Powers & Company, Inc.

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IN THE MATTER OF POWERS & COlVP ANY INC. ET AL.

CONSENT ORDER, ETC. , 1:\ REGARD TO THE ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT Oct. 14, 1966 Docket C-1128. Complaint, Oct. 14, 19C6-Decision, Consent order requiring a Philadelphia, Pa. . manufacturer and distributor of tents, tarpaulins and other canvas products to cease making false pricing and savings representations and furnishing others the means to m-akl' SUc11 representations in the advertising of its merchandise. COMPLAINT Pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and by virtue of the authority vested in it by said Act, the Federal Trade Commission, having reason to beheve that Powers & Company, 1nc., a corporation, and Mabel C. Powers, Edwin T. Complaint 70 F. T.

Oscarson and Jack Loman, individually and as offcers of said corporation, hereinafter referred to as respondents, have violated the provisions of said Act, and it appearing to the Commission that a proceeding by it in respect thereof would be in the public interest, hereby issues its complaint stating its charges in that respect as follows:

PARAGRAPH 1. Respondent Powers & Company, Inc" is a corporation organized, existing, and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, with its principal offce and place of business located at 5929 Woodland Drive, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Respondents Mabel C. Powers, Edwin T. Oscarson and Jack Loman are offcers of said corporation. They formulate, direct and control the acts and practices of the corporate respondent, including the acts and practices hereinafter set forth. The business address of respondents Mabel C, Powers and Jack Loman is the same as that of the corporate respondent. The business address of respondent Edwin T. Oscarson is 7310 Central A \'cnue, River Forest, Ilinois.

PAR. 2. Respondents are now, and for some time last past have been, engaged in the manufacture, advertising, offering for sale sale, and distribution of tents, tarpaulins, and other canvas products to retailers for resale to the public. PAR. 3, In the course and conduct of their business, respondents cause, and for some time last past have caused, said products when sold, to be shipped from their place of business in the State of Pennsylvania to retailers thereof located in various States of the United States and maintain, and at all times mentioned herein have maintained, a substantial COHrse of trade in said products in commerce, as "comnlerce" is defined in the Federal Trade Commission Act.

PAR. 4, Respondents, for the purpose of inducing the purchase of its tent and tarpaulin products, have engaged in the practice of using fictitious prices in connection therewith by the following method and means:

By distributing, or causing to be distributed to retailers and others, catalogs which depict and describe its aforesaid products and contain a stated price for each.

In the manner aforesaid respondent thereby represent, directly or indirectly, that the amounts shown arc respondents' bona fide estimate of the actual retail prices of said products in respondents ' trade area and that they do not appreciably exceed the POWERS & COMPANY, INC. , ET AL. i089 10S7 Decision and Order highest prices at which substantial sales of said products are made at retail in said trade area.

In truth and in fact said amounts shown are not respondents bona fide estimate of the actual retail prices of said products in respondents' trade area and they appreciably exceed the highest prices at which substantial sales of said products are made at retail in said trade area.

Therefore, the statements and representations set forth above are false, misleading and deceptive.

PAR. 5. By the aforesaid acts and practices, respondents place in the hands of retailers the means and instrumentalities by and through which they may mislead the public as to the usual and regular retail price of said products.

PAR. 6. In the course and conduct of their business and at all times mentioned herein, respondents have been engaged in substantial competHion, in commerce, with corporations, firms and individuals in the sale of products of the same general l,ind and nature as those sold by respondents.

PAR. 7. The use by the respondents of the aforesaid false, misleading and deceptive statements, representations and practices has had, and now has, the capacity and tendency to mislead members of the purchasing public into the erroneous and mistaken belief that said statements and representations were and are true and into the purchase of substantial quantities of respondents products by reason of said erl'neous and mistaken belief. PAR. 8. The aforesaid acts and practices of respondents, as herein alleged, were and are aU to the prejudice and injury of the public and of respondents' competitors and constituted, and now constitute, unfair methods of competition in commerce and unfair 2nd deceptive acts and practices in commerce, in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. DECISION AND ORDER The Federal Trade Commission havin!; initiated an investi!;ation of certain acts and practices of the respondents named in the caption hereof, and the respondents havin!; been furnished thereafter with a copy of a draft of complaint which the Bureau of Deceptive Practices proposed to present to the Commission for its consideration and which, jf issuerl by the Commission, would char!;e respondents with violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act; and The respondents and counsel for the Commission having there- Decision and Order 70 F. T. after executed an agreement containing a consent order, an admission by the respondents of a1l the jurisdictional facts set forth in the aforesaid draft of complaint, a statement that the signing of said agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the respondents that the law has been violated as alleged in such complaint, and waivers and provisions as required by the Commission s rules: and The Commission, having reason to believe that the respondents have violated the Federal Trade Commission Act, and having determined that complaint should issue stating its charges in that respect, hereby issues its complaint, accepts said agreement makes the following jurisdictional findings, and enters the following order:

1. Respondent Powers & Company, Inc., is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, with its principal offce and place of business located 5929 Woodland Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Respondents Mabel C. Powers, Edwin T. Oscarson and Jack Loman are offcers of said corporation. The address of Mabel C. Powers and Jack Loman is the same as that of said corporation. The address of Edwin T, Oscarson is 7310 Central Avenue, River Forest, Ilinois, 2. The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction of the subj ect matter of this proceeding and of the respondents, and the proceeding is in the public interest.

ORDER It is ordel' That respondents Powers & Company, Inc. , a corporation, and its offcers, and Mabel C. Powers, Edwin T. Oscarson and Jack Loman, individual1ly and as offcers of said corporation, and respondents' agents, representatives, and employees, directly or through any corporate or other device, in connection with the advertising, offering for sale, sale, or distribution of tents, tarpaulins, or other merchandise, in commerce, as "commerce" is defined in the Federal Trade Commission Act, do forthwith cease and desist from;

1, Advertising, disseminating or distributing any purported retail price unless (a) it is respondents' bona fide estimate of the actual retail price of the product in the area where respondents do business, and (b) it does not apprecia- CAMEL MANUFACTURING CO. ET AL. 1091 los7 Complaint bly exceed the highest price at which substantial sales of said product are made in said trade area. 2. Misrepresenting in any manner the prices at which respondents' merchandise is sold at retail. 3. Furnishing to others any means or instrumentalities whereby the purchasing public may be misled as to the retail prices of respondents' products.

It is further 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 this order.