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Macy’s goes to war with Amazon over famous billboard

Story at a glance

  • Macy’s department store filed a lawsuit against a real estate company to stop Amazon from selling its Herald Square billboard ad space to Amazon.
  • Macy’s currently uses the billboard for its own advertisements.

Famed U.S. department store Macy’s filed a lawsuit in a bid to prevent Amazon from placing a billboard atop its flagship store in midtown Manhattan.

CNBC reports that the store chain is asking the real estate developer Kaufman Organization to stop Amazon from issuing a large advertisement on the Herald Square Macy’s location. The suit reportedly claims that placing a distracting ad from a rival business would cause “immeasurable” harm to Macy’s. 

“The damages to Macy’s customer goodwill, image, reputation and brand should a prominent online retailer (especially Amazon) advertise on the billboard are impossible to calculate,” court filings reportedly read.

The suit was first reported by Crain’s New York Business Journal.

The billboard is currently host to Macy’s business advertisements. CNBC notes that it has used the billboard in question for over 50 years. Its original lease on the billboard space stated that other retailers would be indefinitely barred from using the sign for ad space.

“Macy’s continues to have rights relating to advertisements at that location,” a spokeswoman for Macy’s said in an email to reporters. “We expect to realize the benefits of these rights and have asked the court to protect them. As the matter is in litigation, the company will not have any further comment.”

The Hill reached out to Amazon for comment. 


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