Target Practice: Agassi Sues Retailer Over Using Name On Sandals

Agassi Suing Target Over Use Of Name On Sports Sandals

Andre Agassi is suing Target over the chain’s “use of his name on a line of sports sandals,” accusing the company of “failing to keep a promise to remove the sandals from store shelves," according to Erik Larson of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Agassi Enterprises, his licensing company, “confronted Target after discovering the sandals in June” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/17). In Minneapolis, Jackie Crosby reports the suit “seeks to end the sale of the sandals, plus recover profits Target made from using the retired star's name and other damages.” The suit claims that the retailer has sold “more than 52,500 shoes worth about $661,000 in its stores and on the Internet.” Target sold the "Agassi" leather sandals under its Mossimo brand, which it carries exclusively. Target spokesperson Brie Heath said in an e-mail that the company was “‘surprised by the lawsuit, as we have been participating in good-faith negotiations’ with Agassi's representatives for months.” In court papers filed in July, the company noted using Agassi's name was "consistent with Target's convention of using male given names as model names for certain footwear," but that it would re-label or strip Agassi's name from the sandals in stores and online (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/18). Target spokesperson Amy von Walter said that the use of Agassi's name “was an oversight” and that the retailer was “trying to relabel all of the sandals” when Agassi Enterprises found them. She said that the sandals were “never marked under Agassi’s name,” and that the name “doesn’t appear on the sandal itself” (AP, 9/17).