Coronavirus Update: April 30

US: Nearly 1.1 Million Cases - 62K Dead - 148K Recovered
Worldwide: Over 3.2 Million Cases - 230K Dead - 1M Recovered

U.S. Law Enforcement Deaths | NYPD Deaths: 37
Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 82+
 

What will retail look like if half of department stores close?
Many department stores and malls were struggling well before most Americans became familiar with the term coronavirus. A new report, however, says that the situation is in the process of going from bad to worse with a dire forecast for both retailers and landlords.

More than 50 percent of department stores in malls across the country will be shuttered by the end of next year, according to a recent Green Street Advisors webinar. Around 60 percent of U.S. malls currently have department store anchors.

"A lot of the disruption we were expecting to see over the next five to 10 years, is being pulled forward to the next two years," said Vince Tibone, senior analyst, retail at the commercial real estate advisory firm.

Department store operators with high debt levels (Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney) are most frequently mentioned as candidates for bankruptcy, while even those typically considered to be in stronger financial positions (Macy's and Nordstrom) are struggling in the face of mass store closures.

One of the possible "knock-ons" that Mr. Tibone sees from anchor stores closing is that it will trigger co-tenancy clauses in lease deals with other retailers operating in malls. These provide non-anchor tenants with rent relief or a lease opt-out in the case of anchor space going unfilled for an extended period of time. retailwire.com

Bleak Forecast From Forrester:
It will take 4 years for retail to recover from COVID-19
Global retail sales to fall 9.6% in 2020
Global retail sales will fall by an average of 9.6% in 2020 because of the coronavirus crisis, representing a loss of $2.1 trillion, research firm Forrester said on Thursday, predicting that it will take four years to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

"Retail categories like grocery and essential consumables are performing well, while other categories like fashion, beauty and cosmetics are seeing a marked decline in consumer spend," said Forrester analyst Michael O'Grady.

Forrester predicted that non-grocery sales from stores will fall 20% in 2020, for a loss of $360 billion from the company's pre-coronavirus forecasts for growth, with online sales remaining flat.

The crisis will speed the shift to e-commerce, it said. By 2024 Forrester expects a third of non-grocery spending to be online and grocery retailing to have more than doubled its online share. reuters.com
 

Trump administration blacklists 5 overseas Amazon websites
as 'notorious markets' - and Amazon says it's political bullying

Amazon touts its $500M, 8,000 employee investment in anti-counterfeit measures

The Trump administration has added five of Amazon's overseas domains to a "notorious markets" register, in what's become a fraught few months for the tech giant. The US trade representative's office says the websites - serving the UK, Germany, France, India, and Canada - facilitate the sale of counterfeit and pirated products.

It says it received complaints from US businesses that the five overseas websites didn't provide clear information about sellers, and that the process to remove platforms selling counterfeit goods was "lengthy and burdensome."

The notorious markets register is a list of markets that are reported to "engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy." It includes both physical markets, such as malls or open-air stalls, as well as online platforms such as Amazon.

Though the notorious markets register does not bestow legal consequences on Amazon, it does draw negative attention to the company at a time when it's already under scrutiny for its handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the blacklisting was a "political act" driven by "a personal vendetta against Amazon."

Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos have repeatedly clashed with Trump and his administration. Bezos owns The Washington Post, and Trump has often baselessly claimed that the newspaper is a lobbying tool for the online retail giant. Amazon is also suing the government after the Pentagon handed a $10 billion defense contract to Microsoft, claiming the decision was motivated by Trump's bias against the company and Bezos.

It also described itself as an "active, engaged stakeholder in the fight against counterfeit."

"In 2019 alone, we invested over $500 million and have more than 8,000 employees protecting our store from fraud and abuse. We also stopped over 2.5 million suspected bad actors from opening Amazon selling accounts before they published a single listing for sale, blocking more than 6 billion suspected bad listings before they were published to our stores." businessinsider.com

New York AG raises concerns about Amazon's pandemic safety practices
Amazon.com Inc may have violated safety measures and labor practices amid the coronavirus pandemic as it fired a warehouse protest leader last month, New York Attorney General Letitia James's office wrote in a letter to the company last week.

"Amazon's health and safety measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are so inadequate that they may violate several provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act," James's office wrote in the letter, whose content was shared by a source familiar with the letter on Monday.

Amazon terminated Christian Smalls, a critic of the company's warehouse conditions in the pandemic, on grounds that he put others at risk by violating his paid quarantine when he joined a demonstration at Amazon's Staten Island, New York, fulfillment center. reuters.com

Historic Mass Strike Planned For Tomorrow, May 1
An unprecedented coalition of Amazon, Walmart, FedEx, Target, Instacart, & Whole Foods workers is planning to strike over pandemic working conditions
Frontline workers at some of the biggest corporations in the country say they will walk off the job on May 1 to protest their employers' failure to provide basic protections for frontline workers who are risking and losing their lives at work. Meanwhile, these same companies are making record profits.

In a flyer circulated widely on social media, organizers of the so-called "May Day General Strike" implore customers to boycott Whole Foods, Amazon, Target, and Instacart on May 1.

Since the pandemic broke out, retail, warehouse and gig workers have coalesced around a similar list of demands: personal protective gear, health care benefits, paid leave, and hazard pay - making it natural for them to coordinate a mass action. vice.com

 

Security Partners closes 2nd central station after operator
tests positive for coronavirus

Monitoring company relies on triple redundancy during five-day shutdown of San Antonio, TX center, and temporary shutdown of Lancaster, PA site.

Based in Lancaster, PA, one of the hardest hit counties being in such close proximity to New York, Security Partners LLC had what any company would consider its worst fear come true: An employee working at one of its three central stations had tested positive for coronavirus.

"We were hit hard and we feel it's important to share and talk about it, rather than hide behind this virus," Security Partners Owner and CEO Patrick Egan told Security Systems News. "We also wanted to talk about having the right plans and policies in place for your employees, including getting people to think about the importance of having redundancy during this unprecedented time." securitysystemsnews.com

Brentwood, NY: 7-Eleven franchisee pleads guilty to harboring illegal immigrants
Following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and subsequent prosecution from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), Yong Min Choe, 55, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens by employing them at his 7-Eleven franchise in Brentwood, New York. When sentenced, Choe faces up to 10 years' imprisonment as well as a fine of up to twice the value of the gross gain. Additionally, Choe agreed to forfeit more than $1.3 million in assets that represent proceeds of the offense. ice.gov

Insurance Group Warns of Potential Cargo Crime Wave
as Freight Builds Up Due to Pandemic
Insurance group TT Club has issued a stern warning regarding the accumulation of cargo building up around the globe as the coronavirus outbreak plays havoc with transport systems. The Club points to the lag between the large-scale sourcing regions of China and other parts of Asia and the consuming markets of Europe and North America which it says has caused significant blocks of freight to be stuck in less secure facilities in both exporting and importing nations.

Such accumulations include cargo in containers at both transhipment and destination port terminals, as well as import consignments that have been delivered to warehouses and distribution centres. These are primarily non-essential products, for which there is little demand as retail outlets are closed or supplies for production lines that are either static or at reduced capacity. handyshippingguide.com

Europol Report: Beyond the pandemic - How COVID-19 will shape the serious and organised crime landscape in the EU
Serious and organised crime is exploiting the changing circumstances during the pandemic. From the onset of this crisis, Europol monitored these developments to help Member States understand and tackle this emerging phenomena. The full impact of the pandemic - not only on crime but also more widely on society and the economy - is not yet apparent. However, law enforcement should be prepared to be able to respond to the warning signals as the world deals with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now more than ever, international policing needs to work with the increased connectivity both in the physical and virtual worlds. This crisis again proves that exchanging criminal information is essential to fighting crime within the law enforcement community. Europol, as the criminal information hub for all law enforcement organisations, will continue to play its part. Download the report here.

Dems Say No Reopening Without 'Life-And-Death' Safety Regs
Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday the economy can't safely reopen unless the Occupational Health and Safety Administration issues emergency rules making employers adopt workplace infectious disease plans and withdraws what they call harmful guidance that gives employers a pass on reporting COVID-19 cases.

Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and 28 of their Democratic and independent colleagues urged Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia to direct OSHA to issue an "emergency temporary standard" that would make all employers safeguard against the spread of the novel coronavirus and protect workers from retaliation if they raise safety concerns.

The emergency temporary standard would legally require employers to implement workplace infection control and risk assessment plans, issue guidelines for social distancing, provide personal protective equipment, ensure proper sanitation and hand-washing facilities and provide wage protections for workers infected by COVID-19. law360.com

OSHA Inspectors Are Key to Re-Opening. Their Ranks Are at a 45-Year Low
As President Donald Trump pushes to restart the economy, the federal agency that's supposed to protect employees from workplace hazards has been operating with historically low staffing.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration had only 862 inspectors at the start of the year, the smallest number since 1975, according to a report by the pro-labor, nonprofit National Employment Law Project. The total was down from 952 in 2016 and a historic high of 1,469 in 1980. bloomberg.com

Retailers Face Consumer Safety Worries as Economies Reopen
Retailers might be itching to reopen their stores, but consumers still don't feel safe inside them, at least according to new survey findings from Deloitte that paint a picture of shopper attitudes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Only 34% of U.S. consumers feel safe enough to shop inside stores now, according to the new "Deloitte Global State of the Consumer Tracker" survey report.

"Health concerns generally exceed financial concerns in the U.S., with more than 50% of respondents concerned about health and nearly one-quarter of respondents worried about finances," Deloitte said. But people need to eat and buy other products at retail stores, so those safety concerns among U.S. consumers could spark more growth for e-commerce and mobile orders, delivery and curbside pickups.

Food retailers and other businesses are taking steps to not only protect their workers but encourage customers to take all possible pandemic protections. Stop & Shop, for example, recently launched an ad campaign calling on consumers to step up their safety efforts while shopping. progressivegrocer.com deloitte.com

Macy's to reopen all its stores over next six-weeks

Costco will start requiring customers to wear masks Monday

Amazon, Whole Foods reserve daily pickup hour for seniors, at-risk customers

COVID-19 hits McDonald's - Q1 comp's down 3.4%, net sales down 6%, earnings down 17%

US consumer spending plunges record 7.5% in March, reflecting virus

Unemployment Has Surpassed 30 Million Since Pandemic Swept Over the US

Juul Labs Plans to Cut Roughly a Third of Its Workers

Elon Musk says orders to stay home are 'fascist' in expletive-laced rant during Tesla earnings call

Reopening on Friday? Many Dallas companies plan to keep working in place

NY paid Bay Area CEO $69M for ventilators but received none

Comprehensive index highlighting the way small retailers are supporting their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic launches today
 

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