Jewell Myers, Inc

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IN THE iUXl"TER OF JE\VELL l\IYERS, INC., ET AL.

CONSENT ORDER, ETC., IN REGARD TO THE ..ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE FED- ERAL TRADE CO:\DIISSION AND THE Frn. PROD1TTS LABELING ACTS Docket 0-1290. Complaint, Jan. 22, 1968-Dcei.sion, Jan. , 1968 Consent order requiring a )Iemphis, Tenn., retail furrier to cease falsely advertising and deceptively inyoidng- its fur products and failing to maintain required records.

CO)IPLAIKT Pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Fur Products Labeling Act, and by virtue of the authority 112 FEDERAL TRADE COl\IMISSIOX DECISIONS' Complaint 73 F.

vested in it by said Acts, the Federal Trade Commission, having reaSOll to believe that Jewell :J\iyers, Inc. , a corporation, and l\lrs. Jewell .l\'Iyers, individually and as an officer or said corporation, hereina.iter Teferrec1 to as respondents, have violated the provisions of said Acts and the Rules and Regulations promulgated under the Fur Products Labeling Act, and it appearing to the Comlnission that a proceeding by it in respect thereor would be in the public interest, hereby issues its complaint stating its charges in that respect as follows: PARAGRAPH 1. Respondent J ewelllHye.rs, Inc., is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtl1~e. of the laws or the. State of Tennessee. Respondent :Mrs. ,Jewell :J\1yers is an officer or the corporate respondent. She formulates, directs and controls the acts, practices and policies of the said corporate respondent including those hereinafter set forth.

Respondents are retailers of fur products with their office and prin- Cipal place of business located at 1731 Union Avenue, MemphisTennessee.PAR. 2. Respondents are now, and for some time last past have been engaged in the introduction into commerce, and in the sale, advertising, and offering for sale in eommeree, and in the transportation and ,distribution in commerce, of fur products; and have sold, advertised, offered for sale, transported and distributed fur products which have been made in whole or in part of furs which have been shipped and received in commerce, as the terms "commerce " "fur" and "fur product" are defined in the Fur Products Labeling Act. PAR. 3. Certain of said fur products were falsely 'and deceptively invoiced by the respondents in that they were not invoiced as required by Section 5 (b) (1) of the Fur Products Labeling Act and the Rules and Regulations promulgated under such Act. Among such falsely and deceptively invoiced fur products, but not limited thereto, were fur products covered by invoices which failed to show the true animalmune. of the fur used in any such fur product.. PAR. 4. Certain of said fur products were falsely and deceptively invoiced in violation of the. Fur Products Labeling Act in that they were not invoiced in accordance with the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder inasmuch as the term "natural" was not used on invoices to describe fur products which were not pointed, bleached dyed, tip-dyed, or otherwise artificially colored, in violation of Rule 19 (g) of said Rules and Regulations.

JEWELL l\-ITERS, INC., ET AL. 113, 111 Complaint PAR. 5. Certain of said fur products were falsely and deceptively advertised in violation of the Fur Products Labeling Act in that certain advertisements intended to aid, promote and assist, directly or indirectly, in the sale and offering for sale of such fur products were not in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 (a) of the said Act. AInong and included in the aforesaid advertisements but not limited thereto, were advertisements of respondents which appeared in issues of The COlmnercial Appeal, a newspaper published in the city of l\1emphis, State of Tennessee and having a wide circulation in Tennessee and other States of the United States.

AInong such false and deceptive advertisements but not limited thereto, were advertisements of respondents which.h represented: through such statments as "reductions 20% to 40%" that prices of fur products were reduced in direct proportion to the percentages. stated frolll the former bona fide prices at which the respondents offered the fur products to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time in the recent regular course of business and that the amount of said reductions afforded savings to the pure-hasers of respondents' products when in fact. such prices were not reduced in direct proportion to the said percentages stated and the represented. savings were not thereby afforded to the said purchasers, in violation of Section 5 (a) (5) of the Fur Products Labeling Act. PAR. 6. By means of the aforesaid advertisements and others of similar import and meaning not specifically referred to herein, respondents falsely and deceptively advertised fur products in violation of the Fur Products Labeling Act in that the said fur products were not advertised in accordance with the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder inasmuch as the term "natural" was not used to describe fur products which were not pointed, bleached, dyed, tip-dyed or otherwise artificially colored, in violation of Rule 19 (g) of the Rules. and Regulations.

. PAn. 7. In advertising fur products for sale, as aforesaid, respondents made pricing-claims and representations of the types covered by subsections (a), (b), (c) and (cl) of Rule 44 of the Regulations under the Fur Products Labeling Act. Respondents in making such claims and representations failed to maintain full and adequate records disclosing the facts upon which sllch claims and representations were based, in violation of Rule 44 ( e) of said R.ules and Regulations. PAR. 8. The aforesaid acts and practices of respondents, as herein alleged, are in violation of the Fur Products Labeling Act and the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder and constitute unfair methods of competition and unfair and deceptive acts and practices in COlllmerce under the Federal Trade Commiss1ion Act. , ,, Order 73 F.

DECISION AND ORDER The Federal Trade Commission having initiated an in,-estigation of certain acts and practices of the respondents name.d in the caption hereof, and the respondents having been furnished thereafte.r with a copy of 11 draft. of c.complaint which the Bureau of Textiles and Furs proposed to present to the Commission for its consideration and which if issued by the Commission ould charge respondents with violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Fur Products Labeling Act; and The respondents and counsel for the Commission ha ,-iug therea after executed an agreement containing a consent order, an admission by the respondents of all 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 respondents that. the law has been violated as alleged in such complaint, and Traivel'S and other provisions as required by the Commission s Rules; and The Commission having thereafter considered the matter and having determined that it had reason to believe that the respondents ha,violated the said Ads, and that complaint should issue stating its charges in that respect, and ha,-ing thereupon accepted the executed consent agreement and placed such agreeme.nt on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days, now in further conformity with the procedure prescribed in S 2.34 (b) of its Rules, the Commission hereby issues its complaint, makes the following jurisdictional findings, and enters the follo,yin~r order:

1. Respondent .Jewell 1\1Y8rs, Inc. , is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Tennessee, ,,-ith its office and principal place of business located at 1731 l7union Avenue, :Memphis, Tennessee. Respondent 1\1rs. I ewelll\Iyers is an officer of said corporation and her address is the same as that of said corpora tion. 2. .The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction or the subject matter oft-his proceeding and of the respondents, and the proceeding is in the public interest.

ORDER 1 t is O1'(leJ'ed That respondents Jewell Thlyers, Inc., a corporation and its officers, and ~1rs. Jewell :Myers, individually and as an officer of said corporation, and respondents' representatives, agents and employees directly or through any coll)orate or other device, in conneetion with the introduction, into commerce, or the sale advertisjl1g or JEWELL MYERS, IXC. , ET AL. 115 111 Order offering for sale in commerce, or the transportation or distribution in commerce, of any fur product; or in connection ,,"ith the sale, advertising, offering for sale, transportation or distribution of any fur produet which is made in whole or in part of fur ,,-which has been shipped and received in commerce, as the. terms "commerce fur" and "fur product" are defined in the Fur Products Labeling Act, do forthwith cease and desist from:

A... Falsely or deceptively invoicing any fur product by: 1. Failing to furnish an invoice: as the term ';invoice" is defined in the Fur Products Labeling-Act, shmying in ,words and figures plainly legible all the information required to be disclosed by each of the subsections of Section 5 (b) (1) of the Fur Products Labeling Act.

2. Failing to set forth the term '; natural" as part of the information required to be dise.losec1 on an inyoiee under the Fur Products' Labeling Act and Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder to describe such fur product which is not pointed, bleached, dyed, tip-dyed, or otherwise artificallv colored.

B. Falsely or deceptively ach"ertising fur produc.ts through the 118e of any advertisement, representation, public announcement or notice which is intended to aid, promote or assist, directly or indirec.tly, in the sale, or oflering for sale of such fur products, and '\T which :

1. l\Iisrepresents directly or by implication through percentage savings claims that the prices of such fur produc.ts are reduced in direct proportion to the percentages stated from the pric.es at which such fur products have been sold or offered for sale in good faith by the respondents in the recent regular course of their business, or otherwise misrepresents the price at ,,-which the fur products have been sold, or offered for sale by respondents.

2. Falsely represents that savings are afforded to purchasers of respondents' fur products or misrepresents in any manner the amount of savings available to the purchasers of such fur products.

3. Fails to set forth the term " natural" as part of the information required to be disclosed in advertisements under the Fur Products Labeling Act and the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder to describe such fur products which are not pointed, bleached, dyed, tip-dyed, or otherwise artificially colored.

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Complaint 73 F.

C. Failing to maintain full and adequate records disc.losing the facts upon which pricing claims and representations of the types described in subsections (a), (b), (c) and (d) of Rule 44 of the Rules and Regulations promulgated under the Fur Products Labeling Act, are based.

I t is fu'J'that 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 ancl form in which they have complied with this order.