Sterling, Alex and Ani Settle Dispute

RAPAPORT… Sterling Jewelers has reached a mutually agreeable settlement
with Alex and Ani after a yearlong dispute over a supply deal.



Judge Sara Lioi dismissed the case without prejudice,
according to a February 14 motion Sterling, a division of Signet Jewelers, filed
in an Ohio court. The companies will bear
their own legal costs.


“The matter was resolved and settled to the parties’ mutual
satisfaction,” David Bouffard, Signet’s vice president of corporate affairs,
told Rapaport News Tuesday.


Sterling first filed suit against Alex and Ani in January
2018, after it failed to sell inventory of the brand that it had agreed to
carry. Sterling claimed the contract the companies had signed stipulated Alex
and Ani would buy back unsold goods.


Alex and Ani countersued in February of that year, maintaining
Sterling had breached the agreement by selling its merchandise at a discount
and in stores that were not permitted under the contract. Sterling responded to
the countersuit later that month, asking the court to dismiss Alex and Ani’s
counterclaims, and asserting it was the charm retailer that had violated the
contract.


The terms of the settlement were not available, and Bouffard
declined to provide further information. Alex and Ani and its attorneys did not
respond to requests for comment by press time.


Image: Alex and Ani charm bracelet. (Alex and Ani)