies of 2020 so far: retaildive.com

• Modell's Sporting Goods (March 11)
• Art Van Furniture (March 9)
• Bluestem Brands (March 9)
• Pier 1 (Feb. 17)
• SFP Franchise Corp (Jan. 23)

French antitrust regulator fines Apple record $1.2 billion
France's competition watchdog on Monday fined iPhone maker Apple 1.1 billion euros ($1.23 billion), saying it was guilty of anti-competitive behavior towards its distribution and retail network. The fine, the biggest ever levied by the French antitrust body, comes at a time of heightened scrutiny on U.S. tech giants by European regulators, who have been delving into the firms' powerful market position, the tax they pay, and how they protect consumers' privacy. reuters.com
 

Last week's #1 article --

11 Security Officers in 4 States Test Positive For Coronavirus
Currently, 11 security officers working in four states have tested positive for the Coronavirus.

These include three TSA security officers, a school security officer, two New York City security officers including one working at a Broadway theater and a special police officer.

Security officers often work with the public and in large venues, which makes them more susceptible to contracting the virus. Officers should consider using a protective mask, and gloves when working with large crowds such as concerts, sporting events and conferences.  Source: PrivateOfficer.org
 

$30M BEC Bust Brings Down Dozens

Two dozen individuals have been named in the latest arrests of alleged participants in a business email compromise scheme that cost victims $30 million.

Federal officials have arrested two dozen individuals on charges related to a series of business email compromise (BEC) fraud and money-laundering schemes. The individuals, most of whom live in or around Atlanta, are alleged to have committed fraud against individuals and companies using BEC schemes, romance fraud scams, and retirement account scams, among others.

According to a statement released by the Justice Department, those arrested this week join 17 individuals already in federal custody as charged in the series of alleged crimes. The department says that those charged collected more than $30 million from their victims, laundering the money through accounts often opened in victims' names and used to both defraud the victim and launder the criminal proceeds.

More than two dozen local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation of the defendants. justice.gov

Princess Cruises, hobbled by the coronavirus, admits data breach
- 10 months after learning of it
Princess Cruises, the cruise liner forced to halt its global operations after two of its ships confirmed on-board outbreaks of the coronavirus, has now confirmed a data breach.

The notice posted on its website, believed to have been posted in early March, said the company detected unauthorized access to a number of its email accounts over a four-month period between April and July 2019, some of which contained personal information on its employees, crew and guests.

Princess said names, addresses, Social Security numbers and government IDs - such as passport numbers and driver license numbers - may have been accessed, along with financial and health information. But, the cruise liner said, the potentially impacted data is "not specific" to each guest.

Princess said it discovered the suspicious activity on its network in May 2019. It's not known why it took almost a year for the cruise liner to disclose the breach. techcrunch.com

Eight million EU retail sales records exposed on Amazon Web Services database
A database hosed on Amazon Web Services holding eight million retail sales records from the European Union was left exposed compromising customer personal and financial information.

The open MongoDB database had no password or other authentication set. It was operated by a third-party vendor who pulled sales data from a range of retailers, including Amazon UK, Ebay, Shopify, PayPal and Stripe in order to calculate value-added taxes for different countries. The information left unprotected included customer names, email addresses, shipping addresses, purchases and the last four digits of credit card numbers. scmagazine.com

Cybersecurity Response to the California Consumer Privacy Act

85% of companies aren't fully compliant

2020 is here and companies that fall under CCPA requirements need to take immediate actionable steps now. While many companies are aware that they are subject to the law, 85 percent say they have only partially implemented policies to comply or have done nothing to prepare, according to a recent poll conducted by cybersecurity management software provider, Apptega.

Non-compliant businesses will not only face hefty fees but potentially adverse impacts to their brand, a loss of customers and negative PR. What's even more concerning is many companies don't know what data they even have on individuals or what they are doing with it.

Who Does CCPA Impact?
CCPA has far-reaching impacts on many businesses and business activities. Many of the impacted parties were not formerly subject to US privacy rules and regulations. Contrary to what the name might suggest, the law is not limited to companies with a physical operation in California. Instead, it applies to any for-profit entity that meets the following criteria:

• Has a gross annual revenue of $25 million or more.

• Annually purchases or receives for commercial purposes, or sells or shares for commercial purposes, personal information for 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices in the state of California.

• Or generates 50 percent or more of their annual gross revenue from selling personal information.

Impact to Companies that Handle Data
CCPA poses additional personal information concerns for companies that handle data. These include:

• CCPA requires companies with joint partnerships or who are sharing emails with third parties to comply with the same regulations

• CCPA-mandated companies have to allow users to opt-out and must offer several notification methods

• CCPA-mandated companies cannot discriminate against users who choose to opt-out of the sale of information

Understanding Recent Amendments to CCPA - Tips to Comply to CCPA securitymagazine.com