MAP Policy

Colonial Mills, Inc. is known nationwide as the leader in domestic manufacturing of braided textured products. We, at Colonial Mills, greatly appreciate and value the efforts of all our retailers who have helped build our brand for over 37 years.

PRODUCTS COVERED: This policy applies only to the products that appear on the Colonial Mills MAP List.  We reserve the right to revise the MAP List and the products and prices appearing on it at any time.  We will make reasonable effort to notify all distributors and dealers of any changes to the MAP List, but it is your responsibility to stay informed as to current MAP pricing.  We will provide you with a copy of the current MAP List at any time, upon request.

ADVERTISING COVERED: “Advertising” means any notice, posting, listing or display, regardless of form, that tells the reader or viewer that any covered Colonial Mills products are available for purchase.  This Policy applies only to advertising of the covered Colonial Mills products that is accessible by a search of the internet.  It does not apply to advertising in any other mass media, such as print or broadcast, nor does it apply to print or electronic communications directly distributed to individual customers, such as catalog or price lists.  It also does not apply to secure, non-public internet sites that are password-protected and are made available only to someone with whom you have first had direct interaction through some means other than the internet, such as telephone or in-person contact.

MINIMUM ADVERTISED PRICE: You may not advertise any covered Colonial Mills products on the internet at a price less than that displayed for that item on the current MAP List. This Policy does not impose any maximum advertised price.

GOOD FAITH COMPLIANCE: Attempts to circumvent the intent of this Policy, for example by displaying the minimum advertised price with a strike-through or accompanied by text that indicates that a lower price is available, are not in compliance with this Policy.  We will consider the appearance of the wording “minimum advertised price” and/or “MAP” in any internet advertising of covered Colonial Mills products, or any other reference to the existence of a policy precluding a lower price from being advertised, to confirm an intention not to comply with this Policy.

NO RESTRICTION ON SELLING PRICE: This Policy does not restrict, in any way, the price at which you choose to sell any Colonial Mills product, or the price that you choose to offer our product to any customer in a direct, one-on-one interaction.  If you sell products through an e-commerce internet site, then once a customer selects a specific product and requests an offer to sell, such as by placing the product in a purchase queue or “cart,” any price displayed to that customer thereafter is pursuant to a direct, one-on-one interaction, and is not covered by this Policy.  Any price that may be found in internet search results without further customer interaction, however, is covered by this Policy regardless of how it is labeled or described.

CONSEQUENCES OF NONCOMPLIANCE: We will enforce this Policy by declining to supply resellers who do not follow it.  Specifically, if we determine, in our sole judgment, that a reseller is not in compliance with this Policy, we will take the following steps: 

1. We will first notify the reseller and identify the non-compliant advertising and will provide the reseller with a grace period of five business days before taking any further action.
   
   
2. If the non-compliant advertising continues after the fifth business day, we will at a minimum stop accepting any further orders from that reseller of Colonial Mills products in the affected category of area rugs.  In addition, in our sole judgment, we may stop accepting any further orders of all Colonial Mills products from that reseller. Whether we will ever begin accepting orders from that reseller again in the future, and if so when, will be within our sole judgment.  We will not discuss the matter with the reseller other than to state that the reason that we have stopped accepting orders is noncompliance with this Policy.
   
   
3. In the event of a second or subsequent incident of non-compliant advertising after issuance of a first notice, we may elect to proceed directly to step 2, above, without providing the notice and grace period described in step 1.

SALES AND RESALE:  If you choose to sell covered Colonial Mills products to resellers, then we will consider any internet advertising by your reseller customers to be your responsibility.   That means that non-compliant advertising by your customer will be deemed to be non-compliant advertising by you for purposes of the consequences of noncompliance explained in the preceding paragraph.  You are authorized to provide your reseller customers with a copy of this Policy if you so choose, but whether you do so, and what other communications you may have with them about it, if any, are solely your own decision.  We will consider any documentation you may wish to provide that the party responsible for advertising identified in any notice of non-compliance sent to you is not a customer of yours.

NO AGREEMENT:  This is a unilateral Policy, not an agreement.  We do not ask for, and will not accept or discuss, any assurance of compliance or other agreement from you regarding this Policy or any of your pricing or price advertising practices, either prior to or after any notice of non-compliant advertising.  You are free to make your own decision about whether to conform your internet advertising to this Policy, and you are free to change your advertising practices at any time.  The purpose of this Policy is to inform you of the consequences in terms of our unilateral actions should you or your customer choose to advertise in a way that does not conform to this Policy.

POLICY EXEMPTIONS: From time to time, Colonial Mills will choose to promote certain products covered by this policy. In such events, Colonial Mills reserves the rights to unilaterally modify, suspend, or discontinue the MAP policy at their sole discretion.

REPORTING VIOLATIONS BY OTHERS: Enforcement of this Policy is solely our responsibility and is solely in our discretion.  We do not ask that you report any advertising by other resellers to us, but if you wish to do so, you may do so in writing to the address provided in the next paragraph.  We will not acknowledge or reply to any such report, and none of our employees or representatives are authorized to discuss the advertising or pricing of any other reseller to you.  Please remember that this Policy has been adopted and will be enforced in the best interests of the brand, and no distributor or dealer is entitled to rely on its application to any specific situation or its enforcement in any specific manner.

QUESTIONS: If you have any questions about this policy, please send them in writing to:

Colonial Mills, Inc.
Attn: MAP
77 Pawtucket Ave
Rumford, Rhode Island 02916

A written response will be provided. Individual employees and representatives are not authorized to discuss or modify this Policy.