Federated Department Stores Inc., the parent of Macy’s and other chains, agreed to pay $725,000 to resolve an investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer into misleading advertising practices and phony sales promotions, Spitzer said on Tuesday.
Spitzer said the company’s Kaufmann’s chain used small print in ads to exclude many items from sales, featured photos of items not eligible for sales, and used misleading in-store signage. It also created false senses of urgency to buy with such promotions as “Biggest Sale of the Year” and “One Day Only Super Sale,” only to retain lower prices after the sales were supposed to end, Spitzer said.
