Cengage Advantage Books: Foundations of the Legal Environment of Business 3rd Edition by Marianne Jennings

تمرين 1

Department 56 is a company that manufactures and sells collectible Christmas village houses and other replica items to allow collectors to create the whimsical "Snow Village" town or "Dickens Christmas." Department 56 has only authorized dealers. Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., began selling Department 56 pieces from The Heritage Village Collection.
Susan Engel, president and CEO of Department 56, attempted to contact Wal-Mart because it is not an authorized Department 56 dealer. Wal-Mart did not respond, and Ms. Engel sent a letter by FedEx to National Collector clubs that contained the following language:
Sam's Club should not have any Department 56 merchandise. In a marketing environment where most companies are fighting to get their merchandise into the Wal-Marts of the world, we are fighting to get our merchandise out. While we recognize there is surely a place for mass market and warehouse stores, Department 56 Villages enjoy a strong heritage of dealer sales and service support. Our products simply do not fit the warehouse-style selling environment of Sam's Club.
Of strong importance to us-and we hope to you too-is the tradition of selling our villages through an exclusive dealer network made up almost entirely of independent retailers. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and its subsidiaries are predators on these hard-working individuals. Sales of our products mean virtually nothing to the bottom line of a company the size of Wal-Mart. But to many of our loyal dealers, healthy Department 56 product sales mean survival.
Do you really need to shop at Sam's Club or Wal- Mart? Let's refuse to purchase villages or any other products from local Wal-Mart owned stores.
The letter asked collector club members to write to Wal-Mart executives and local store managers. Names, mailing addresses, and telephone and fax numbers were offered.
Has Ms. Engel violated any laws? How do you think Sam's Club obtained the Department 56 products? Evaluate Ms. Engel's conduct in sending out the letter. Were her statements about Wal-Mart and calls to action fair? Ethical? Should Wal-Mart respond? If so, how?