The Grocer Who Became His Own Rival
John Haley is being sued by his former company for breaking a non-compete clause to open a new grocery store just blocks away.
The Haley Grocery Company has filed a petition in superior court praying that John Haley be restrained from engaging in the grocery business at 908 Second Street. The petition states that in October 1892, the defendant sold his stock and entered into a contract agreeing not to engage in the wholesale or retail grocery business for three years within a half-mile radius of the Haley Grocery Company. The petition claims that Haley has now formed the Seattle Grocery Company, is actively managing the business at 908 Second Street, and is taking away many of the original company's old customers, causing irreparable injury.
“Unless restrained by the court, he will manage and conduct the business of the Seattle Grocery Company at 908 Second Street... he is taking away from the plaintiff many of its old customers.”
Non-compete clauses have long been a tool for businesses to protect their market share, a practice that remains a contentious issue in modern labor and corporate law. The dispute over a simple retail location on Second Street highlights how Seattle’s business landscape has been defined by fierce competition and legal wrangling since its earliest days.
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