Firm Wins 588 Thousand Euro Judgment for BCBG Max Azria Group

On May 25, the President of the Commercial Court of Paris ordered Showroomprivé.com, the second largest online private sale store in France, to pay BCBG Max Azria Group (BCBG) 588 thousand euros in accordance with a contract signed on March 29, 2012.

BCBG had agreed to sell its women’s clothing wholesale to Showroomprivé.com, which intended to retail that merchandise online. After two weeks of negotiation in which Showroomprivé.com viewed 88 product samples, both sides signed a contract for the sale of 61,492 products at a price of 1.1 million euros. Showroomprivé.com had agreed to pay 588 thousand euros when the contract went into effect.
 
The day after the contract was signed, however, Showroomprivé argued that it had made a mistake on the substance of the products and that the contract was void. Showroomprivé.com refused to pay and tried to renegotiate the contract.
 
The President of the Commercial Court agreed with Hughes Hubbard & Reed's argument that the contract was clear and that Showroomprivé.com could not question it on the basis of 88 product samples. 
 
The decision is noteworthy in that the President of the Commercial Court of Paris rarely orders a party to pay such a significant amount in interlocutory proceedings.
 
Marc Henry, Ludmilla Balandine and Mathilde Pardoux represented BCBG Max Azria Group in this case.