§ 779.306 - Leased departments not separate establishments.

§ 779.306 Leased departments not separate establishments.

It does not follow from the principles discussed in § 779.305 that leased departments engaged in the retail sale of goods or services in a departmentalized store are separate establishments. To the contrary, it is only in rare instances that such leased departments would be separate establishments for purposes of the exemptions. For example, take a situation where the departmentalized retail store, having leased departments, controls the space location, determines the type of goods that may be sold, determines the pricing policy, bills the customers, passes on customers' credit, receives payments due, handles complaints, determines the personnel policies, and performs other functions as well. In such situations the leased department is an integral part of the retail store and considered to be such by the customers. It is clear that such departments are not separate establishments but rather a part of the retail store establishment and will be considered as such for purposes of the exemptions. The same result may follow in the case of leased departments engaged in the retail sale of goods or services in a departmentalized store where all or most of the departments are leased or otherwise individually owned, but which operate under one common trade name and hold themselves out to the public as one integrated business unit.