Trader Joe’s is taking an apparel manufacturer to court after two years of trying to settle a dispute outside of it.
That’s according to Winsight Grocery Business, which reports the Monrovia, California-based grocery chain has filed a lawsuit against T-Shirt AT Fashion LLC for selling provocative and controversial T-shirts that incorporate the Trader Joe’s logo.
The court filing says Trader Joe’s contacted the T-shirt maker multiple times since March 2021 asking the company to cease the sale of two shirts which use a design bearing similarity to the grocer’s logo, the article explains.
One of those shirts includes a picture of President Joe Biden with the words “Traitor Joe’s” in the styling of the grocer’s logo. Another includes a lewd sexual reference that is also paired with the logo.
In the suit, Trader Joe’s said the profane shirt “causes further injury by tarnishing Trader Joe’s reputation in the mind of consumers and diminishing the positive, wholesome reputation of the Trader Joe’s brand.”
The grocer, per the article, is suing to permanently stop AT Fashion from selling the shirts and recover any profits made from their sale, up to three times “ascertainable damages.”
Trader Joe’s said in the filing it believes T-Shirt AT Fashion LLC is a fictitious name and is unable to determine the company’s true name. On its website, AT Fashion lists a physical address in Cleveland, Texas.
Read more at Winsight Grocery Business.