Block', Inc.

Text (OCR of the scan at left; may contain errors)

IN THE MATTER OF BLOCK' , INC., ET AL.

CONSENT ORDER, ETC., IN REGARD TO THE ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AND THE FUR PRODUCTS LABELING ACTS Docket 7242. Complaint, AHg. 1958-Decision, Nov. , 1958 Consent order requiring furriers in Syracuse, N.Y., to cease violating the Fur Products Labeling' Act by using fictitiously high prices as regular prices in newspaper advertisements and on labels and representing sale prices as reduced therefrom, and representing falsely in advertising that furs were on sale at II % price" and "Now up to 60% off. S. F. House Esq., for the Commission.

INITIAL DECISION BY JAMES A. PURCELL, HEARING EXAMINER 1958, The complaint in this proceeding, issued August 28, , Inc., a corporation, and Georgecharges the respondents Block' S. Block, individually and as an officer of the corporate respondent with violation of the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Fur Products Labeling Act and the Rules and Regulations promulgated under the last-named Act, in connection with introduction into commerce, and in the sale, advertising and offering for sale, transportation and distribution, shipping and receiving in cmnmerce, of fur and fur products, as the designadefined in thetions "commerce, fur" and "fur product" are Fur Products Labeling Act.

After the issuance of said complaint respondents on September 22, 1958, entered into an agreement for a consent order with counsel in support of the complaint, disposing of all of the issues in this proceeding, which agreement was duly approved by the director and assistant director of the Bureau of Litigation the Federal Trade Commission. It was expressly provided in said agreement that the signing thereof is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by respondents that they have violated the law as alleged in the complaint. By the terms of said agreement, the respondents admitted all of the jurisdictional allegations of the complaint and agreed that the record herein may be taken as though the Commission had made findings of jurisdictional facts in accordance with such allegations. By said agreement the parties expressly waived a the hearing before the hearing examiner or the Commission, Decision 55 F.

making of findings of fact or conclusions of law by the hearing examiner or the Commission, the filing of exceptions and oral argument before the Commission, and all further and other procedure before the hearing examiner and the Commission to which the respondents may otherwise be entitled under the Federal Trade Commission Act or the Rules of Practice of the Commission. By said agreement, respondents further agreed that the order to cease and desist issued in accordance with said agreement shall have the same force and effect as though made after a full hearing, presentation of evidence and findings and conclusions thereon, and specifically waived any and all right, power or privilege to challenge or contest the validity of such order. It was further provided that said agreement, together with the complaint, shall constitute the entire record herein; that the complaint herein may be used in construing the terms of the order issued pursuant to said agreement; and that the said order may be altered, modified or set aside in the manner provided for other orders of the Commission.

Said agreement recites that respondent Block' , Inc., is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and virtue of the laws of the State of New York, with its office and principal place of business located at 466 South Warren Street Syracuse, N. , and that the individual respondent George Block is president of said corporate respondent and formulates controls and directs the acts, practices and policies of the corporate respondent, with his address the same as that of said corporate respondent.

The hearing examiner has considered such agreement and the order therein contained, and, it appearing that said agreement and order provides for an appropriate disposition of this proceeding, the same is hereby accepted and, without further notice to respondents, is ordered filed upon becoming part of the Commission s decision in accordance with Sections 3.21 and 3.25 of the Rules of Practice, and in consonance with the terms of said agreement, the hearing examiner finds that the Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction of the subject matter of this proceeding and of the respondents named herein, and that this proceeding is in the interest of the public, wherefore he issues the following order:

BLOCK' S, INC., ET AL. 791 789 Decision ORDER It is ordered That Block' , Inc., a corporation, and its officers and George S. Block, individually and as an officer of said corporation, and respondents' representatives, agents and employees directly or through any corporate or other device, in connection with the introduction into commerce, or the sale, advertising, offering for sale, transportation or distribution of fur products in commerce, or in connection with the sale, advertising, offering for sale, transportation, or distribution of fur products which have been made in whole or in part of fur which has been shipped and received in commerce, as "commerce, fur" and "fur product" are defined in the Fur Products Labeling Act, do forthwith cease and desist from:

1. Misbranding fur products by:

(a) Representing on labels affixed to the fur products, or in any other manner, that certain amounts are their regular and usual prices, when such amounts are in excess of the prices at which respondents have usually and customarily sold such products, in the recent and regular course of their business. 2. Falsely or deceptively advertising fur products through the use of any advertisement, representation, public announcement or notice, which is intended to aid, promote or assist, directly or indirectly, in the sale, or offering for sale of fur products, and which:

(a) Represents, directly or by implication, that the regular or usual price of any fur product is any amount which is in excess of the price at which respondents have usually and customarily sold such product in the recent and regular course of their business. (b) Represents, directly or by implication, through percentage savings claims, that the regular or usual retail prices charged by respondents for fur products in the recent and regular course of their business are reduced in direct proportion to the amount of savings stated, when contrary to fact. DECISION OF THE COMMISSION AND ORDER TO FILE REPORT OF COMPLIANCE Pursuant to Section 3.21 of the Commission s Rules of Practice, the initial decision of the hearing examiner shall, on the 25th day of November 1958, become the decision of the Commission; and, accordingly:

Decision 55 F.

It 1~S ordered That the respondents herein shall, within sixty (60) days after service upon them of this order, file with the Commission a report in writing setting forth in detail the manner and form in which they have complied with the order to cease and desist.

PACIFIC NORTHERN AIR COLLEGE, INC., ET AL. 793 Decision