Macy's Drops Emeril Lagasse Cookware

Sad news; you can't just walk into the Macy's at your local mall and pick up the latest Emeril Lagasse cookware thingamajig anymore. The New York Daily News reports that Macy's has confirmed the halt of Lagasse cookware sales at all of its 800 stores.

Thanks to a crazy lawsuit in the works between Macy's against Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) and JCPenney, Macy's had to fess up to dropping the line, although representatives claim that the timing is "pure coincidence" and the decision was based on "sales performance." Uh huh.

The lawsuit against MSLO and JCPenney claims that Stewart violated an exclusivity deal when she signed a $282.9 million contract with JCPenney to sell her line of Martha Stewart housewares with the rival department store.

Macy's dropping Lagasse's line is a major blow, since the company not only paid $50 million for the rights back in 2008, but also hoped to use the Lagasse line as a way to keep Stewart's exclusivity deal with Macy's. In the meantime, you can pick up Lagasse's collection online, but it's probably not going to be the same as impulse retail therapy.