Tesco and Levi's reach agreement
Tesco and Levi Strauss have drawn a line under their legal wrangle over cut-price jeans by striking a new trading agreement, it emerged today.
The iconic label’s Signature clothing range, developed for supermarkets and low-cost retailers, has shown “encouraging” early signs since hitting the shelves in 10 Tesco UK stores over the past few days.
The move to stock the brand comes two years after a high-profile legal battle over the chain’s right to sell cut-price Levis sourced from the so-called “grey market” outside Europe without the consent of the jeans maker.
Tesco lost the four-year dispute in 2002 when the British High Court ruled that the practice had been illegal, and that retailers had to get permission from trademark owners before sourcing their goods from outside the EU.
Levi Strauss announced a year ago that it would launch a “value” range of clothing – significantly cheaper than ordinary Levis. During that time Tesco has continued to source Levi jeans from inside the European Union.
A spokeswoman for Tesco said: “The jeans have only been selling for a couple of weeks but the early signs are encouraging.”
