Proctor Journal

With less than 15 hours before bidding was scheduled to end on the infamous DWI

motorized recliner the bidding page suddenly vanished from the auction.

La-Z-boy, apparently upset that their name was being associated with a police auction

trying to raise money for their department, got eBay to remove the item from the

auction.

Bids for the motorize chair reached $43,500. Forty-eight bidders had made 96 bids.

Over 120,000 had viewed the auction and over 7,000 were watching the action.

ebay, in an email to the City of Proctor wrote, “sellers are not permitted to list an item

in a category that is not representative of the item being sold.” City officials were at a

loss as to what category it should be listed under. It was listed under eBay Motors.

R. Rand Tucker, representing La-z-boy, told Police Chief Walter Wobig that the

“trademark is being used incorrectly.” He asked that the item description be changed.

Wobig did so immediately.

Five other items identified as La-z-boy remain on eBay. Two of the items continue on

the Ebay Motors page - the same page that Proctor’s Police Department's chair was

located.


The Proctor Minnesota Police Department auctioned the chair under Minnesota’s

forfeiture law. All profits were to benefit the taxpayers.

La-Z-Boy’s Tucker told Wobig

he "felt bad" about stopping the auction.

Proctor plans on re-listing the chair in just a

few hours.

La-Z-Boy, headquartered in Monroe, MI, has had 2009 sales of $1,226.7 million. The

company lists 7,730 employees. La-Z-Boy is listed on the NYSE (LZB). It closed

Monday at $6.93 down $0.17. It had a 52 week high of $10.29 and a low of $0.53.