Lowenstern v. Stop & Shop

2 Mass. Supp. 830
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedOctober 21, 1981
DocketNo. 79-6792
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Mass. Supp. 830 (Lowenstern v. Stop & Shop) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lowenstern v. Stop & Shop, 2 Mass. Supp. 830 (Mass. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

Plaintiff brings this action claiming defendant’s refusal on April 4, 1979, to honor a number of “rain checks” held by plaintiff caused plaintiff’s business to collapse. Plaintiff cast his original complaint as a breach of a contract suit for the difference between the price, on the rain check and the average selling price, or $2459.28. By amendment thereafter, plaintiff added a Count II based on G.L. c. 93A, alleging unfair and deceptive trade practices.

Defendant denied the relevant allegations, alleging as a counterclaim that plaintiff purchased merchandise by means of “rain checks” through fraud, deceit and misrepresentation, and, by amended second counterclaim, the plaintiff was guilty of unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive trade practices contrary to G.L. c. 93A. Defendant in its amended answer alleged that the rain checks had been revoked prior to April 4, 1979, were not valid after three months maximum, and that plaintiff, alleging himself to be a consumer, failed, at least thirty (30) days prior to the filing of his action, to make a written demand for relief on defendant pursuant to G.L. c. 93A, § 9.

The action was instituted in the First District Court of Southern Middlesex, Small Claims, on May 21, 1979, transferred to its regular Civil Docket on June 13, 1979, and removed to this Court on December 28, 1979, after plaintiff’s amended complaint under G.L. c. 93A.

The case was submitted on agreed Exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and on testimony on behalf of plaintiff, from plaintiff and his present wife, formerly Jodi Webber, and for defendant on testimony of Tina Kingston, Debbie Steacie, Rose Dauer, Robert Brenner, Paul Kane and Linda Ricpi.

The case was briefed and argued by counsel. The Court makes the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Defendant Stop & Shop Companies, Inc. operates a number of retail general merchandise stores throughout greater Boston under the name of Bradlees.

2. Bradlees advertises broadly its sale items through newspaper circ.ulars and newspaper ads.

3. Bradlees has had for many years a policy of “rain checks”; i.e., if during the life of the circular or ads the supply runs out, the customer is issued a rain check including his name, telephone number, the date, sale price, quantity and item sought, signed by an agent of the store, which he can later present to the store at the sale price. See Exhibit 1.

4. Bradlees during the years in question had a policy applicable to all its stores with respect to solicitations by charities, that they should be referred to the management in the store, whether seeking cash contributions or merchandise, Exhibit 6.

5. The Framingham Bradlees opened in 1975. The policy established by its manager, with respect to rain checks, was that there could be a maxinium of 25 of the items sought without special approval by the management of the store.

6. Plaintiff James Lowenstem, now 26, in December, 1977, noting that Bradlees’ prices on popular records were substantially below average retail market, conceived the idea of going into a wholesale record business, buying records from Bradlees and reselling them to retail stores, making a profit of his own. He called his business Geodisc, operating from his home in Ashland.

A. Plaintiff’s Business through 1978.

7. Plaintiff made his first purchase from Bradlees in December, 1977, in the [833]*833amount of $323.17, see Exhibit 4 and analysis of Exhibit 4 marked Exhibit C for identification, a copy annexed hereto.

8. In January, 1978, plaintiff purchased $204.60 from Bradlees of a total of purchases of $3159.90, and made his first sales that month of $1750.19. See Exhibit 4.

9. I infer that these purchases were made at the Woburn Bradlees store and that some records which plaintiff wanted were out of stock and plaintiff then obtained two rain checks for 20 copies of each of the two records at a price of-$3.88. See Exhibits IE and C. v

10. In February, 1978, plaintiff purchased no records from Bradlees, but $2933.88 from other sources and sold $2044.16.

11. In March, 1978, plaintiff bought $684.42 from Bradlees of a total purchase of $2320.89, and sold $2201.87. See Exhibit 4 and attached Exhibit C. *

12. In April, May and June of 1978 plaintiff made no purchases from Bradlees but bought respectively $452.19, $548.05, $2213.06 from other suppliers and sold, respectively, r $1649.90, $910.68 and $1153.19. See Exhibit C, annexed.

13. In July, 1978, plaintiff bought from Bradlees $30.84 of $1319.99 purchases and sold $1614.84, Éxhibit 4 and C.

14. Meanwhile on January 4, 1978, plaintiff obtained rain checks from the Watertown Bradlees for 115 of one record and 25 of another, both for $3.66. See Exhibit 1 and summary adopted from Exhibit B, Id., annexed (the dates on which counsel agreed were correct, though different in some cases from those on the rain checks, Exhibit 1).

15. The December, 1977, purchases were made by four checks dated December 3, 27, 29 and 30. See Exhibits 2C, D and F. See also tabulation of plaintiff’s checks marked A for identification, copy annexed.

16. Plaintiff’s first visit to the Framingham Bradlees appears to have been on February 18, 1978. I infer they were out of the records he sought and he obtained two rain checks, one for 11 records and the other for 15 records, both at $3.66. See Exhibits IF and G, and R annexed.

17. On March 4, 1978, defendant also went to the Dedham Bradlees and got rain checks for 21 copies of one record and 64 of another, both at $3.66. See Exhibits 1H and I, and B annexed.

18. On July 6, 1978, at Framingham plaintiff obtained a rain check for 86 copies of a record at $3.88. See Exhibits 1A and B annexed.

- 19; The total purchases from Bradlees through 1978 were $919.86 of a total overall purchase of $26,220.35 and total sales of $21,686.03. See C annexed.

20. Plaintiff never sought to redeem dny. of the foregoing rain checks.

B. Events in 2/79.

21. On February 19, 1979, plaintiff and his fiancee Jodi Webber went to the Framingham Bradlees and sought to buy from Rose Dauer, a clerk at the record department, 35 copies of a sale record for a total of $115.00. This would have had the result of cleaning out the entire stock. Dauer complained that the store would not be left with any for any other customer. Plaintiff persisted. Rose Dauer called the manager of the record department, Robert Brenner.

22. Brenner told plaintiffs that the store had to limit the sale in order to have some for other customers. Plaintiff told Brenner that he was buying for a nonprofit charitable organisation for orphans. When Brenner asked plaintiff for identification connecting him with the charity, plaintiff said he wanted to keep it quiet so no one would know about it. Brenner said plaintiff could buy 20, which would leave only 6 for other customers, and that if in the future plaintiff produced evidence he was acting for a charity he, Brenner, would try to help him, but that the store would not allow [834]*834plaintiff to purchase such large amounts as plaintiff wished in the future. Linda Ricci, Assistant Store Manager, was present during part of this conversation.

23.

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Bluebook (online)
2 Mass. Supp. 830, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lowenstern-v-stop-shop-masssuperct-1981.