Fayetteville, Ark. – A federal jury this week found Walmart in breach of contract with a home textiles supplier it had tapped to supply millions of units of disposable nitrile gloves during the early Covid-19 pandemic era.
The jury in the United States District Court of Arkansas Fayetteville Division awarded London Luxury damages of $101,280,680.
The jury also awarded Walmart $350,000 (sic), finding that London Luxury colluded with the Walmart sales director who was overseeing the glove deal. The parties allegedly planned to set up their own U.S.-based nitrile globe factory to supply Walmart.
In the complicated case, Walmart also contended that London Luxury was the party in breach of contract. The jury’s verdict found for London Luxury on that count.
What Happened?
London Luxury, based in New Rochelle, N.Y., was a supplier of better/best tier bath towels, utility bedding and fashion bedding to the U.S. volume retail sector.
After the Covid-19 outbreak 2020, London Luxury began sourcing millions of boxes of nitrile gloves for Walmart.
In June 2021, Walmart upped its order to 75 to 80 million boxes per year for five years.
“London Luxury says it could not provide such massive quantities of gloves without a hard commitment from Walmart. So unlike the previous supplier agreements, London Luxury claims, Walmart agreed to noncancelable and irrevocable terms,” the Westfair Business Journal reported.
Walmart purportedly had a deal with a substantial B2B broker that would resell those gloves to major hospital groups. The arrangement allegedly fell apart in fall 2021, and Walmart allegedly stopped authorizing additional shipments from London Luxury and began refusing to accept existing shipments
“London Luxury says it could lose more than $500 million under the one-year deal, plus hundreds of millions of dollars in the multi-year deal if Walmart does not stick to the terms,” the business journal reported in 2022, based on London Luxury’s complaint.
What Else?
Reuters news service has a full run-down on the London Luxury v. Walmart Inc. case –including insight into how London Luxury’s attorneys were able to gain access to Walmart’s internal documents about the nitrile gloves deal.
“A Walmart spokesperson said the company does not believe the jury’s breach-of-contract verdict is supported by the evidence that emerged at trial and is weighing its post-trial options.
“Walmart also reiterated that the real story is the alleged scheme between London Luxury and its since-fired employee. At trial, Walmart asserted that London Luxury wooed the employee with a swanky trip to Miami and the promise of a future partnership,” Reuter’s reported.
What Now for London Luxury?
The home textiles supplier went out of business in late 2022/early 2023 after more than two decades in business, according to former employees.
At one point, its licensed brands included Elizabeth Arden, Arm & Hammer, Claritin and The Sharper Image, among others.
London Luxury counsel Brendon DeMay told Reuters that the company’s CEO is now planning to revive the business.
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