RETAIL TRADE: Deserter from Fair Trade

The crumbling front of Fair Trade was weakened by another major desertion. After six years of setting Fair Trade prices on its products, Westinghouse last week gave up. It abandoned Fair Trade pricing on its electric housewares and bed coverings. Said Westinghouse: "Actually, we believe in Fair Trade, but under present circumstances, do not believe it is workable." The company explained: 1) mail-order shipments of price-cut appliances from non-Fair Trade places into Fair Trade states "hopelessly" broke down enforcement, and 2) the "varying price situation" from one state to another made national promotions almost impossible. It was the...