Martha Stewart Living Sued By Macy's

NEW YORK -- Macy's Inc. has sued Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. in a bid to block a licensing deal between the housewares company and J.C. Penney Co.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in New York State Supreme Court. Macy's claims Martha Stewart Living's deal with J.C. Penney violates the terms of an exclusive pact Macy's has to sell Martha Stewart Living products at its stores, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

The complaint comes after Plano, Tex.-based J.C. Penney acquired a 16.6 percent stake in Martha Stewart Living and announced plans last month to open mini-Martha Stewart shops inside most of its stores, beginning next year. The deal announced last month was seen as part of J.C. Penney's efforts to re-image itself under its new CEO Ron Johnson, a former Apple Inc. executive.

Cincinnati-based Macy's has asked the court for a preliminary injunction to block the deal.

Martha Stewart Living said it does not comment on legal matters, but issued a statement saying that it received a notification from Macy's that it intends to renew and extend its commercial agreement with Martha Stewart Living to feature and promote the Martha Stewart Collection in Macy's stores.

The New York-based lifestyle, media and merchandising company also noted that its commercial agreement with J.C. Penney remains in effect.

Calls and an email seeking comment from Macy's and its attorney were not immediately returned late Monday.

Macy's shares added 9 cents in aftermarket trading. The stock ended regular trading down 29 cents at $35.09.

Martha Stewart Living shares slid 15 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $4.15 in aftermarket trading after slipping 13 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $4.30 during the regular session.

Also on HuffPost:

Martha Stewart about town.

Comments

[gchu]

07:56 AM on 01/26/2012

Macy's is abusing and misusing the legal system to strangulate Americans jobs and the Martha brand. JC Penney and Macy's can both co-existence just like Macy's and K-Mart when the Martha brand was selling at K-Mart.

Macy's has no business ethics engaging in a scorched earth vendetta on the Martha brand to subjugate and deny broad consumer access to the Martha brand to live the American way of life.

Macy's is yet to come close to the sales that K-Mart did; it never had that potential so it's madness that Macy's could ever have an "exclusive pact" with no long-term potential for the survival and growth of the Martha brand.

Justice calls for Macy's to be kicked out of court with its "lawsuit filed under seal."

[Jenkem]

10:51 AM on 01/25/2012

Somewhere, Rachel Ray is cackling.

[DavidMG]

10:49 AM on 01/25/2012

Macys should stop carrying Martha's crap. I bought four of her pool chairs and they didn't last 2 years.

[Marcin A Mazurek]

09:32 AM on 01/25/2012

Thats nice
The Martha Stewart collection is sub-par made and barely usable for any sort of REAL cooking over a regular period of time - you're better off going to a specialty store where you don't have to put up with celebrity sponsored pans.

[rosiebag]

08:05 AM on 01/25/2012

Is she a greedy dishonest fleon or not?Thats what the court said.

[glitterik]

08:02 AM on 01/25/2012

Don't shop at Macy's for clothes unless you want to see yourselves everywhere, coming and going. Anything you buy there you will see a dozen times on the backs of other women. Macy's has become too big to wear!

[Marcin A Mazurek]

09:33 AM on 01/25/2012

Theres this thing, I know this is going to be surprising, its called "mass-production"

You see, they make more than one of these shirts? Crazy, I know, More than one.
And sell them, to make a profit. Its, like, so CRAZY, I just don't get it.

[bjbold]

02:48 AM on 01/25/2012

Martha Stewart has excellent quality products. I follow her products from store to store.
nuff said.

[Marcin A Mazurek]

09:33 AM on 01/25/2012

And you are a terrible liar.

[bjbold]

02:17 AM on 01/26/2012

No, seriously, her line of cleaning products called "Clean" work better than any other bio cleaning products I've tried. I originally bought a couple different bottles at Home Depot.They no longer carry them as "It wasn't a good fit for the store" according to a manager. I get that and so I ordered a case off her website. Seriously.
AND, why would I lie about that? It isn't important enough to lie about.

[Jenkem]

10:50 AM on 01/25/2012

Martha, is that you?

[f0rTyLeGz]

01:41 AM on 01/25/2012

You go girl!

[hubertandsusan]

12:10 AM on 01/25/2012

Hellooooo...Home Depot sells Martha Stewart Curtains..they are surprisingly nice. I believe Target even sells her stuff. She is her own brand now. Nothing should limit where she can sell her things. Whether she really designs all her stuff or not, her brand is up to date and she has a good eye for what is in, including her paint colors.

[ILB]

09:22 AM on 01/25/2012

Target does not sell her products.

[PrdAmerican]

11:52 AM on 01/26/2012

Michaels (craft stores) and even PetSmarts carry Martha Stewart items...seriously, I'm scared to walk into an adult novelty store for fear of seeing Martha there as well.

[WindMeUp2011]

10:36 PM on 01/24/2012

All SOUR GRAPES on MACY'S part, + POWER & CONTROL. This is EXACTLY what is happening here! Macy's has become a monopoly in a nutshell that’s spinning out of control. They are retaliating at Martha Stewart over the fact, Macy's rival, JC Penney purchased a $38.5 Million stake in Stewart's Company. Macy's could have done the same, especially considering the fact Martha Stewart's home product's line is Macy's BEST selling line which ONLY would make sense to be more involved. Not to mention, JC Penney plans for Martha Stewart Shops within its department stores, beating Macy's to the punch with that idea didn't help either. Only last July, Martha Steart, Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren and Fashion Designer Rachel Roy traveled to Haiti on a jaunt to explore business opportunities. Don't beat on Martha, she came into our homes with many good ideas and Macy's knew a good thing when they saw it, BUT as usual had only their best interests in mind to cash in on Martha's brand. Don’t forget Macy’s violated ANTITRUST laws with Waterford/Wedgewood over selling to Bed, Bath & Beyond in 2002, and Macy’s Fmr CEO Zimmerman went to jail for lying to a grand jury and at a cost of 2.9 Mil in Civil Penalities! Sometimes people will just do ANYTHING for the Company, no matter what the cost!

[ILB]

09:47 AM on 01/25/2012

Any lawsuits from 2002 have NOTHING to do with the fact that she signed an exclusive deal with Macy's.

What do you not understand?

[WindMeUp2011]

11:21 AM on 01/25/2012

What don't you understand? That ONE example which stands out...And I suppose you think corporate giant Macy's is above all that and the LAW, can go right on ripping people off and get away with it, not to mention find sport in litigation, when in fact, they are liable.

[berkshiregirl]

08:30 PM on 01/24/2012

I know it is njot nice but...I hope this ends badly for her.

[mustchange2012]

07:21 PM on 01/24/2012

This is Martha, never trust her, never will. She never ever apologized for her first mistake.
Sneeky person.

[WindMeUp2011]

02:59 PM on 01/25/2012

Neither does Macy's....

[ifitwereuptome]

06:56 PM on 01/24/2012

Macys should cut her loose - the product line she "developed" for Macys was supposed to be of higher quality than the Kmart line, but who could tell the difference...there's nothing quality about it.

[rbroseland]

06:23 PM on 01/24/2012

NO! Martha doing something unethical? Again! If she is in hot water, someone keep her head in it.

[trowgotn]

05:40 PM on 01/24/2012

Wow the cooking divas are taking some hard punches this month Martha and Paula in "hot water"

[Hitchslap2]

05:50 PM on 01/24/2012

...but Paula doesn't deserve it.

[mustchange2012]

07:25 PM on 01/24/2012

Paula doesn't deserve it, you are right, people have been really mean to her. Not cool!

[ILB]

08:22 PM on 01/24/2012

Yes she does.

She's getting a cool 6 million over two years from the drug company.