Carson Pirie Scott & Co.

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

CARSON PIRIE SCOTT & CO. 1407

Complaint

IN THE MATTER OF

CARSON PIRIE SCOTT & CO.

CONSENT ORDER, ETC., IN REGARD TO THE ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AND THE TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCTS IDEN- TIFICATION ACTS

Docket C-728. Complaint, Mar. 26, 1964—Decision, Mar. 26, 1964

Consent order requiring a Chicago department store to cease violating the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act by failing to label textile fiber products with the required information; failing, in newspaper advertising, to set forth the true generic names of the fibers contained in products represented to be "velvet", "terry", "percale", etc.; and failing in other respects to make disclosures required by the Act.

COMPLAINT

Pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, and by virtue of the authority vested in it by said Acts, the Federal Trade Commission, having reason to believe that Carson Pirie Scott & Co., a corporation, hereinafter referred to as respondent, has violated the provisions of the said Acts and the Rules and Regulations promulgated under the Textile Fiber Products Identification 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 Carson Pirie Scott & Co., is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Illinois, with its office and principal place of business located at One South State Street, Chicago, Illinois.

The respondent is primarily a retail department store engaged in selling and distributing clothing, housewares and general department store items to the general public. The respondent also acts as a wholesaler in regard to certain products among which are floor coverings.

PAR. 2. Subsequent to the effective date of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act of March 3, 1960, respondent has been and is now engaged in the introduction, delivery for introduction, sale, advertising, and offering for sale, in commerce, and in the transportation or causing to be transported in commerce, and in the importation into the United States, of textile fiber products; and has sold, offered for sale, advertised, delivered, transported, and caused to be transported textile fiber products, which have been advertised or offered

Complaint 64 F.T.C.

for sale in commerce; and has sold, offered for sale, advertised, delivered, transported, and caused to be transported, after shipment in commerce, textile fiber products, either in their original state or contained in other textile fiber products; as the terms “commerce” and “textile fiber product” are defined in the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act.

PAR. 3. Certain of said textile fiber products were misbranded by respondent in that they were not stamped, tagged, labeled, or otherwise identified to show any of the information required under the provisions of Section 4(b) of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, and the Rules and Regulations promulgated under said Act.

PAR. 4. Certain of said textile fiber products which were manufactured specifically for particular customers after the sale of such products was effected from labeled samples, swatches or specimens and which products were not accompanied by an invoice or other paper showing the information otherwise required to appear on a label affixed to the product, were misbranded in that they were not labeled with the information required by the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and the Rules and Regulations thereunder, in violation of Section 4(b) of such Act and Rule 21(b) of the aforesaid Rules and Regulations.

PAR. 5. Certain of said textile fiber products were falsely and deceptively advertised in that respondent in making disclosures or implications as to the fiber content of such textile fiber products in written advertisements used to aid, promote, and assist directly or indirectly in the sale or offering for sale of said products, failed to set forth the required information as to fiber content as specified by Section 4(c) of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and in the manner and form prescribed by the Rules and Regulations promulgated under said Act.

Among such textile fiber products, but not limited thereto, were textile fiber products falsely and deceptively advertised by means of advertisements inserted in the Chicago Daily Tribune, the Chicago American, and other newspapers published in Chicago, Illinois, in that such advertisements contained representations and implications of fiber content by means of the use of such terms, among others but not limited thereto, as “velvet”, “terry”, “percale”, “sateen”, “flannelette”, “antron”, “Dacron”, “Lycra”, “crepe”, without the true generic names of the fibers contained in such textile fiber products being set forth.

PAR. 6. Certain of said textile fiber products were falsely and deceptively advertised in violation of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act in that they were not advertised in accordance with the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder.

CARSON PIRIE SCOTT & CO. 1409

1407 Decision and Order

Among such textile fiber products, but not limited thereto, were textile fiber products which were falsely and deceptively advertised in the following respects by means of advertisements placed by the respondent in the Chicago Daily Tribune, the Chicago American, and other newspapers published in Chicago, Illinois in that: A. In disclosing the required fiber content information as to floor coverings containing exempted backings, fillings, or paddings, such disclosure was not made in such a manner as to indicate that such required fiber content information related only to the face, pile, or outer surface of the floor covering and not to the backing, filling, or padding, in violation of Rule 11 of the aforesaid Rules and Regulations. B. A fiber trademark was used in advertising textile fiber products without a full disclosure of the fiber content information required by the said advertisement, in violation of Rule 41(a) of the aforesaid Rules and Regulations. C. A fiber trademark was used in advertising textile fiber products containing only one fiber and such fiber trademark did not appear at least once in the said advertisement, in immediate proximity and conjunction with the generic name of the fiber in plainly legible and conspicuous type, in violation of Rule 41(c) of the aforesaid Rules and Regulations. PAR. 7. The acts and practices of the respondent as set forth above were, and are, in violation of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder, and constituted, and now constitute unfair methods of competition and unfair and deceptive acts or practices, in commerce, under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

DECISION AND ORDER

The Commission having heretofore determined to issue its complaint charging the respondent named in the caption hereof with violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, and the respondent having been served with notice of said determination and with a copy of the complaint the Commission intended to issue, together with a proposed form of order; and The respondent and counsel for the Commission having thereafter executed an agreement containing a consent order, an admission by respondent of all the jurisdictional facts set forth in the complaint to issue herein, a statement that the signing of said agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by respondent that the law has been violated as set forth in such com-

Decision and Order 64 F.T.C.

plaint, and waivers and provisions as required by the Commission's rules; and The Commission, having considered the agreement, hereby accepts same, issues its complaint in the form contemplated by said agreement, makes the following jurisdictional findings, and enters the following order: 1. Respondent Carson Pirie Scott & Co., is a corporation organized, existing and doing business under and by virtue of the laws of the State of Illinois, with its office and principal place of business located at One South State Street, Chicago, Illinois. 2. The Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction of the subject matter of this proceeding and of the respondent, and the proceeding is in the public interest.

ORDER

It is ordered, That respondent Carson Pirie Scott & Co., a corporation, and its officers and respondent's representatives, agents and employees, directly or through any corporate or other device, in connection with the introduction, delivery for introduction, sale, advertising, or offering for sale, in commerce, or the transportation or causing to be transported in commerce, or the importation into the United States, of any textile fiber product; or in connection with the sale, offering for sale, advertising, delivery, transportation, or causing to be transported, of any textile fiber product which has been advertised or offered for sale in commerce; or in connection with the sale, offering for sale, advertising, delivery, transportation, or causing to be transported, after shipment in commerce, of any textile fiber product, whether in its original state or contained in other textile fiber products, as the terms "commerce" and "textile fiber product" are defined in the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, do forthwith cease and desist from: A. Misbranding textile fiber products by:

1. Failing to affix labels to such textile fiber products showing in a clear, legible, and conspicuous manner each element of information required to be disclosed by Section 4(b) of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act. 2. Failing to label textile fiber products with the information required by such Act and the Rules and Regulations promulgated thereunder where the sale of such products is effected by means of properly labeled samples, swatches or specimens and such products are manufactured specifically for a particular customer after the sale is consummated and are not accompanied by an invoice or other paper show-

CLARISE INTERNATIONAL CO., INC., ET AL. 1411

1407 Syllabus

ing the information otherwise required to appear on the label. B. Falsely and deceptively advertising textile fiber products by: 1. Making any representations, by disclosure or by implication, as to the fiber contents of any textile fiber product in any written advertisement which is used to aid, promote, or assist, directly or indirectly in the sale or offering for sale of such textile fiber product, unless the same information required to be shown on the stamp, tag, label, or other means of identification under Sections 4(b)(1) and (2) of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act is contained in the said advertisement, except that the percentages of the fibers present in the textile fiber product need not be stated. 2. Failing to disclose the required fiber content information as to floor coverings containing exempted backings, fillings, or paddings, in such a manner as to indicate that such fiber content information relates only to the face, pile, or outer surface of the floor covering and not to the backing, filling or padding. 3. Using a fiber trademark in advertisements without a full disclosure of the required content information in at least one instance in the said advertisement. 4. Using a fiber trademark in advertising textile fiber products containing only one fiber without such fiber trademark appearing at least once in the advertisement, in immediate proximity and conjunction with the generic name of the fiber, in plainly legible and conspicuous type. It is further ordered, That the respondent herein shall, within sixty (60) days after service upon it of this order, file with the Commission a report in writing setting forth in detail the manner and form in which it has complied with this order.

IN THE MATTER OF