RUST-OLEUM, Evanston, Ill., April 18, 1963. HOUSE INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE COMMITTEE, GENTLEMEN: We believe the quality stabilization bill is vital to our own company's activities-to enable us to continue to provide, through our independent distributors and independent dealers, the full measure of values added by distribution and related services which we feel are essential at the point of sale. We are also most anxious to insure that the ultimate consumer will receive the full maximum benefit from his purchases of our product, and to this end we believe it is essential that our product be sold in properly qualified establishments where the management and store personnel will be willing and able to spend the time to find out about customer's rust problems and give him proper information, guidance, and help. In the purchase price we provide something extra in margin to compensate the dealers for giving that extra effort to properly sell our goods, and to protect our reputation for quality and performance, and therefore also provide proper protection of our brand name Rust-Oleum. It is an especial deception on the public where a product like Rust-Oleum is offered in "bait merchandising," and so the bills, S. 774, and H.R. 3669 define and restrain certain unfair methods of distribution and promote quality and price stabilization on goods identified by distinguishing brand names and trademarks is in the vital public interest. We strongly support this bill, and urge its early enactment and passage. ROBERT A. FERGUSSON, President. AUTOMOTIVE WHOLESALERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW ENGLAND, INC., MR. W. E. WILLIAMSON, Clerk of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, House Office Building, Washington D.C. DEAR MR. WILLIAMSON: Speaking for our association, which consists of 371 independent automotive wholesalers and their branches throughout the 6 New England States, with a total employment of approximately 4,300 people servicing 45,000 retail accounts throughout New England, we ask that you include the enclosed statement in the records of the hearings on the quality stabilization bill, No. S. 774. Thanking you in advance for your cooperation in this matter. Very truly yours, R. J. HARRISON, Executive Secretary. The members of the Automotive Wholesalers Association of New England, Inc., consisting of 371 independent automotive wholesalers and their branches, feel very strongly toward the enactment of the quality stabilization bill, No. S. 774, for the following reasons: We feel that the enactment of this bill is of the most vital importance to the economic survival of our members (independent businessmen). Without the enactment of this bill, our members feel their very survival is in jeopardy, as every day more and more leading quality manufacturers' lines are being used by the discount houses as leaders, consequently destroying the price structure of these lines. PALM BEACH CO., Cincinnati Ohio, April 17, 1963. HOUSE INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE COMMITTEE, House Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIRS: Our board of directors again urges that you give the worthy manufacturers who think enough of a product to give it a name and a price that will stand up in a competitive industry the protection that the quality stabilization bill provides. Our company distributes Palm Beach suits and sportswear through 3,000 men's wear stores throughout the country, and employs approximately 3,500 people in 7 clothing plants. We wholeheartedly support the bill. We feel the need of the protection of the various provisions in the bill. We are seriously concerned about the future of our position in the industry if the predatory price cutters and schemers who use brand names as a means of attracting people to their stores and then switching them to inferior merchandise not worthy of a trade name and certainly not representing the value that they exaggerate so much and so often, are permitted to operate at will. The board of directors of Palm Beach Co. would be very grateful if you would incorporate this letter into the record of hearings on the quality stabilization bill being held by the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. Respectfully yours, ELMER L. WARD, Chairman of the Board and President. PRINCE GARDNER, MR. W. E. WILLIAMSON, St. Louis, Mo., April 16, 1963, Clerk, House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, DEAR MR. WILLIAMSON: It is my understanding that the quality stabilization bill hearings are set for April 23, 24, and 25. You will recall the statement I made in my letter of June 18, 1962, which you put in the Congressional Record, which was as follows: "We have spent a lifetime in Prince Gardner building an image of our name that is now in jeopardy because of the change in merchandising that the country is now going through and we have no recourse in the courts to protect that name unless this bill is passed and gives us such protection." I would certainly appreciate this statement being made a record again for the committee's consideration. Yours very truly, H. W. WHITEAKER, President. G. & C. MERRIAM CO., Springfield, Mass., April 16, 1963. COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. (Attention: Mr. W. E. Williamson, Clerk). GENTLEMEN: Again this year we are writing to ask your full cooperation in doing everything possible to promote passage of the quality stabilization bill in the current session of Congress. We believe this bill to be in the public interest in respect to its giving manufacturers the opportunity to protect the quality of their products and thus assure consumers they are getting full value for what they pay. Also, we are strong supporters of the quality stabilization bill as we believe it will help alleviate some of the problems of small independent merchants who are in a desperate struggle for survival. They need the provisions of this bill in order to stay in business, and serve the public by offering quality merchandise at fair prices against the deceptive and unfair competition of some distributors who grossly overcharge consumers on many items after having lured them into buying as result of cut-price offers on well-known quality merchandise. We urge, therefore, your active support of the quality stabilization bill and suggest that this letter be incorporated into the record of hearings on this bill Sincerely yours, GORDON J. GALLAN, President. MEIER'S WINE CELLARS, INC., Silverton (Cincinnati), Ohio, April 16, 1963. HOUSE INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE COMMITTEE, GENTLEMEN: We are most happy to learn that your great and important committee is holding hearings on the quality stabilization bill before legislature this year. As a small Midwest wine producer, operating our company as an independent family-owned unit, and working with some 1,500 farmers, mostly grape growers, 99-685-63-30 in the great State of Ohio, we find that it is mandatory that this quality stabilization bill be given favorable consideration by your commitee and passed by legislation to become a law as soon as possible. With our own vineyards located on Isle St. George, which is an island in western Lake Erie, and operating two wineries, one at Sandusky and one here at Silverton, just outside of Cincinnati, I, as the managing director of our company, have the task of keeping economically alive. To do this, first, I must see that the grape grower and the apple grower and the blackberry grower make a profit on their operations. Then our own winery operation must be financially sound; then the wholesaler of our product and his salesmen must operate successfully, financially. Then the retailer, scattered throughout all of these 50 States. must have his profit, as otherwise the whole chain of making a fine bottle of wine is broken. These are the strong elements in the American economy that have made it what it is today. Let us keep these channels of economy open on a normal basis. Many thanks for your consideration for the passage of this bill. Sincerely yours, HENRY O. SONNEMAN, Managing Director. WATCH MATERIAL DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, W. E. WILLIAMSON, DEAR MR. WILLIAMSON: This letter is in reference to the quality stabilization bill currently before the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. We of the Watch Material Distributors Association of America strongly urge enactment of this bill in 1963 as a matter of economic survival for our customers, some 25,000 independent retail jewelers, and our member wholesalers. At its annual convention in Chicago, members of WMDAA declared their approval and endorsement of the quality stabilization bill and its principal purpose, namely, to provide a major step in stopping price-cutting and dishonest practices that are destroying our distributive economy. A resolution to this effect was unanimously passed by the Convention assembly. We hope and trust that all efforts to pass the quality stabilization bill are successful. To further emphasize our strong position for passage of this bill. we would greatly appreciate the incorporation of this letter into the record of hearings on the quality stabilization bill. Sincerely yours, STANLEY G. HOUSE, Executive Director. SOUTH CAROLINA RETAIL COUNCIL, Mr. W. E. WILLIAMSON, Clerk, House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, DEAR MR. WILLIAMSON: This organization, being interested in the passage of quality stabilization legislation during 1963, requests the following statement be included in the House Commerce Committee record of hearings on the present bill, S. 774: "The enactment of the quality stabilization bill is vital to retailing's effort to regulate itself without Government mandate. A free enterprise approach to price maintenance is embodied in the bill, due to cooperation and strengthening within the channels of distribution. A minimum of price maintenance is preferable to price chaos." Enactment of resale price maintenance on designated merchandise is urgent for the stability of distribution and as a protection of consumers against volatile pricing. Very sincerely yours, W. A. COLLINS, President. MR. W. E. WILLIAMSON, CHEMICAL RESEARCH & MANUFACTURERS, INC., Clerk of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, DEAR MR. WILLIAMSON: In connection with the current hearing on the quality stabilization bill now pending, I would appreciate your including our statement in your record of the hearings, as follows: "The proposed quality stabilization bill is the only legislation so far that has offered any real protection to manufacturers in connection with their products, brand names and trademarks." I hope your committee meets with continuing success in this important legislation. Sincerely yours, Dr. W. LANGER, President. Mr. W. E. WILLIAMSON, Clerk, Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, NEW YORK, April 15, 1963. DEAR MR. WILLIAMSON: We respectfully request that this statement be incorporated in the record of the hearings on the quality stabilization bill being held before the Commerce and Finance Subcommittee of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee on April 23-25, inclusive. The members of this association comprise a substantial segment of the watch importer-assembler industry in this country and include a number of companies whose trademarks and brand names are nationally known and advertised, such as Longines-Wittnauer, Benrus Watch, Omega Watch, Movado Watch, and many others. The watches sold by these companies are fine quality products and they are vitally interested not only in maintaining the quality of their watches but also in having the right to proceed against those who by means of unethical and predatory selling practices threaten the very existence of their brand names and trademarks. The watch industry is one of the most competitive industries in this country. At the retail level, the consumer has the choice of selecting a watch either from among dozens of well known nationally advertised brand names or from literally hundreds of lesser known brands, and at prices ranging from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars per watch. Most of the manufacturers of trademarked watches pursue a policy of suggesting prices, with the result that the consumers have come to have confidence in the quality of trademarked watches and the prices established by their manufacturers. This situation provides a fertile ground for the merchandiser at retail who, in "bait" or "loss leader" advertising, features respected brand name watches at prices 40 percent to 50 percent below their normal selling prices. He knows that this will induce customers to patronize his store where they will expect to find other quality goods at similar low prices. Much of the time, however. only a limited quantity of the featured watches are available and he usually proceeds to sell some other watch on which more often than not he realizes a handsome profit. In the meantime, the maker of the trademarked watch has suffered serious injury. If other retail dealers in the same trade area also cut their prices of the trademarked watch, to meet the competition of the first discounter, it is not long before that particular brand loses the confidence and good will of the consumers. On the other hand, if the other dealers do not cut their prices, they encounter serious resistance in trying to sell the trademarked watch at its suggested price in the face of the much lower price of the discounter. In either case, the manufacturer is damaged because the orderly distribution of his product has been disrupted. Likewise, the business of the small retail dealer has been adversely affected by the price cutting discounter. The quality stabilization bill provides a fair and equitable means of dealing with this grave problem. It gives the manufacturer of trademarked goods the privilege of taking certain action against the price cutter of his product, but only after certain conditions have been met by the manufacturer. More over, there is nothing in this bill that requires the manufacturer to take any action whatsoever if he does not wish to do so. The consumer will still enjoy his freedom of choice respecting the article he wants to buy, the price he wishes to pay for it, and the place where he wants to buy it. There is no restriction on the ethical retail dealer with respect to the nature of the business operations he wishes to engage in. Monopoly is not created because each of the trademarked products is still competing against all of the other trademarked products. as well as against the other products in the same category which are not so protected. It is our view that legislation is sorely needed that will give the manufacturer the right to protect his trademarks and brand names from the widespread abuses being practiced by certain merchandisers at the retail level. The enactment of the quality stabilization bill will provide that right. Accordingly, we respectfully urge that the adoption of the bill be recommended by the committee. Respectfully submitted. AMERICAN WATCH ASSOCIATION, INC., By WILLIAM H. Fox, Executive Secretary. Mr. W. E. WILLIAMSON, NATIONAL OFFICE MACHINE DEALERS ASSOCIATION, Clerk of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, DEAR MR. WILLIAMSON: It is our understanding that there will be hearings April 23, 24, 25 held by the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee on the quality stabilization bill, and our association would appreciate having the following statement included in the record of the hearing: "To prevent the complete extermination of the independent retail dealer who sells brand-name products of quality, it is absolutely essential that the quality stabilization bill be passed at this session of Congress. Sanity must be returned to the marketplace to assure that the proud owner of his own independent business will not be driven from the American scene by the long tentacles of discounterism, which at the moment is a highly disturbing and predatory condition existing in our Nation today. The backbone of American retail, the independent dealer, must be maintained and strengthened, hence the necessity for the immediate passage of this bill." Thank you very much, Mr. Williamson, for your giving this statement your very good attention. Cordially yours, HAROLD MANN, Executive Secretary. ELECTRIC APPLIANCE DEALERS ASSOCIATION, Mr. W. E. WILLIAMSON, Clerk of House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, DEAR MR. WILLIAMSON: We urge an early enactment of the quality stabilization bill. Please include the following statement from the Minneapolis Electric Appliance Dealers Association in your record of the hearings in the House Commerce Committee, scheduled for April 23-25, 1963: "We need the Quality Stabilization Act for business survival. Please work hard for its passage and resist all opposition, and help stop bait advertising now killing small business. We appreciate your vigorous support." Sincerely, O. A. GLASOW, Managing Director. |