21/09/2009
Westfield and Tiffany & Co don't see eye to eye

Breakfast at Tiffany's may have been Audrey Hepburns idea of a classy start to the day but Austraila's shopping centre giant Westfield has upset the high end retailer as the following report shows:

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Is it OK to sell $5 undies and $10 T-shirts next door to a fabled jeweller offering $100,000 diamond rings?

Tiffany & Co doesn't think so.

Australian shopping centre giant Westfield disagrees.

An American judge is set to decide after Tiffany sued Westfield in an attempt to stop Swedish clothing retailer H&M from opening a new store in Westfield's Century City shopping mall in Los Angeles.

The H&M store, currently under construction, is expected to open before Christmas.

In the lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, Tiffany claims the close proximity of H&M to its premises in the mall will damage its reputation.

Tiffany argues its contract with Westfield protects it from retailers "whose merchandise and/or price points are not considered to be luxury, upscale or better by conventional retail industry standards" from opening near its store at Century City.

"The location of the H&M store will cause irreparable injury to Tiffany's business reputation as a luxury retailer, a reputation that Tiffany has enjoyed and worked hard to maintain for more than a century and a half," Tiffany's lawyers wrote in court documents.

Tiffany is one of the world's best-known jewellery businesses after appearing in numerous Hollywood films, most notably the 1961 comedy-drama starring Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's.

The movie, set in Manhattan, was based on Truman Capote's novel of the same name.

H&M is one of the fastest-growing fashion chains in the world, expanding from its base in Sweden to 33 other countries. It has more than 1800 stores worldwide.

The brand is known for its hip clothing at reasonable prices, but Tiffany does not see it as a perfect fit.

Westfield's outdoor Century City shopping mall features valet parking and other high-end stores including Louis Vuitton, Coach, Hugo Boss and Cole Haan, but also has lower-end chains Gap, J Crew, Bebe and fast food outlets such as Subway.

The mall is located near LA's upscale suburbs of Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Holmby Hills and Westwood.

"H&M is not a luxury or upscale retailer," Tiffany's lawyers argue.

"H&M is at best characterised as a 'popular-price' mass-merchandise clothing retailer."

Westfield, Tiffany and H&M declined to comment about the lawsuit.