Fort Jewelry Company, Inc.

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IN Tile MATTER OF FORT JEWELRY COMPANY, INC., ET AL.

CONSENT ORDER, ETC., IN REGARD TO THE ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT Docket 7.'43. Complaint, Dec. 3() 1958-Decision, Ap1" , 1.59 Consent order requiring a Providence, R.I., distributor of costume and men jewelry to jobbers and distributors, to cease preticketing merchandise with tags bearing purported usual retail prices which were in fact fictitious and greatly exaggerated.

Mr. Ames W. Wiliams for the Commission. Hinckley, Allen, Salisbury Parsons of Providence, for respondents.

INITIAL DECISION BY WALTER R. JOIlNSON , HEARING EXAMINER In the complaint dated December 30, 1958, the respondents are charged with violating- the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

On March 4, 1959, the respondents and their attorneys entered into an agreement with counsel in support of the complaint for a consent order.

Under the agreement, the respondents admit the jurisdictional facts alleg-ed in the complaint. The parties agree, among other thing-s, that the cease and desist order there set forth may be entered without further notice and have the same force and effect as if entered after a full hearing, and the document includes a waiver by the respondents of all rights to challenge or contest the validity of the order issuing in accordance therewith. The agreement further recites that it is for settemcnt purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the respondents that they have violated the law as alleged in the complaint. The hearing examiner finds that the content of the agreement meets all of the requirements of Section 3.25 (b) of the Rules of the Commission.

A ttached to and made a part of said agreement is an affdavit attesting to the fact that Lena Forte, while an offcer of the corporate respondent, does not participate in the formulation direction or execution of corporation policy respecting the acts and practices set forth in the complaint. The hearing examiner being of the opinion that the agreement Order 55 F.

and the proposed order provide an appropriate basis for disposition of this proceeding as to all of the parties, the agreement is hereby accepted and it is ordered that the agreement shall not become a part of the offcial record of the proceeding unless and until it becomes a part of the decision of the Commission. The following jurisdictional findings are made and the following order issued.

1. The respondent Fort J swell'Y Company, Inc. , is a corporation organized, existing and doing- business under the laws of the State of Rhode Island, with its offce and principal place of business located at 536 Atwell, Avenue, Providence, R. I. The individual respondent Samuel Forte is an offcer of the corporate respondent and formulatcs, directs and controls the acts and practices of the same. His address is the same as that of the corporate respondent.

2. The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction of the subject matter of this procecding and of the respondents and the proceeding is in the public interest.

ORDER It is ordel' That the respondents Fort .Jewelry Company, Inc. , a corporation, and its omccrs, and Samuel Forte, individually and as an offcer of said corporation, and respondents agents, representatives, and employees, directly or through any corporate or other device, in connection with the offering for sale, sale, or distribution of jc\velry or any other products in commerce, as "commerce" is defined in the Federal Trade Commission Act, do forthwith cease and desist from directly or indirectly:

1. Representing, by preticketing, or in any other manner, that a certain amount is the customary or usual retail price of merchandise when said amount is in excess of the price at \which said merchandise is customarily and usually sold at retail in the trade area or areas where such merchandise is offered for sale sold or distributed.

2. Furnishing any means or instrumentality to others by and through which they may mislead the public as to the usual and customary prices of respondents' products. It is fUTthe?' ordered That the complaint be, and it hereby is dismissed as to respondent Lena Forte.

FORT Jr;WELRY CO., INC. , r;T AL. 1719 1717 Decision DECISION OF THE COMMISSION AND ORDER TO FILE REPORT OF COMPLIANCE The Commission having considered the initial decision of the hearing examiner wherein he accepted an agreement containing a consent order to cease and desist executed by the respondents and their attorney and counsel in support of the complaint, service of which initial decision was completed on March 25 , 1959; and It appearing that the initial decision may be deficient in that it fails to incorporate the substance of certain pertinent provisions of the agreement of the parties:

It is ordered That said initial decision bc, and it hereby is, amended by inserting between the second and third paragraphs thereof the following paragraph:

Under the agreement, the respondents admit the jurisdictional facts alleged in the complaint. The parties agree, among other things, that the cease and desist order there set forth may be entcrcd without further notice and have the same force and effect as if entered after a full hearing, and the document includes a waivcr by the respondents of all rights to challenge or contest the validity of the order issuing in accordance therewith. The agreement further recites that it is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the respondents that they have violated the law as alleged in the complaint. It is further ordered That the initial decision as so modified shall, on the 25th day of April 1959, become the decision of the Commission.

It is further ordered That the respondents, Fort Jewelry Company, Inc., a corporation, and Samuel Forte, individually and as an offcer of said corporation, 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 contained in said initial decision.

Order uS F.