Opinion ID: 1927202
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Battery Sales.

Text: In addition to its factory in Milwaukee, the taxpayer operated 12 other factories located throughout the United States which manufactured storage batteries. Almost 65 percent of its sales of storage batteries in the years in question were made to Sears, Roebuck & Company. These sales were controlled by a long-term, comprehensive written contract between the taxpayer and Sears. By the terms of this agreement, executed in Milwaukee, the taxpayer agreed to manufacture and sell to Sears 75 percent of the latter's annual requirement of batteries. The agreement with Sears required Globe-Union's prices to be competitive with prices  offered by other battery manufacturers, and it set up a technique whereby Sears could buy batteries elsewhere in the event that Globe-Union's prices did not remain competitive. The contract further provided that as Sears battery needs were determined a requisition would be sent to the nearest factory of Globe-Union, and the latter factory would ship the batteries to the retail store. This technique gave recognition to the economic wisdom of transporting the batteries for as short a distance as possible. Another large segment, about 15 percent, of Globe-Union's battery sales were pursuant to broad contracts with Gulf Tire & Supply Company, B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company, and Sun Oil Company. These contracts, like the contract with Sears, were executed by Globe-Union's officials who were headquartered in Milwaukee. The remaining battery sales were sold on a per-order basis without any underlying written contract and went to large users such as Ford Motor Company and the United States government. Globe-Union employed about 10 salesmen who employed their efforts to promote the Globe-Union products. Eight of these so-called salesmen were located outside Wisconsin. None of them were authorized to enter into binding sales contracts, and an examination of their duties evidences that they functioned more as promoters or public-relations representatives for Globe-Union than as order-takers.