Discount department store Target is in hot water with a global retail giant, following allegations of illegal conduct.
The Australian retail chain, owned by Wesfarmers, is now the target of legal action by international make-up company Estee Lauder, following claims that Target has been selling fake M•A•C Cosmetics at its stores.
Estee Lauder, which acquired M·A·C Cosmetics in 1998, accused Target of selling counterfeit MAC Cosmetics at its stores, after samples of the product sourced from Target were taken to the the M·A·C Cosmetics US laboratory for testing.
On its company website, M·A·C Cosmetics stated that it “has conducted extensive testing in, [our] US laboratories and found that M·A·C marked products that were, until recently, being sold at Target Australia are counterfeit”.
The company said it has notified Target Australia and that Target has since withdrawn the products from their shelves and website.
M·A·C Cosmetics also reiterated via the official statement on its website that Target Australia was never accorded rights to sell the product.
“We cannot guarantee the quality or safety of products not purchased from an authorised retailer of M·A·C Cosmetics. Target Australia is not an authorised retailer of M·A·C Cosmetics and we did not supply any M·A·C products to Target Australia.
"We urge our customers to shop at our authorised retailers to ensure the M·A·C Cosmetics products they buy are authentic and meet the quality and safety standards that we promise.”
According to the company, M·A·C products in Australia can only be bought from its freestanding stores, www.maccosmetics.com.au, M·A·C Pro stores and in department stores Myer and David Jones.
According to recent reports, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has also since started conducting its own investigation into the sale of counterfeit make-up at Target stores.
Target was contacted by ragtrader.com.au, but was unable to provide a statement at the time of publication.