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Florida retailer sues Ethan Allen

Claims company wrongfully terminated relationship

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 11, 2008

STUART, Fla. — Ethan Allen licensee Treasure Coast Interiors of Florida has sued Ethan Allen for breach of contract, saying the company wrongfully terminated the business relationship after 13 years.

The suit was filed Sept. 14 in a Florida Circuit Court in Martin County. Treasure Coast’s attorneys only announced the lawsuit today, coinciding with liquidation sales at the three affected Ethan Allen showrooms in Stuart, Vero Beach and Melbourne, Fla.

The law firm said Treasure Coast is seeking damages of $500 million lawsuit. The court complaint is less specific, saying the damages sought are in excess of $15,000.

According to the complaint, in or about 1992, Ethan Allen “heavily solicited” Treasure Coast President Nicholas Mariano Jr. to open the first Ethan Allen store in Stuart “because of his excellent reputation in the furniture industry and his reputation for hard work and integrity.” The complaint said the company promised that Treasure Coast would be the exclusive dealer in Stuart, Vero Beach and Melbourne, Fla., where Mariano opened stores, as long as it complied with Ethan Allen’s standard.

But this past summer, Danbury, Conn.-based Ethan Allen “abruptly and wrongfully breached its contractual obligations with Treasure Coast by terminating” the relationship without good cause or reasonable notice, the suit said.

“Other Ethan Allen retailers nationally appear to have experienced the same fate,” Treasure Coast’s attorneys said in a release. “The number of independent retailers has been significantly reduced in the last year alone.”

Treasure Coast attorney Willie Gary said in the release that “Ethan Allen’s actions were flat out wrong and they know it.” Gary said Mariano has been forced into selling his remaining inventories for pennies on the dollar.

Planned Furniture Promotions has been hired to assist with the liquidation.

Peg Lupton, spokeswoman for Ethan Allen, said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation, “except to state that the company is confident that this case is without merit.”

“Ethan Allen has set standards of operation that focus on providing a consistent customer experience,” she said. “It is only after providing a retailer the opportunity to meet these standards, including marketing and customer service standards, that the company takes such action to protect the brand and its customers.”

According to the complaint, Ethan Allen argues that Treasure Coast has breached its contract with Ethan Allen. But the lawsuit called this a false accusation and an attempt “to justify the conversion of another’s business and property to its own use.”

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Florida retailer sues Ethan Allen

Mar 2, 2008

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