Attorney General's News Release

March 6, 2000

Nixon obtains more than $600,000 for Missouri as part of national settlement over alleged price-fixing of shoes

Jefferson City, Mo. — Missouri will receive $603,000 to use for women's health, educational, vocational, and safety programs as its share of a $34 million national settlement with shoe manufacturer Nine West Group Inc., Attorney General Jay Nixon announced today.

The proposed settlement, filed in federal court in New York today, would resolve allegations by Nixon and 49 other state Attorneys General that Nine West, of White Plains, N.Y., entered into illegal agreements with shoe retailers to fix the retail price of women's shoes. State and federal authorities claimed that as a result of the agreements, consumers were denied an open and competitive market for certain Nine West shoes and, therefore, paid higher prices for those shoes.

The Attorneys General and the Federal Trade Commission uncovered evidence that various Nine West divisions, including Easy Spirit, Enzo Angiolini, and Nine West, engaged in illegal vertical resale price maintenance between January 1988 and July 1999 by prohibiting retailers from discounting certain shoes. Price-fixing is illegal under both federal and state antitrust laws.

The government claimed that Nine West's illegal price-fixing included the distribution of lists of shoes that could not be discounted by retailers outside of time periods dictated by Nine West. The company allegedly granted discounts to cooperating retailers and withheld discounts or threatened to cancel or refuse to take orders from companies that did not comply.

Under the terms of the settlement, Nine West Group has agreed to:

• Refrain from agreements or business practices during the next five years that are designed to influence or control the price at which retailers chose to sell Nine West products to consumers;
• Notify each of its dealers and retailers that it is their right to independently determine the price at which they wish to advertise and sell Nine West products;
• Pay $34 million into a settlement fund. Under the terms of the settlement, the states will use their respective shares of the settlement for women's health, educational, vocational, and safety programs. Missouri is expected to receive $603,000 from the settlement fund for those programs.

The settlement resolves the lawsuit but allows the court to retain jurisdiction in overseeing the terms of the settlement agreement.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818