Thrift store chain case was no bargain for Washington attorney general; legal fees top $4.2 million

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s long-running legal case against the thrift store chain Savers Value Village turned out to be no bargain, as the state has been ordered to pay the company nearly $4.3 million in legal fees. King County Superior Court Judge David Whedbee issued the award on Tuesday, eight months after the state Supreme Court unanimously rejected the attorney general’s claims that marketing practices by the thrift store chain were deceptive. The judge called the state’s lawsuit “needless.” Savers Value Village, which is based in Bellevue, Washington, and operates more than 300 stores in the U.S., Canada and Australia, said it would donate more than $1 million of the award to charities.