Well, here is some good news to start the New Year! The lawsuit filed against Martha Stewart Living by Macy's has now been settled! Even nicer news? The outcome of the settlement will not affect MSLO in any material way. This has been a very long, drawn-out battle between Macy's, MSLO and JC Penney. The lawsuit was filed over a year ago after it was announced that Martha had signed a merchandising contract with JC Penney in 2011 to sell housewares at its many stores. Macy's saw this as a violation of its merchandising alliance with Martha Stewart, which was formed in 2006. Despite the lawsuit, the deal went ahead and hundreds of new Martha Stewart products found their way onto the shelves at JC Penney. However, last October JC Penney revised its deal with MSLO, ceasing the production of many of the Martha Stewart branded items it had promised to carry, limiting its deal to only a few house and home categories that were not contested by Macy's.
Martha Stewart Living did not disclose the terms of the deal but was clear that the settlement would in no way affect the company's bottom line. An outstanding claim filed by Macy's against JC Penney regarding the matter is still before the courts. Here is a brief statement from MSLO:
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. and Macy's have resolved their legal dispute, and we are pleased to be able to put this matter behind us. The terms of our settlement are confidential, will not be disclosed, and are not deemed to be material to MSLO. We can now return our focus to what we do best – bringing beautifully designed, high quality, affordable products to consumers nationwide. We look forward to a continued, successful partnership together.
3 comments:
It's sad now to walk through JCP home department. No more MarthaPantry, the MarthaCelebrations section now just says "Celebrations," and the JCP Everyday items are disappearing as well.
The JCP Everyday items were never marketed as MSL had originally agreed to. The packaging and styles / colors had also been altered. Most significantly, the price point at the introduction was much higher than what MSL had intended, which would have set the items apart from Macy's. Ultimately the products did not see well because they were overpriced and didn't carry the Martha Stewart name. Turned out this was a very bad partnership for both MSL and JCP. Glad they can put this disaster behind them.
Thank god that's over.
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