Martha Stewart and Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren are talking again, but they still haven’t kissed and made up.
Embroiled in a courtroom battle, the domestic diva and the dapper retail chief spoke on the phone this afternoon in a last-ditch effort to iron out their differences.
It was the first time the two had spoken since Dec. 6, 2011, when Lundgren abruptly hung up on Stewart after she placed a last-minute call to tell him she had signed a big licensing tie-up with Penney for home goods. That was despite her pre-existing licensing deal with Macy’s for many of the same products.
“At least Terry didn’t hang up on her this time,” one lawyer close to the case quipped.
With no truce in sight, lawyers said Penney will keep a new line of home goods designed by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia off its shelves until at least April 8, when the court will reconvene if a settlement isn’t reached.
New York state Judge Jeffrey Oing, who had been slated to hear arguments tomorrow on whether to extend an injunction preventing Penney from selling Martha Stewart products, ordered the squabbling trio to find a mediator as soon as tomorrow.
“I still believe we live in a free-market society and the best decisions are made by the business people,” Oing told the courtroom.
The judge added that he “would have no problem deciding this case,” and that “not everybody’s going to be happy about it.”
The judge lately has made comments from the bench that signaled he might favor Macy’s in the case. But this afternoon he warned lawyers and reporters to shy away from any conclusions.
“They may have prevailed on what they call the proverbial battles,” Oing said of Macy’s. “But ultimately, that’s not necessarily the same thing as winning the war.”