Gaia Herbs helps “brick-and-mortar” outlets
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Gaia Herbs' win against the antitrust lawsuit filed by Vitacost.com "serves to ensure traditional 'brick-and-mortar' natural products stores that competition from online mass market discounters will not factor" into potential sales for the herbal manufacturer's product line, Gaia states in a June 13 release. The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida dismissed the case in March and decided the firm did not violate state antitrust laws by refusing to do business with Vitacost.com because the e-commerce firm did not agree to Gaia's mandated minimum resale price for its products (1"The Tan Sheet" April 30, 2007, p. 15). Gaia implemented a policy to not sell its products to online retailers that do not also have brick-and-mortar establishments in January...