‘O, The Oprah Magazine’ To Print 4 Yearly Issues, Expand Digital (mediapost.com)

In separate motions filed last month, Amazon and the Big Five publishers argued that a lawsuit accusing them of a conspiracy to fix e-book prices was “illogical” and should be dismissed. But in a lengthy opposition brief filed this week, lawyers for a potential consumer class portrayed their case as the second act of the Apple e-books case, and insisted there is more than enough evidence for the case to proceed. In the 56-page filing, lawyers for the plaintiffs insist that the existence of Most Favored Nation clauses in the Amazon contracts of the Big Five publishers—the crux of the plaintiffs' case—is sufficient to allow the case to proceed, especially given that the MFN is the same mechanism five major publishers and Apple used to eliminate price competition from the consumer e-book market in 2010.

On May 13, 2021, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved two separate but related bills addressing USPS finances and operations. The first, the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 (H.R. 3076 (PDF)), was approved by voice vote, making it now eligible for a floor vote in the US House of Representatives. The bill was introduced two days prior to committee consideration following a painstaking effort to craft a bipartisan document. Lead sponsors were Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Ranking Member Rep. James Comer (R-KY) along with original co-sponsors Government Operations Subcommittee Chair Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Ranking Member Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). The bill was approved by the committee without amendment or any audible dissension, and included bipartisan agreed upon elements such as: codifying six-day delivery, requiring postal employees to enroll in Medicare at eligibility age, and elimination of the requirement that USPS pre-fund its retiree health benefits for 75 years into the future.

"Macy's had a solid holiday shopping season, and we are pleased that our November/December performance resulted in positive comp sales for the period, setting us up for a positive fourth quarter. Consumers were ready to spend this season, and we delivered with solid execution, fresher inventory, a curated gift assortment and a focus on customer experience. We saw improved sales trends in our stores and continued to see double-digit growth on our digital platforms. Customers also responded well to our new loyalty program," said Jeff Gennette, Macy's, Inc. chief executive officer. "We intend to close the fourth quarter in a good position and head into 2018 with momentum." Macy's, Inc. saw improved holiday sales across Macy's, Macy's Backstage, Bloomingdale's, Bloomingdale's The Outlet and Bluemercury, with exclusive gifts showing strong performance. Active apparel, shoes, dresses, coats, fine jewelry, men's tailored clothing, children's and home were all top performers. Beauty was also a highlight and showed a marked improvement in trend, with particular strength in fragrance, prestige skincare and cosmetic gifting. Click Read More below for additional information.