Batus, Inc

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

IN THE MATTER OF BATUS INC.

MODIFYING ORDER, ETC. , IN REGARD TO ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT AND SEC. 7 OF THE CLAYTON ACT Docket C-309.9. Consent Order, Dee, 1982-Modifying Order, Nov. 13, 1984 This Order reopens the proceeding and modifies the divestiture order issued against a department store operator, 100 F. C, 553 (1982), which required the company to divest department stores sutIcient to reduce its floor space by 200,000 square feet and its sales volume by $20 milion, as measured by 1981 sales. To date, the operator has received Commission approval for divestitures totalling 492 000 square feet and $17.9 milion in 1981 sales, and has petitioned for modification of the Order stating that any further divestiture would "account for substantially more than $20 million in 1981 sales. " Following an examination of the record and the company s plan of divestiture, the Commission concluded that the company had made a good faith compliance effort and that divestiture ofa much larger store to satisfy the remaining $2,1 milion sales volume requirement was not in the public interest, Therefore, Paragraph II of the original Order has been modified by substituting for the phrase in the first sentence reading "in an amount not less than $20 million as measured by fiscal 1981 sales" the phrase "in an amount not less than $17.9 millon aB measured by fiscal 1981 sales. ORDER REOPENING PROCEEDING AND MODIFYING ORDER By petition fied July 17, 1984, respondent BATUS Incorporated ("Batus ) requests, pursuant, to Section 5(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U. C. 45(b)), that Paragraph II of the Commission s Order issued in this matter on December 6, 1982 (100 F. 553), be modified so that Batus wil not be required to make further divestitures to reach the $20 millon sales volume stan dard set out in Paragraph II ofthe Order. Pursuant to Section 2.51 of the Commission s Rules of Practice and Procedure, the petition was placed on the public record for thirty days. No comments were received. The order required Batus to divest department stores in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin SMSA suffcient to reduce its floor space by 200 000 square feet and its sales volume by $20 million, as measured by 1981 sales. To date Batus has received Commission approval for divestitures totallng 492 000 square feet and $17.9 milion in 1981 sales. The Commission has reviewed Batus' plan of compliance with the divestiture requirements of the Order, including its selection of stores, and the efforts undertaken to fulfill its obligations and believes Batus has made a good faith eflort to accomplish full compliance with the Order. The record also demonstrates that sale of an additional store having a 1981 sales volume in the range of $2.1 milion to a Dft.! uu 632 Modifying Order viable competitor is unlikely. Given Batus' good faith compliance effort and the degree of divestiture already obtained, we believe that it is not in the public interest to require a divestiture of a much larger store to satisfy the remaining $2.1 milion sales volume requirement. Therefore, we find that modification of certain language in Paragraph II of the order is in the public interest.

Accordingly, it is ordered that the proceeding be, and it hereby is, reopened for the purpose of modifying the Order entered therein; It is further ordered That Paragraph II is amended by substituting in lieu of the phrase at the end of the first sentence which reads: in an amount not less than $20 milion as measured by fiscal 1981 sales. the phrase in an amount not less than $17.9 millon as measured by fiscal 1981 sales, Modifying Order 104 F.T.C.