Beverly Hills Municipal Code Art. 4 Closing Out Sales

No person shall engage in, conduct, or carry on a closing out sale without a permit issued under the provisions of chapter 1, article 1 of this title. (1962 Code § 6-5.01 et seq.)

A. "Closing out sale" shall mean any of the following:

1. Any sale, or any offer to sell, to the public, or any group thereof, goods, wares, or merchandise on order, in transit, or in stock in connection with a declared purpose as set forth by advertising that such sale is anticipatory of or to avoid the termination, liquidation, revision, wind up, discontinuance, removal, dissolution, or abandonment of the business or that portion of the business conducted at any location;

2. Any sale advertised in any manner calculated to convey to the public the belief that upon the disposal of the goods to be placed on sale, the business, or that portion thereof, being conducted at any location will cease, be removed, interrupted, discontinued, or changed;

3. Any sale advertised to be:

Adjuster's sale,

Administrator's sale,

Assignee's sale,

Bankrupt sale,

Benefit administrator's sale,

Benefit of creditor's sale,

Benefit of trustees' sale,

Building coming down sale,

Closing out sale,

Creditor's committee sale,

Creditor's sale,

Damaged goods sale,

End sale,

Executors's sale,

Final days sale,

Fire sale,

Fixtures for sale,

Forced out of business sale,

Forced out sale,

• Insolvent sale,

• Insurance salvage sale,

• Loss of lease sale,

Mortgage sale,

Outselling sale,

Quitting business sale,

Receiver's sale,

Reorganization sale,

Salvage sale,

Selling out sale,

Smoke and water sale,

Smoke sale,

Trustee's sale,

We give up sale,

We quit sale,

Wholesale closing out sale,

or any other sale advertised by any similar expression or characterization which is calculated to convey the same meaning;

4. Any sale advertised in a manner calculated to indicate that the goods, wares, or merchandise to be sold, or any part thereof, has been involved in any business failure or has been derived from a business which has failed, discontinued, or liquidated, or has been closed;

5. Any sale accompanied by notices or advertising indicating that the premises are available for purchase or lease or are otherwise to be vacated;

6. Any sale accompanied by advertising, indicating a business emergency or failure affecting the seller of any previous holder of the goods to be disposed of.

B. For purpose of this article "advertise" shall mean all methods, whether oral, written, lettered, or printed, used to convey to the public notice of the conduct of a sale, or notice of intention to conduct such sale, which shall include, but not be limited to, oral or written announcements by the proclamation, newspaper advertisements, magazine advertisements, handbills, written or printed displays, billboard displays, posters, or radio and television announcements. (1962 Code § 6-5.01 et seq.)

The provisions of this article shall not be applicable to the following:

A. A sale conducted by persons acting pursuant to an order or process of a court of competent jurisdiction or persons acting in accordance with their powers and duties as public officials; or

B. Any publisher or publication, newspaper, magazine, or other publication which publishes in good faith any advertisement without knowledge of its false, deceptive, or misleading character, or without knowledge that the provisions of this article have not been complied with. (1962 Code § 6-5.01 et seq.)

A. In addition to the requirements of section 4-1-102 of this title, an application for a closing out sale shall contain the following information:

1. The nature of the applicant's occupancy, whether by lease, sublease, or ownership, and the effective date of the termination of such occupancy;

2. The dates between which the sale is to be conducted;

3. A full and complete statement of the facts in regard to the sale, including the reason for the urgent and expeditious disposal of goods and the manner in which the sale will be conducted;

4. The means to be employed in advertising such sale and the proposed content of any such advertisement;

5. An itemized inventory of the stock of goods, wares, and merchandise to be offered for sale, together with the name and address of the suppliers thereof, and the cost thereof. All goods, wares, and merchandise listed upon the inventory shall be described in detail by color, size, manufacturer's name and lot number, and the individual number of articles in each lot so that the identity of such goods can be readily determined. Each item listed on the inventory shall be tagged with a label or tag securely attached thereto on which there is written or printed a number corresponding with that item on the inventory;

6. The place where such stock was purchased or acquired and a statement as to whether or not the merchandise to be sold was purchased at a former sale;

7. If stock is brought upon the premises within thirty (30) days prior to such application, the amount and time of acquisition of such stock.

B. An application for a closing out sale permit must be filed with the city a minimum of ten (10) days prior to commencement of the sale. (1962 Code § 6-5.01 et seq.)

In addition to the criteria set forth in section 4-1-103 of this title, the permit shall be denied for any of the following reasons:

A. The inventory list is incomplete or the merchandise is improperly labeled or tagged;

B. The advertising as proposed is false, fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading in any respect;

C. The methods to be used in conducting the sale are such as will work a fraud upon the purchasers. (1962 Code § 6-5.01 et seq.)

The term of a closing out sale permit shall not exceed thirty (30) days; provided further, that the permit may be extended for one additional period not exceeding thirty (30) days subject to the following requirements:

A. Filing a renewal application of the form designated not less than five (5) days before expiration of the original permit.

B. Inclusion of a complete list of all unsold stock which was listed on the original application, provided further, a renewal permit shall not authorize sale of any stock which was not listed in the original permit application.

C. Permittee has complied with the provision of this code and terms of the permit since its issuance.

D. Payment of the renewal permit fee as designated by resolution of council. (1962 Code § 6-5.01 et seq.)

The permittee shall comply with the following requirements:

A. Authorized representatives of city shall have the right to make an examination or investigation of the business, books, records, accounts, or other papers pertaining to any person permitted to conduct a sale regulated by the provisions of this article.

B. Keep available at the place of the sale a duplicate copy of the inventory submitted with the application and present such duplicate copy to authorized city officials upon request.

C. Keep all other goods separate and apart from the goods listed in the sale inventory filed with city; and all inventoried sale goods shall be tagged to apprise the public of the status of all such goods.

D. At the close of business each day, a revised inventory list of items disposed of during the day shall be made and shall be at all time available to investigating or inspecting city officials. (1962 Code § 6-5.01 et seq.)

Closing out sales shall be subject to the following restrictions and prohibitions:

A. A closing out sale shall not be conducted at the same location by any person who, as owner or successor in interest, except by operation of law, has in any way, either directly or indirectly, conducted a similar sale in the city within a period of one year immediately preceding the date of the proposed sale.

B. An applicant shall not be eligible for a closing out sale permit unless the applicant has been in business at the same location for a period of time in excess of ninety (90) days prior to filing the application.

C. The closing out sale permit authorizes only the type of sale described in the application at the location named in such application and authorizes only the sale of goods described in the inventory attached to the application. No additions of stock shall be permitted.

D. A closing out sale shall be incidental to the termination of a legitimate business, and is not permissible for a business which was established for the purpose of conducting such closing out sale.

E. All goods, wares, and merchandise to be sold in the closing out sale shall have been purchased by the applicant for resale on bona fide orders without cancellation privileges and shall not comprise goods purchased on consignment.

F. Goods, wares, and merchandise to be sold in the closing out sale shall not include goods ordered in contemplation of conducting such a sale. Any unusual purchase or addition to the stock of goods of the business within the period of thirty (30) days before the filing of an application for a closing out sale permit and up to the time of the sale shall be deemed to be of such character.

G. Where a permittee operates more than one place of business, the permit issued shall apply only to the one store or branch specified in the application, and no store or branch shall advertise or represent that it is cooperating with, or in any way participating in, such sale; nor shall the store or branch conducting such sale advertise or represent that any other store or branch is cooperating with, or participating in any way, in such sale.

H. The conduct on any closing out sale shall be prohibited during the hours from nine thirty o'clock (9:30) P.M. until eight o'clock (8:00) A.M. the next succeeding day. (1962 Code § 6-5.01 et seq.)