Target: Don't Bring Guns Into Our Stores

Target announced Wednesday it is adopting a no-guns policy and, in a statement, asked that customers not bring guns into stores.

Even customers in localities where guns are allowed will be subject to the chain's new policy.

"Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive to create," Target's interim CEO John Mulligan said in a statement.

The decision follows protests orchestrated by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a gun control group that in recent months achieved what once seemed like an unlikely goal: convincing many major American companies to take a stance on guns.

"Target's decision shows that moms calling for reasonable reforms can move giants," said Erika Soto Lamb, the communications director for a coalition of gun reform organizations that include Moms Demand Action.

The third largest retailer in the U.S., Target is the biggest company yet to ban the so-called open carry of guns in its stores. (It should be noted that the company's logo is literally a target of the sort used at shooting ranges.) The Minneapolis-based company has about 1,700 stores in the U.S. and brought in more than $70 billion in revenue last year. Chipotle, Chili’s and Sonic have made similar statements in recent months.

The moms' group and pro-gun activists have been warring over retail turf for the past few months, pushing businesses to take a stand on the issue. The pattern has played out like this: a pro-gun group stages demonstrations at a location of a major national chain, bringing rifles into a store or parking lot. Then, the moms' group puts out a statement and urges the chain to prohibit guns.

In Target's case, the Moms' group surfaced photographs early last month of men from a pro-gun group called Open Carry Texas toting rifles in a Dallas-area store. Then the Moms' group launched a national petition to ban guns in Target that garnered more than 350,000 signatures, according to Lamb. The Moms' group staged a small protest outside the retail giant’s shareholder meeting in Dallas on June 11.

A week later, Open Carry Texas returned, rallying in the parking lot outside a Target in Irving, a Dallas suburb. When members of the Moms’ group gathered outside a San Antonio-area Target days after that, they were asked by a Target employee to leave.

Chipotle was the first major company to ask customers not to bring firearms in its locations in May.

Soon after, protests by the same cadre of gun-toting activists prompted bans at Chili’s Bar and Grill and Sonic later that month.

C.J. Grisham, the founder of Open Carry Texas, did not immediately respond to an email from The Huffington Post requesting comment.

It’s an unexpectedly bold move by Mulligan, Target’s long-time financial chief, who has served as interim CEO since Gregg Steinhafel resigned in May. Target's revenue and reputation has suffered since hackers stole millions of customers’ credit- and debit-card records last December.

“They’ve got a lot on their plate right now,” Kenneth Perkins, an analyst at Morningstar, told HuffPost. “They’re trying to sort through stuff and sometimes decisions have to be made to move the company forward.”

Ted Marzilli, CEO and global managing director of YouGov BrandIndex, which tracks the perception of brands, said Target has waded into a dangerous waters by taking a hard stance on a political issue.

"This is going to play different depending on the state you're located in," Marzilli told HuffPost. "Perhaps a more nuanced approach to this might have been a more savvy way to play it politically."

Walmart, which sells more guns than any other company in the world, has no plans to follow Target's lead. A spokeswoman for the retailing giant said it does not plan on making any statement on firearms.

Ben Hallman and Kim Bhasin contributed reporting

Ousted American Apparel CEO Fights Back, Now Owns 43 Percent Of Company

NEW YORK (AP) — The battle for control of clothing chain American Apparel is heating up.

Ousted American Apparel CEO Dov Charney has increased his stake in the clothing chain to nearly 43 percent as he fights to keep control of the company he founded in 1998. Charney was able to increase his stake through a partnership with financial firm Standard General, which is loaning him the money. But the board is scrambling to make its own moves to keep him out.

Legal experts say the dispute will likely end up in the courts at a tough time for the Los Angeles-based company, which has lost money since 2010. The company, which made its name with American-made goods and provocative advertising, is in a cash squeeze.

"This is going to move from the boardroom to the courtroom," said Jerry Reisman, a partner at Reisman, Peirez, Reisman Capobianco, a law firm based in New York. "Hopefully, it won't undermine the company. This company is very fragile."

In regulatory filings this week, Charney reports he now owns 74.6 million shares as of Friday. Previously, his stake was 27 percent.

Charney also sent a letter last week to the board seeking a meeting of stockholders on Sept. 25 for the purpose of expanding the board to 15 members, according to the filing. The company said in a regulatory filing late Monday that Charney's request is "invalid" and "improper" because he was suspended as CEO and relieved of all powers to act on the behalf of the company.

As a result, American Apparel doesn't intend to call a meeting and "intends to vigorously contest any action seeking to compel the company to do so."

American Apparel on Saturday adopted a shareholder rights plan, commonly called a "poison pill," a day after a bid from Charney to increase his control. A poison pill seeks to prevent hostile takeovers by diluting the value of a would-be acquirer's investment.

The documents, filed last Friday, showed that he had entered into a five-year loan agreement with investment firm Standard General LP to increase his stake. According to the terms, Standard General is loaning Charney money to buy at least 10 percent of American Apparel's outstanding shares. The loan will use Charney's stock as collateral.

The poison pill can be activated in two ways: if a person or group acquires 15 percent or more ownership of the company's stock or if a person or group who already owns 15 percent or more of the company's stock buys an additional 1 percent or more.

The plan stipulates the poison pill will be triggered if Charney make an additional move to buy shares by himself or with the help of others beyond his agreement with Standard General.

The Los Angeles-based retailer said early Saturday that the "poison pill" move, made by a special committee of its board of directors, is designed to limit the ability of any person or group, including Charney, "to seize control of the company without appropriately compensating all American Apparel stockholders."

With a 43 percent stake, Charney has to persuade holders of 7 percent of the company's shares before he can exert control on the company. But American Apparel is stalling the process for any shakeup in the board by changing the bylaws. In a regulatory filing Monday, it stipulated that the board has 10 days following a stockholder request after which the board has another 10 days to set a record date.

Reisman noted that American Apparel should look for a financial partner that could make an investment in exchange for newly issued shares.

Randy Katz, a partner at law firm BakerHostetler in Los Angeles, said he was puzzled about why Charney did not or could not acquire the additional 7 percent.

On June, 18, the American Apparel's board fired Charney as chairman and suspended him as president and CEO. His contract requires a 30-day period before he can be terminated. The board cited "alleged misconduct."

Charney has been the subject of several lawsuits alleging inappropriate sexual conduct with female employees. He has acknowledged having sexual relationships with workers, but said they were consensual.

Shares are down 9 cents to 81 cents in early afternoon trading. They've fallen 27 percent this year.

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Follow Anne D'Innocenzio at http://www.Twitter.com/adinnocenzio

GM Recalls Another 8.2 Million Vehicles

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors' safety crisis worsened on Monday when the automaker added 8.2 million vehicles to its huge list of cars recalled over faulty ignition switches.

The latest recalls involve mainly older midsize cars and bring GM's total number of recalls this year to over 28 million. GM said it was aware of three deaths, eight injuries and seven crashes involving the vehicles recalled on Monday. But the company said it has no conclusive evidence that faulty switches caused the crashes.

The Detroit company also said it plans to take a $1.2 billion charge in the second quarter for recall-related expenses. Added to a $1.3 billion charge in the first quarter, that brings total recall expenses for the year to $2.5 billion.

The latest recalls cover seven vehicles, including the Chevrolet Malibu from 1997 to 2005 and the Pontiac Grand Prix from 2004 to 2008. The recalls also cover a newer model, the 2003-2014 Cadillac CTS. GM said the recalls are for "unintended ignition key rotation."

CEO Mary Barra said the recalls stem from an extensive safety review within the company.

"If any other issues come to our attention, we will act appropriately and without hesitation," she said in a statement.

GM is urging people to remove everything from their key rings until the recalled cars can be repaired.

It also announced four other recalls Monday covering more than 200,000 additional vehicles. Most are to fix an electrical short in the driver's door that could disable the power locks and windows and even cause overheating.

The announcement temporarily halted trading of GM stock on Monday afternoon, but it resumed in about a half hour and was down 1.2 percent to $36.19.

Senators Want Corinthian Colleges To Stop Accepting New Students

NEW YORK (AP) -- A dozen U.S. senators, all Democrats, are pushing Corinthian Colleges Inc. to stop accepting new students in a letter to the Department of Education.

Corinthian owns the Everest College, Heald College and WyoTech schools and has about 75,000 students.

The Education Department this week worked out a deal with Corinthian that gives it $16 million in federal student aid funds to keep the company running as it figures out a plan to sell or close many schools over the next six months. Corinthian, which has more than 100 campuses, said it will look for new owners for most of its schools and hopes to have sales agreements in place within about six months.

Santa Ana, California-based Corinthian had warned last week that it could go out of business after U.S. regulators limited its access to federal funds. The government is scrutinizing the company over allegations that it altered grades, student attendance records and falsified job placement data used in ads.

In the letter addressed to Education Department head Arne Duncan Thursday, the 12 senators said students need to be protected from the company. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who is also the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, was one of the politicians who signed the letter.

"Corinthian has shown itself to be one of the worst actors in the for-profit college industry," the letter said.

Representatives from Corinthian and the Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The letter also wants the Education Department to make sure the company explains to students its plans and to stop any for-profit education company that's under investigation from purchasing from or taking on students from Corinthian.

This Genius Printed His Resume On Beer (And Got The Job)

Creativity is key -- especially in graphic design.

That's why one graphic designer in Canada sought to separate himself from other recent graduates by printing his resume on a pack of beer.

Brennan Gleason, of British Columbia, was finishing his studies at University of the Fraser Valley earlier this year when he was given an assignment: Create a work of self-promotion. Since Gleason would be graduating in a few months, he wanted to make the most of the project and decided to create a nontraditional resume that would give potential employers an idea of who he is and what he enjoys in life -- like brewing beer.

"At the end of our program, everyone is obviously looking for jobs in the industry. So, I used that to my advantage," the web and graphic designer told The Huffington Post. "I sent about three of them out to places I knew I really wanted to get a job at and ended up getting a few offers right away."

To create his "Résum-Ale," Gleason spent about seven weeks brewing a blonde beer. During the process he created labels for each bottle -- which featured a snipped from his portfolio and an accompanying QR codes -- and designed a concise version of his resume for the box.

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After he sent out the unique resume to several design firms in Vancouver and received a few offers back, he decided to accept a job at Techtone as the digital marketing agency's creative director.

While Gleason admits that using a pack of home-brewed beer as a resume would likely not work in other industries, he doesn't think the alcohol alone was what got him hired.

"I think it’s mostly just because it's different from a traditional resume," Gleason told HuffPost. "As designers, were always trying to show off our creativity. That’s the first impression these companies see."

In Gleason's case, his first impression was pretty smooth.

12 Powerful Photos That Will Change The Way You Look At The World Cup

These photos say it all.

The World Cup in Brazil this month is shining a global spotlight on the nation's wealth gap and mounting social unrest over government services. Despite the fact that Brazil is the unofficial capital of soccer, a whopping 61 percent of its people say that hosting the World Cup is bad for the country, according to a Pew poll.

With more than $11 billion spent on the World Cup, many Brazilians are wondering where else that money could have gone.

Here are 12 of the most striking photos that show some of the conditions and controversies in the World Cup's host country:

A mural by Brazilian street artist Paulo Ito on the side of a schoolhouse in São Paulo.

A man wears a Brazilian national jersey as he walks across a polluted stream in a Rio de Janiero slum.

A tent camp in São Paulo that is home to roughly 1,500 people from the Workers Without a Roof Movement, which is protesting the lack of affordable housing in the region. Brazil has a serious housing shortage: The nation needs 5.24 million more homes, according to the Institute of Applied Economic Research.

Taken during the Confederation's Cup tournament in Brazil last year, this photo illustrating wealth inequality was dubbed "the two faces of Brazil."

A.Signl and B.Shanti from the German artist collective "Captain Borderline" created this street art installation. In an email to The Huffington Post, A.Shanti explained that the piece was put up across the street from a police station in Rio, and that onlookers were "very happy about the work, because it really reflects the situation in Brazil right now."

This second work by A.Signl and B.Shanti is located Rio de Janeiro's city center. The painting suggests the burden of hosting the World Cup for the average Brazilian.

A performer raises a Brazilian flag covered in fake blood in the city of Belo Horizonte. He was paying tribute to the Brazilian workers who died during the construction of World Cup stadiums.

This street art piece was created by Joga Bonito and posted to his Flickr account.

Protesters block a street in Curitiba, Brazil, during a match on June 16. Their sign asks who benefits from the World Cup.

Residents protest in a slum in Rio de Janeiro in May in an attempt to pressure the government to allocate more money to public services.

People spell out "Red card to child labour" on a beach in Rio de Janeiro as part of a campaign by the International Labour Organization. According to Gary Stahl, a UNICEF representative in Brazil, there are 3 million Brazilian children who are victims of child labor.

A demonstrator wearing a Brazilian flag wades through the reflection pool outside the Brazilian Congress in June 2013 to demand that 10 percent of the country's GDP be spent on public education. The protest was one of several in Brazil in June that began as opposition to transportation fare hikes, then expanded to a list of causes including anger at high taxes, poor services and high World Cup spending, before coalescing around the issue of rampant government corruption. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

If you're wondering about the underlying causes behind this unrest, check out this documentary by Vice News:

Olive Garden Is Evidence Of A Huge Problem In The Economy

One restaurant operator has just given us a small window into a huge problem with the American economy.

Darden Restaurants, the Orlando-based purveyor of sit-down food chains, announced its fourth-quarter earnings on Friday, revealing that some of its restaurants have done much better than others in the past few months.

What was the major difference between success and failure at its restaurants? The diners. Restaurants that serve the well-off are thriving, while those that serve the rest of us are struggling, in a microcosm of the broader economy.

Struggling are Olive Garden and Red Lobster, which are largely geared toward middle-class customers, who have been squeezed during the recession and slow recovery. Families with young children cut back on restaurant spending during the downturn, and they haven’t come back, according to a recent survey by restaurant research firm NPD Group.

Same-store sales, a measure of performance at restaurants open a year or more, dropped 3.5 percent at Olive Garden and 5.6 percent at Red Lobster over the quarter. At Long Horn Steak House, Darden’s middle-of-the-road steak chain, same-store sales rose 2.4 percent, but traffic -- the measure of how many people are actually coming through the door -- dropped over the quarter.

On the other hand, at Darden’s Capital Grille, where most dinner entrees fetch more than $40 each, same-store sales increased 4 percent over the quarter. That makes sense, too: Over the past few years, the kinds of people who can afford a fancy dinner have seen their incomes grow, even as everybody else's incomes have stayed flat.

Still, Darden is hoping it can convince pinched diners to spend again at Olive Garden by re-making the chain in the image of other trendy restaurants. They’re offering convenience through online and tablet ordering, more choice and customization options for their various combo meals, faster lunch service and even tapas -- all while still emphasizing the value of a meal that comes with unlimited salad, soup and breadsticks.

The hope is that they’ll attract the all-important “millennials” and “multi-cultural households” who are doing all their eating at Chipotle and Panera right now, Darden chief operating officer Eugene Lee said on the company’s earnings call.

Seafood chain Red Lobster has struggled for years, thanks to a suffering middle-class, along with changing dining habits and fluctuating seafood prices.

Darden plans on selling Red Lobster to boost performance. “We don’t believe that Red Lobster is as well-positioned as our other brands for the future that we see,” Darden’s CEO Clarence Otis Jr. said on the company’s earnings call.

Darden's performance over the past few years, with and without Red Lobster.