F. J. Weddige Co. v. Pabst Sales Co.

109 N.E.2d 801, 349 Ill. App. 1, 1952 Ill. App. LEXIS 461
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 30, 1952
DocketGen. No. 10,615
StatusPublished

This text of 109 N.E.2d 801 (F. J. Weddige Co. v. Pabst Sales Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
F. J. Weddige Co. v. Pabst Sales Co., 109 N.E.2d 801, 349 Ill. App. 1, 1952 Ill. App. LEXIS 461 (Ill. Ct. App. 1952).

Opinion

Mr. Presiding Justice Dove

delivered the opinion of the court.

On October 21, 1948 Pabst Sales Company, a Delaware corporation, and therein referred to as “Pabst” and F. J. Weddige Company, an Illinois corporation, therein referred to as “distributor” entered into a written agreement which recited that Pabst was engaged in the business of selling Pabst beer and ale manufactured by Pabst Brewing Company and that Pabst desired to allot to distributor a certain territory and grant to distributor the right to sell Pabst beer and ale and by said instrument did grant unto the distributor the right to sell Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and ale to retailers or retail customers located in a described territory which included all of Kendall county and portions of Kane, De Kalb, Du Page and La Salle counties and the distributor agreed that it, as such distributor of Pabst products, would purchase from Pabst all products necessary to supply and satisfy the needs of distributors ’ customers and that the distributor would not purchase, sell or deal in any other beer or ale. The agreement then obligated Pabst not to ship any beer or ale to any person, firm or corporation for resale or use in said territory other than to distributor nor authorize any person, firm or corporation to ship or consign any beer or ale to any person, firm or corporation for resale or use in any place within the described territory, other than to the distributor prior to mailing, or otherwise sending or delivering, notice of intention to terminate said agreement, or receiving such notice from the distributor as provided in said agreement.

This agreement then provided that the distributor should maintain a place of business, warehouses, and adequate distribution facilities to properly service the customers of the distributor and carry an adequate stock of Pabst beer and ale to supply its trade, and then continued:

‘ ‘ 9. Either party may terminate this agreement at any time by sending to the other party a written notice of such intention at least three days prior to the date of such proposed termination, such notice to be sent either by telegraph, mail, or by other means of delivery. Immediately upon sending notice of termination by Pabst, or upon receipt by Pabst of such notice given by the distributor, Pabst may ship or deliver, or any distributor designated by Pabst may ship or deliver, beer and ale to any firm, person or corporation it desires in said territory. Any termination of this agreement shall, at the election of Pabst, operate as a cancellation of all orders for beer or ale which may have been placed with Pabst by distributor, whether, or not the beer or ale so ordered has been shipped prior to receipt of notice of such termination but shall in no way extinguish any indebtedness or liability or obligation of the distributor to Pabst.

“10. Upon the termination of this agreement Pabst shall, if lawfully authorized so to do, repurchase from the distributor and the distributor shall, if lawfully authorized so to do, sell to Pabst, all of the beer and ale purchased by distributor from Pabst and then on hand and in good condition in possession of the distributor, at the net price paid for same by distributor to Pabst, plus actual transportation charges paid by the distributor thereon, and plus any state tax actually paid by the distributor thereon, and plus the amount of the deposit, if any, paid by distributor to Pabst on the barrels, kegs, cases, or bottles containing such beer or ale; or, if directed so to do by Pabst, the distributor shall sell such beer and ale at said price to any other distributor who may be designated by Pabst. In either event, whether such beer and ale is repurchased by Pabst or sold by distributor to another distributor designated by Pabst as herein provided, payment therefor may be made, at the election of Pabst, by credit to distributor’s account to the extent of any balance that may be owed by distributor to Pabst. Upon the termination of this agreement the distributor shall immediately either return to Pabst, or deliver to another distributor designated by Pabst, as Pabst shall elect, any and all empty barrels, kegs, cases and bottles, received by distributor hereunder, and Pabst shall concurrently, at its election, either refund to the distributor or credit to his account the aggregate amount of any and all deposits made by the distributor to Pabst with respect thereto.

‘ ‘ 11. It is agreed that the rights of the distributor hereunder shall be personal to the distributor only, and shall not be assignable or transferable by the distributor, and that this agreement shall not be construed in any way to constitute the distributor an agent for Pabst for any purpose whatsoever, and the distributor, in selling, purchasing, or distributing said beer or ale shall be engaged in its own independent and entirely separate business.

‘ ‘ 12. This agreement supersedes all previous agreements between the parties hereto relating to the purchase, sale and distribution of said beer and ale. The parties agree that this agreement embodies all the terms, agreements and understandings between the parties hereto. It is further agreed that neither this contract nor any of the terms thereof may be changed or modified except in writing duly approved and signed by a proper corporate officer of Pabst, and that no agent of Pabst, except a proper corporate officer thereof, has any authority to contract for Pabst or bind Pabst upon any contract whatsoever.”

On October 26, 1951 Pabst, acting by and through its executive vice-president, dispatched, by registered mail to the distributor the following letter: ‘ ‘ This is to advise you that the agreement between us dated October 21, 1948, is hereby terminated, effective November 3, 1951. We regret that circumstances have made it necessary to change our distributing arrangements in your territory. ’ ’ This letter was duly received by the distributor on October 29, 1951.

On November 20, 1951 the distributor filed its verified complaint in the circuit court of Kane county. This complaint is voluminous and consists of sixty-six typewritten pages of the record. Among other things it alleged that in 1930, P. J. Weddige was engaged in a well and successfully established food-distributing business and at the solicitation of Pabst began the sale and distribution of Pabst Blue Label Malt and Near Beer, and thereafter began the sale and distribution of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and ale and continued as such distributor until 1948 at which time the P. J. Weddige Company, Inc. was organized as a corporation and succeeded to all the rights, title and business interest of said P. J. Weddige, who was the majority stockholder and president of said corporation and that the wholesale sale and distribution of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and ale has been carried on pursuant to successive written agreements, the most recent of which was the said agreement of the corporation and Pabst dated October 21, 1948.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
109 N.E.2d 801, 349 Ill. App. 1, 1952 Ill. App. LEXIS 461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/f-j-weddige-co-v-pabst-sales-co-illappct-1952.