That regulation sounded outlandish, so I read the article. The article is obviously anti-regulation, but even in context it's obvious that a) this is possible not a license to close a business but instead b) is quite possibly a regulation intended to prevent stores from having fake "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" sales every couple of quarters, misleading consumers into making suboptimal decisions.
Based solely on what's in the article, it wouldn't apply to businesses that don't carry inventory, notably services businesses.
Hehe, I haven't looked, so it may be apocryphal, but I believe there is a WAC (Washington (state) Administrative Code), that mandates that a business (possibly limited to furniture stores) may only have a "Going Out Of Business" sale once per calendar year.
Well, it is a regulation to ensure the business is intended to close. Instead of "going out of business" sign, what happen "big sale" sign every quarters? FWIW, I am not sure if that big sale is really a big sale with discounts. In fact, I have seen mattress stores claiming a price drop on the flyer for $850 but the regular price never stays - basically I am calling out certain stores lying about the regular price and promotional price.
Based solely on what's in the article, it wouldn't apply to businesses that don't carry inventory, notably services businesses.