209x50
10-12-2007, 09:03 AM
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-12/ 1190645216130790.xml&coll=8 (http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-12/ 1190645216130790.xml&coll=8)
Four Minnesota hunters are suing a Muskegon Township clothing manufacturer and the nation's largest outdoors retailers, claiming that clothing they bought to mask the human scent doesn't work, and that hunters have been defrauded for years.
The lawsuit was filed this month in federal court in Minneapolis against ALS Enterprises Inc. of Muskegon Township, which produces and licenses "Scent-Lok" clothing sold under that name and others. The lawsuit says the company is the largest maker of such clothing and licenses it to at least 22 others, including Gander Mountain Co., Cabela's Inc., Bass Pro Shops Inc. and Browning Arms Co. -- which are also named as defendants.
The lawsuit claims the five businesses conspired to deceive consumers and suppressed and concealed the truth. "Consumers have been duped into spending significant amounts of money on a product that does not work as represented," it says.
The lawsuit was filed by Mike Buetow of Shakopee, Theodore Carlson of Edina, Gary Richardson Jr. of St. Paul and Joe Rohrbach of Shakopee. Attorneys are seeking class-action status, saying "tens of thousands" of Minnesota hunters have been deceived into buying millions of dollars of odor-eliminating clothing.
A spokesman for Gander Mountain declined to comment. Mike Andrews, vice president of marketing for ALS, said the lawsuit is without merit and the company would fight it.
"We've done years of research ... we have hundreds of testimonials from consumers over the years," he said. "We know it works. And we're excited about the opportunity to prove to the world once and for all how effective our product is."
He added that the company has a written guarantee that says hunters will experience "unalarmed wild animals downwind."
"You don't build this kind of business on something that's not true," Andrews told The Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The products are tested by Intertek Testing Services in Cortland, N.Y., and ALS says the tests, and other studies, show the fabric works as claimed. ALS is a privately held company, and isn't required to reveal sales figures.
Buetow, a bow hunter, said attorneys advised the plaintiffs not to talk about the case.
But the question of whether such clothing works has been the topic of Internet chat rooms for about a year.
ALS has created a new section on the company's Web site to explain how its fabric hides human odors.
"It does work as described," Andrews said. "Unfortunately, some people refuse to look at the data we've provided."
ALS is a privately held company, and Andrews wouldn't reveal sales figures, but some have estimated the activated carbon hunting clothing business may be worth $100 million annually, the Star Tribune reported.
Scent-Lok is a uniquely Muskegon product and local business success story. The company at 1731 Wierengo in Muskegon Township has been producing the activated charcoal hunting clothing since 1991.
According to company President Greg Sesselmann, the company employs 35 in its Muskegon corporate offices and distribution center.
A Minnesotan -- T.R. Michels, 57, of Burnsville, an outdoor writer, author, hunting guide and frequent hunting seminar speaker who has his own Website -- acknowledges he is responsible for raising much of the stink about the products.
"Hunters have been screwed," he told the Star Tribune. "They have been misled. And they (companies) are making tons of money off the stuff."
He said he has no ax to grind and began looking at the clothing because his job as a writer and outdoor expert is to "look into myths and dispel them."
Said Michels: "I was lied to, and that really ticked me off."
He is not involved in the lawsuit, and won't be because, while he has used Scent-Lok clothing, he's never purchased it, he said. However, Michels has questioned the performance of the clothing with the U.S. Patent Office and has posted numerous exchanges he's had with the company on his Web site and others.
He told the newspaper that outdoor magazines won't write about the issue for fear of losing lucrative advertising dollars for the hunting clothing, and that he has lost freelance work because of his stance.
Four Minnesota hunters are suing a Muskegon Township clothing manufacturer and the nation's largest outdoors retailers, claiming that clothing they bought to mask the human scent doesn't work, and that hunters have been defrauded for years.
The lawsuit was filed this month in federal court in Minneapolis against ALS Enterprises Inc. of Muskegon Township, which produces and licenses "Scent-Lok" clothing sold under that name and others. The lawsuit says the company is the largest maker of such clothing and licenses it to at least 22 others, including Gander Mountain Co., Cabela's Inc., Bass Pro Shops Inc. and Browning Arms Co. -- which are also named as defendants.
The lawsuit claims the five businesses conspired to deceive consumers and suppressed and concealed the truth. "Consumers have been duped into spending significant amounts of money on a product that does not work as represented," it says.
The lawsuit was filed by Mike Buetow of Shakopee, Theodore Carlson of Edina, Gary Richardson Jr. of St. Paul and Joe Rohrbach of Shakopee. Attorneys are seeking class-action status, saying "tens of thousands" of Minnesota hunters have been deceived into buying millions of dollars of odor-eliminating clothing.
A spokesman for Gander Mountain declined to comment. Mike Andrews, vice president of marketing for ALS, said the lawsuit is without merit and the company would fight it.
"We've done years of research ... we have hundreds of testimonials from consumers over the years," he said. "We know it works. And we're excited about the opportunity to prove to the world once and for all how effective our product is."
He added that the company has a written guarantee that says hunters will experience "unalarmed wild animals downwind."
"You don't build this kind of business on something that's not true," Andrews told The Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The products are tested by Intertek Testing Services in Cortland, N.Y., and ALS says the tests, and other studies, show the fabric works as claimed. ALS is a privately held company, and isn't required to reveal sales figures.
Buetow, a bow hunter, said attorneys advised the plaintiffs not to talk about the case.
But the question of whether such clothing works has been the topic of Internet chat rooms for about a year.
ALS has created a new section on the company's Web site to explain how its fabric hides human odors.
"It does work as described," Andrews said. "Unfortunately, some people refuse to look at the data we've provided."
ALS is a privately held company, and Andrews wouldn't reveal sales figures, but some have estimated the activated carbon hunting clothing business may be worth $100 million annually, the Star Tribune reported.
Scent-Lok is a uniquely Muskegon product and local business success story. The company at 1731 Wierengo in Muskegon Township has been producing the activated charcoal hunting clothing since 1991.
According to company President Greg Sesselmann, the company employs 35 in its Muskegon corporate offices and distribution center.
A Minnesotan -- T.R. Michels, 57, of Burnsville, an outdoor writer, author, hunting guide and frequent hunting seminar speaker who has his own Website -- acknowledges he is responsible for raising much of the stink about the products.
"Hunters have been screwed," he told the Star Tribune. "They have been misled. And they (companies) are making tons of money off the stuff."
He said he has no ax to grind and began looking at the clothing because his job as a writer and outdoor expert is to "look into myths and dispel them."
Said Michels: "I was lied to, and that really ticked me off."
He is not involved in the lawsuit, and won't be because, while he has used Scent-Lok clothing, he's never purchased it, he said. However, Michels has questioned the performance of the clothing with the U.S. Patent Office and has posted numerous exchanges he's had with the company on his Web site and others.
He told the newspaper that outdoor magazines won't write about the issue for fear of losing lucrative advertising dollars for the hunting clothing, and that he has lost freelance work because of his stance.