Stuart Kitchens, Inc. v. Stevens

Horney, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. In this case where homeowners (Donald C. Stevens and Gloria I. Stevens, his wife) agreed to purchase a custom kitchen from a dealer (Stuart Kitchens, Inc.) and then refused to accept delivery of it, the alternative question is whether the damages were so speculative as to be wholly noncompensatory, or, whether the dealer should have been allowed to recover the profits it had lost as a result of the breach of contract. The contract price, including the sales tax of $63.03, was $2164.03. The homeowners were remodeling their home and certain preliminary work had to be done before they would be ready for delivery of the kitchen.

Payment was to be made upon delivery which was to be made when the room in which the kitchen was to be installed was ready. The dealer had nothing to do with the remodeling, with the preparation of the room to receive the kitchen or with the installation of it. All of these ⁷³ things, including financing, were to be done by or arranged for by the homeowners. The only thing the dealer had to do was supply and deliver the kitchen in accordance with the specifications contained in the contract and an attached job specification sheet.

It was understood that the custom items and equipment were not to be ordered by the dealer until an approximate delivery date was specified by the homeowners. Some weeks after the execution of the contract and before delivery had been requested, the husband, stating that he did not want to go ahead with the contract and that he would not be able to accept the kitchen, sought to cancel the contract, but was told he could not do so. At the trial of the case it was shown that about a month after the contract was made the husband and wife had marital difficulties, separated and were subsequently divorced. The only evidence concerning the cost of carrying out the contract was that given by the vice-president and salesman of the corporate dealer.

He testified on direct examination that the contract price, excluding the sales tax, was $2101, that the actual cost of supplying and delivering the kitchen would have been $1405; that what the dealer suffered as a result of the breach of the contract “was the loss of not making a profit on [the] job after many hours of time which was put into it by several parties”; and that the profit would have been $696. Upon his recall, after the court expressed dissatisfaction with the proof of the cost of the materials, the witness detailed the items making up the total cost figure and also testified that he had been in the custom kitchen business for more than a decade; that he had sold approximately two thousand kitchens; that he had figured the cost and priced about thirty-five to thirty-eight hundred jobs; that he was familiar with the cost of materials; and that the prices he stated were fair and reasonable. The lower court concluded that the contract was binding, that the homeowners breached it and that the dealer sustained damages for the loss of time spent in negotiating the contract, but found that the dealer failed to prove what it would cost to supply and deliver the kitchen with sufficient certainty to establish its loss of profits and entered a judgment for costs in favor of both appellees.