Macy's, The Department Store Chain, Forces A Tiny Hair Salon In Scotland To Change Its Name
from the hair-apparent dept
Macy's, the enormous retail company famous for its enormous department stores, has been featured in our pages before throwing its weight around over trademark concerns. If you had thought that the company has ceased its trademark-bullying ways, a recent report featuring a tiny hair salon in Scotland named after the founding couple's daughter will disabuse you of this notion.
Jon and Kirsty Nelson named their West Lothian business Macys after their daughter, little imaging they would shortly face the wrath of corporate America. The couple received a letter from a London law firm acting on behalf of Cincinnati-based Macy’s, alleging trademark infringement.
Macy’s is worth £6bn, has almost 900 stores, stocks products by Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, and Calvin Klein, and sells mink fur coats for £8,500. Their Bathgate “rivals”, Macys Lounge, offer female customers a cut and blowdry for £30 while men can get a cut for £9, or £13 if they want a shampoo.
Now, it should be noted that Macy's department stores do include spas that provide hair and beauty services. The company does have valid trademark for these services as well. All that being said, the idea that there would be any true confusion in the marketplace between these department store spas and a tiny storefront salon in Bathgate is plainly absurd. To drive this point home, the nearest Macy's department store is several thousand miles away.
But, as we've mentioned many times before, trademark bullying works. The couple behind the salon announced recently that they would change the name of their business. Though, for those that appreciate a dash of trolling in their lives, the change the couple made might not be exactly what Macy's had in mind.
“ We wanted to fight this battle, David and Goliath style, but we did not have the funding or resources available to do so and were somewhat backed into a corner to ‘angrily’ agree to their terms of changing our name.
“We give you : MACIZ Lounge.
“This will be our new trading name from March 2018 going forward. It is still similar to what we currently use.”
And, so, the full weight of the Macy's legal efforts managed to get a couple of letters changed, and that's about it. The pronunciation for the business remains the same. Most of the name remains. Don't get me wrong, this is a massive pain in the ass that costs very real money, and a situation the couple should never have had to go through, but the results of the trademark bullying are rather beautifully silly.
Not that patrons of the salon are laughing.
Social media users wanted to show their support for the salon and were quick to show their outrage at the American outfit.
Erin Thomson said: “And here was me thinking you guys were a branch of Macy’s famous NY department store opening in Bathgate and specialising in haircuts. Silly me. Maciz Lounge sounds fab”
Helen Wilson posted: “It’s an absolute disgrace a huge organisation can victimise a small family business.”
Jamie Cameron commented: “Clearly they know you guys are on the road to world domination and are terrified. Stuff them guys.”
Macy's may not care about these responses, given that, again, these are not even potential customers, since there are no Macy's department stores anywhere nearby. Still, from a branding perspective, this isn't a great way to make the brand friends around the globe.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: bullying, department store, salon, scotland, trademark, trademark bullying
Companies: macy's
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
If things keep going the way they have...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Go fuck yourself."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Any scotties available?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Didn't even know Macy's were still around
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
They're still alive?
This crap outright undermines rule of law. Look at Ausralia's Hungry Jacks - the local name for Burger King because the owner of the locally preexisting Burger King refused to sell the name. That was exactly how it should work.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Also, I thought common words and names that are yoinked out of dictionaries and baby name books could only be trademarked within your industry. This is, what I understand, to be the reason why companies like Apple Computers and Apple Auto Glass can coexist without suing each other, because they aren't in related industries.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Nope. But, according to their website it's one of the countries they deliver to, which is probably the "logic" used by whichever lawyers needed a few extra billable hours.
"Also, I thought common words and names that are yoinked out of dictionaries and baby name books could only be trademarked within your industry."
That's correct, to my knowledge. But, the fact is that to enforce the rules you have to fight it out in court. The family in question here decided to change their name instead of fighting. So, it doesn't matter who was really right, the bullying worked.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Low blow, Macy's...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Probably a matter of jealousy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Scawtish store?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Too bad they’re not named Macy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Too bad they’re not named Macy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's Really Shillito's From Cincinnati
Federated/Macy's/Shillito's seems to have absorbed nearly every mid-range department store which ever existed in an American downtown, outside of New York. Of course, the whole category has been in decline for yearts. Midrange customers started going to suburban malls, and then shopping in mail-order catalogs, then online. Declining industries consolidate.
I remember being taken shopping at Shillito's as a kid, maybe fifty years ago, by my mother (new clothes for school), and having lunch at the restaurant. I suppose I must have eaten a hamburger and fries, the kids' menu, but the adult's menu would have been something like an open-faced sandwich of sliced roast beef with gravy on toast, with mashed potatoes and pickle on the side. Basic Midwestern German heartland fare. You could get that kind of thing in little diners in all the more "volkisch" neighborhood shopping districts.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: It's Really Shillito's From Cincinnati
Homer: Mmm....open faced club sandwich."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
wait'll parade magazine gets wind of what macy calls its thanksgiving day extravaganza.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]