Court Fight to Renew Over Adray’s Store Names : Retailing: Owner of Orange outlet seeks restrictions on a chain that owns a similar electronics business in Lakewood.

The owner of Adray’s appliance and electronics store is headed back to court to try to stop a competitor’s Lakewood store from using the same name.

The Orange retailer has been in a legal battle for five years with Adry-Mart Inc., a Van Nuys chain that operates nine outlets with the same Adray name in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. A U.S. District Court decided for the Van Nuys company, but last month an appellate court overturned that decision, setting the stage for a new trial.

In the beginning, there was just one Adray’s.

Andy Adray opened the first store bearing his name in Los Angeles in 1965. His brother, Lou Adray, later opened Adray’s in Orange in 1968.

Then in 1979, Richard Adray, Andy’s son, sold the Los Angeles outlet to outside buyers, who later expanded to other locations in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The two companies coexisted relatively peacefully for about a decade, until the Van Nuys company opened branches in Torrance and Lakewood, too close for the Orange store’s comfort.

Adray’s in Orange seeks unspecified damages for lost sales that its lawyer says could reach more than $10 million. It also seeks a court order that would force Adry-Mart to strip the Adray name from its Lakewood store and a permanent injunction to restrict the company from advertising in Orange County.

In 1994, Adry-Mart was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine for not abiding by a court injunction that prohibited it from advertising without proper disclaimers that it is not affiliated with the Orange store.

Aton Arbisser, an attorney representing Adry-Mart in Van Nuys, says that the Orange company has tried to exploit Adry-Mart’s success. He charges that Lou Adray has piggybacked on the name and advertising of the Van Nuys company for years. Adray’s in Orange reports annual sales of $10 million, while Adry-Mart says its annual receipts top $100 million.

“Lou should stop trying to make the money in court and spend his time building up his business,” he said.

Michael Adray, vice president of Adray’s in Orange, counters that Adry-Mart’s Lakewood store has unfairly swallowed the company’s north Orange County business.

“They saw the value of the name,” he said. “Everyone knew that you could get a deal at Adray’s.”