Amazon and Macy’s have engaged in a pitched war just weeks before the holiday season begins. The two giants are vying for the most coveted billboard at Macy’s flagship 34th Street location in the heart of Manhattan.
Macy’s is fighting a legal fight with its landlord to prevent Amazon from using the billboard space that sits on top of its Herald Square location, according to multiple reports.
The department store chain has petitioned commercial real estate developer Kaufman Organization to stop a deal with Amazon to use the billboard for their business atop Macy’s flagship store.
Macy’s claimed in a lawsuit filed in state court that the e-commerce giant’s announcement would cause “immeasurable harm” to the company.
“The damage to the goodwill, image, reputation and brand of Macy’s customers if a prominent online retailer (especially Amazon) advertises on the billboard is impossible to calculate,” Macy’s said in the court documents.
The billboard has been the Macy’s flagship for nearly 60 years.
“Since the early 1960s, Macy’s has posted a billboard in the building adjacent to our flagship store at the corner of Broadway and 34th Street,” a Macy’s spokeswoman told CNBC.
But according to CNBC, the ad space lease expired in August, and department stores claim that Kaufman was negotiating a deal with Amazon before they had a chance to strike a new deal.
The outlet also reported that the original 1963 lease on the billboard space includes a provision prohibiting other retailers from advertising.
However, the Kaufman Group claimed that the 1963 provision no longer applies and the owner planned to seek other advertisers for the space, according to CBS News.
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