The bad blood between Macy’s Inc. and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. continues to boil.
As expected after Macy’s sued Martha Stewart Living on Jan. 23 claiming the media and merchandising company breached its contract with the retailer when it entered into an agreement with J.C. Penney Co., Macy’s yesterday asked New York Supreme Court Justice Jeffery Oing to issue a preliminary injunction against Martha Stewart Living.
According to court documents, Macy’s lawyers said the agreement gives it the exclusive right to make and sell Martha Stewart products in certain categories, as well as the right to refuse to make and sell other products within Macy’s product line. Additionally, Macy’s said it previously had renewed its 2006 pact for Martha Stewart products through 2018.
In December 2011, after taking a large stake in Martha Stewart Living, J.C. Penney announced it would start selling Martha Stewart Living products in 2013.
The court documents went on to say that the injunction is necessary to prevent Macy’s from “suffering immediate, continuing and incalculable harm as a result of the unexplained and unlawful breach by defendant Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (MSO) of its exclusive license to Macy’s,” Bloomberg reported.
Jeanne Meyer, a spokeswoman for Martha Stewart Living, told Bloomberg that the company values its relationship with Macy’s, and is confident that it hasn’t breached the terms of the agreement.
‘‘MSLO believes it’s good for our partners, our consumers and our brand to have a wide range of Martha Stewart products available in a variety of top retailers and we structure all of our commercial agreements with this strategy in mind,” Meyer said.
