HARTFORD, October 7  -- State Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. announced today that his agency is charging Target Stores, Inc. with pricing violations.  The Target store in Stamford (Target #T-1544) was inspected by Consumer Protection agents in recent months as part of the agency’s economic compliance checks. This store is alleged to have been in violation of unit pricing laws during inspections conducted in July and September of this year.

“Although we notified the store about the pricing violations found in July, when our agent revisited the store, he found more items in violation than during the July visit,” Farrell said. “Connecticut’s unit pricing laws are designed to uphold a fundamental marketplace principle -- that consumers can make informed purchasing decisions based on cost, quality and convenience.  We expect stores to stores to be fully compliant with the law --  particularly when for most shoppers, every penny counts.”

During the July store inspection, an agency food inspector chose 50 consumer commodities and reviewed them for appropriate price labeling; 14 of these were incorrectly unit priced. After notifying the store of its infractions and requesting corrective action, a Department agent again visited the Stamford Target store in September and of 50 items checked, found 17 of them not in compliance with State labeling laws.

A consumer commodity is defined as a food, drug, device, cosmetic or other item produced for and used by consumers, and which is usually consumed or expended over time.  For example a tube of toothpaste, a carton of milk and a roll of paper towels each qualify as a consumer commodity. 

The Department may impose civil penalties for each violation of the pricing law. The store has been notified of a hearing that is scheduled for October 27^th 2009 at the Department of Consumer Protection in Hartford if the matter is not resolved beforehand.

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