This file photo from Monday Oct. 17, 2016, shows shoppers and pedestrians in a crosswalk near a giant billboard next to Macy's flagship department store in Herald Square in New York. Macy's has filed a lawsuit against the company that owns the billboard, fighting to prevent Amazon from taking over the advertising space that carried Macy's name for almost 60 years. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
Macy's has filed a lawsuit against the company that owns the giant billboard next to its flagship Manhattan store, fighting to prevent Amazon from taking over the advertising space that carried Macy's name for almost 60 years.
In the lawsuit, filed last week in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, the department store retailer said there has been a restrictive covenant in place since 1963 barring the billboard space from being used by any Macy's competitor.
But Macy's said that when it tried to negotiate a lease renewal this year, the billboard's owners, the Kaufman Organization, told them they were in discussions with a “prominent online retailer," and there was “little doubt" that meant Amazon, according to the lawsuit.
Messages were left with the Kaufman Organization seeking comment. Amazon had no comment.
In the lawsuit, Macy's asked the judge for an injunction that would keep Kaufman from leasing the space to Amazon or any other competitor.
“The damages to Macy’s customer goodwill, image, reputation and brand, should a ‘prominent online retailer’ (especially, Amazon) advertise on the billboard are impossible to calculate," the company said in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit pointed out that the billboard is highly visible in its annual Thanksgiving Day parade, which is nationally televised.
UPS recently announced it would equip delivery trucks with air conditioning. Dr. Douglas Casa, CEO of Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, spoke with Cheddar News on the dangers of heat stroke and how workers can keep themselves safe from extreme weather.
The push for clean energy is igniting an interest in electric vehicles but charging EVs continues to be a concern for consumers looking to save. Brian Moody, executive editor with Autotrader, joined Cheddar News to discuss how people can make home-charging more affordable.
Gannett has filed a civil lawsuit against Google and its parent company Alphabet, claiming that they unlawfully hold monopolies in the advertising technology tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space.
