Commissioner Mark Acton Elected PRC Vice Chairman

As reported recently in the Bangor Daily News, John Halle (CEO of Cate Street Capital) has formally dismissed the libel lawsuit that Cate Street Capital and Halle had initiated against Verle Sutton almost two years ago. This claim of libel had resulted from an article in the May 2014 issue of The Reel Time Report, written by Sutton, in which Cate Street Capital and State of Maine officials were strongly criticized for actions they took that related to the Great Northern Paper mills in northern Maine. Industry Intelligence, the publisher of Reel Time, had also been named as a defendant in this lawsuit. Industry Intelligence and John Halle reached a settlement earlier in 2016. In response to John Halle choosing to end the lawsuit against Sutton, and the Industry Intelligence settlement, Verle Sutton has issued the following statement: I am grateful to family and friends who have been so supportive during the last two years as we fought through the groundless lawsuit that John Halle and Cate Street Capital initiated against me for authoring “The Maine Problem.” The legal costs incurred during the last two years have been substantial, and the time our family lost was unfortunate. However, our losses pale in comparison to the damage that has been inflicted on the East Millinocket and Millinocket communities and, in fact, on all of northern Maine. These communities and this region were misled by state officials and Cate Street about the viability of the restarted Great Northern Paper mills.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. announced net sales for the two and eleven months ended December 31, 2021. Total Company net sales for the two months ended December 31, 2021, increased 14.6% compared to the two months ended December 31, 2019. Comparable Retail segment net sales increased 14%, driven by strong double-digit growth in digital channel sales, partially offset by high single-digit negative retail store sales primarily due to reduced store traffic. By brand, comparable Retail segment net sales increased 47% at the Free People Group, 15% at the Anthropologie Group and 3% at Urban Outfitters. Total Retail segment net sales increased 15%. Wholesale segment net sales decreased 18% primarily from reducing the Free People Group’s sales to promotional wholesale customers. URBN now believes that the total Company fourth quarter gross margin could deleverage due to higher than anticipated inbound transportation costs. For the eleven months ended December 31, 2021, total Company net sales increased 14.4% compared to the eleven months ended December 31, 2019. Comparable Retail segment net sales increased 16%, driven by strong double-digit growth in digital channel sales, partially offset by low double-digit negative retail store sales due to reduced store traffic. Wholesale segment net sales decreased 22% primarily from reducing the Free People Group’s sales to promotional wholesale customers.

This year’s Book Industry Study Group annual meeting, held virtually April 23, focused on issues around book publishing’s impact on the environment, the continuing effect of the pandemic on the supply chain, and the industry’s response to both. The program opened with a keynote by Sheri Aldis, chief of publishing at the United Nations, which focused on the need for “global cooperation” to address sustainability and on the role of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), a set of 17 interconnected objectives based around science, economic development, and social well-being considered necessary to create a decent standard of life. Among the SDGs are (1) no poverty, (2) zero hunger, (4) quality education, (5) gender equality, (7) affordable and clean energy, and (13) climate action.