By:  Cain                                              S.B. No. 732
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the protection of certain retail apparel merchants;
    1-2  creating a cause of action and providing injunctive and other
    1-3  relief.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Chapter 15, Business & Commerce Code, is amended
    1-6  by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:
    1-7              SUBCHAPTER F.  PROTECTION OF SMALL BUSINESS
    1-8        Sec. 15.60.  SHORT TITLE.  This subchapter may be cited as
    1-9  the Small Business Protection Act.
   1-10        Sec. 15.61.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
   1-11              (1)  "Manufacturer" means any person who makes,
   1-12  assembles, or produces wearing apparel under its name or trade
   1-13  name, including its agents or distributors, for sale to a retailer.
   1-14              (2)  "Wearing apparel" means clothing, including but
   1-15  not limited to shirts, suits, coats, pants, jeans, slacks,
   1-16  trousers, shorts, socks, hosiery, dresses, skirts, blouses,
   1-17  sweaters, undergarments, neckties, scarves, athletic clothing,
   1-18  bathing suits, boots, shoes, sandals, athletic shoes, hats, and
   1-19  caps.
   1-20              (3)  "Retailer" means a person who owns or operates a
   1-21  retail business at a fixed location within this state and sells
   1-22  wearing apparel at retail.
   1-23        Sec. 15.62.  MANUFACTURER MAY NOT REFUSE SMALL QUANTITY
    2-1  RETAIL PURCHASES.  No manufacturer shall refuse to sell wearing
    2-2  apparel that it manufactures or imports to distribute to a retailer
    2-3  because of the small quantity of wearing apparel that the retailer
    2-4  offers to purchase from the manufacturer.
    2-5        Sec. 15.63.  PAYMENT OF ADDITIONAL COSTS.  In addition to the
    2-6  price of the wearing apparel, the manufacturer may require the
    2-7  retailer to pay the actual cost of selling and delivering the
    2-8  wearing apparel to the retailer.
    2-9        Sec. 15.64.  EXEMPTIONS.  This subchapter does not apply to a
   2-10  manufacturer:
   2-11              (1)  who sells wearing apparel pursuant to a franchise
   2-12  agreement;
   2-13              (2)  who sells wearing apparel to a retailer under the
   2-14  name or trade name of that retailer;
   2-15              (3)  who does not sell wearing apparel within this
   2-16  state; or
   2-17              (4)  who sells its wearing apparel exclusively through
   2-18  its own retail place of business.
   2-19        Sec. 15.65.  REMEDY; VENUE.  (a)  A retailer who has been
   2-20  denied the purchase of wearing apparel from a manufacturer because
   2-21  of the small quantity of wearing apparel that the retailer offered
   2-22  to purchase may bring a civil suit against the manufacturer for:
   2-23              (1)  injunctive relief to restrain the manufacturer
   2-24  from continuing the violation of this subchapter; and
   2-25              (2)  court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
    3-1        (b)  The injunctive relief authorized in Subsection (a) may
    3-2  include any prohibitory or mandatory injunction warranted by the
    3-3  facts, including a temporary restraining order, temporary
    3-4  injunction, or permanent injunction.
    3-5        (c)  This section provides the exclusive remedy for a
    3-6  violation of this subchapter.
    3-7        (d)  Venue for a suit brought under this section is in the
    3-8  county in which the retailer's place of business is located or in
    3-9  the county in which the defendant resides.
   3-10        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect January 1, 1996.
   3-11        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-12  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-13  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-14  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-15  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.