The dispute between Macy's and J.C. Penney over Martha Stewart branded home goods is drawing to a close. Lawyers for both sides gave closing arguments Thursday morning after a three month break. This means a decision by New York State Supreme Court Judge Oing may be rendered soon, possibly as early as Friday. The lawsuit started when J.C. Penney entered into a contract with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia ("MSLO") to sell Martha Stewart goods in "store within a store concept" but Macy's claimed to have exclusive rights to sell Martha Stewart home goods and attempted to block JCP from those sales which was only partially successful.
The "store within a store concept" was contrived by fired CEO Ron Johnson and the current CEO Mike Ullman (who was CEO before Johnson and brought back after Johnson's "no coupons" strategy completely failed with consumers) isn't keen on such a plan so even if JCP is prohibited from selling Martha Stewart home goods in mini stores, it may not be a huge disappointment. JCP may still have the option of selling Martha Stewart designed products without her name on them.
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WWD (subscription req'd): Macy's, Penney's Trial Winds Toward a Ruling
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