Ben Elfman & Son, Inc. v. Criterion Mills, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

TAURO, District Judge.

Ben Elfman & Son, Inc. (“Elfman”), has distributed carpeting and other floor covering, since 1907, from offices in Chelsea, Massachusetts. 1 Elfman purchases carpeting from suppliers and sells it to retailers under its own labels. 2 Defendant Criterion Mills, Inc. (“Criterion”), a Georgia corporation, supplied carpeting to Elfman from 1973 to 1987, pursuant to an oral agreement.

In 1986, Elfman decided to expand into the New York-New Jersey market. It thereby began to compete with defendant Benj. Berman, Inc. (“Berman”), of New Jersey, Criterion’s largest…