ALBANY, N.Y. -- The adage that Macy's doesn't tell Gimbel's its business didn't hold true in the lucrative world of bridal registries and tableware sales, according to a settlement announced Tuesday. Federated Department Stores, which operates Lazarus, Macy's and Bloomingdale's; May Department Stores, which owns Kaufmann's and Lord & Taylor; tableware-maker Lenox Inc.; and crystal manufacturer Waterford Wedgwood crystal will pay $2.9 million in civil penalties to the state of New York under the settlement with Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The companies are accused of conspiring to restrict competition by the national retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond by keeping it from selling Lenox and Waterford products. The result, Spitzer said, was to restrict consumers' choice of the products popular in bridal registries at the lower-cost retail chain, although no cost to consumers has been calculated. "This hurts consumers by preventing the very kind of competition that we depend upon to keep prices down and increase consumer choice," Spitzer said. "When two companies conspire to prevent a third retailer from offering the same products, knowing that would drive prices down, the two retailers are conspiring to keep that price up." Gimbel's competed fiercely with Macy's for the early department store trade in New York City. The last Gimbel's store closed in 1987. The competition prompted the often repeated business phrase about the need to keep retail strategy confidential: "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?" The case dates to 2001 when Bed, Bath & Beyond sought to introduce Lenox and Waterford products as "anchors" for the company's new tableware department. Federated and May allegedly pressured Lenox and Waterford to pull out of the Bed, Bath & Beyond rollout, Spitzer said. Federated will pay civil penalties of $900,000 and May will pay $800,000; while Lenox and Waterford will pay $700,000 and $500,000, respectively. The companies also agreed to reforms. Federated and May department stores admitted no guilt in the settlement. Federated "agreed to a $900,000 settlement in order to avoid the potential of protracted court action and the unnecessary distraction to its business that could result from such action," according to the company's statement. "We admit no liability and the suit has been settled to both parties' satisfaction," said Sharon Batemen of the May company. "Without admission of liability, Waterford-Wedgwood has settled for $500,000," said the spokesman for the Ireland-based company, Michael Dennehy. "No further action in the matter will be undertaken by the authorities." Bed, Bath & Beyond, based in Union, N.J., now carries Lenox and Wedgwood products "and we continue to expand the mix," said Michael Callahan of Bed, Bath & Beyond. He declined to discuss specific allegations by Spitzer. "Lenox neither admits nor challenges Spitzer's accusations," said company spokesman Phil Lynch. He said Lenox didn't participate in Bed, Bath & Beyond's campaign in 2001, but after Lenox saw the results and did its own research, the firm provided products to the retail chain beginning in 2002, he said. "The prices are relatively comparable," Lynch said. Now Lenox sells its product in 15 Bed, Bath & Beyond stores.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---