Ohio Attorney General D. Andrew Wilson sued J. Peterman, the Blue Ash-based catalog retailer known for its connection to "Seinfeld," alleging the company took customers' money and never delivered the goods.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 17 in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, names both The J. Peterman Company LLC and parent company JP Outfitters Inc. Both are registered at 5345 Creek Road in Blue Ash. Senior Assistant Attorney General Tracy Morrison Dickens filed the complaint on behalf of the Consumer Protection Section.

The state alleges J. Peterman violated the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA) by accepting payments and failing to ship merchandise within eight weeks. Customers who tried to cancel orders or return items were denied refunds, the complaint states. Some customers received confirmation that returned items had arrived at the warehouse, yet still never got their money back.

Customer service was effectively unreachable, according to the complaint. Phone lines went unanswered. Emails drew what the filing calls "perfunctory responses" that failed to address customers' concerns. Some customers who did reach a representative were promised refunds that never came.

The state is seeking civil penalties, consumer damages and a court order barring J. Peterman from doing business as a supplier in Ohio. Under Ohio law, courts can impose penalties of up to $25,000 per CSPA violation along with mandatory restitution, according to Hoodline.

The company, which also operated under the Territory Ahead brand, appears to be shut down. Both jpeterman.com and territoryahead.com display a notice stating the stores are not taking orders, Retail Dive reported Wednesday, Sept. 2. Phone numbers for the corporate office and customer service are disconnected. The complaint itself states that the defendants' retail business "is no longer in operation."

J. Peterman had not responded to the lawsuit as of Retail Dive's reporting. Neither founder John Peterman nor his son Tim Peterman responded to Retail Dive's requests for comment.

The company's financial troubles ran deep before the AG's action. Five separate lawsuits filed in Hamilton County between August 2019 and January 2026 alleged J. Peterman failed to pay more than $1.7 million for goods and services, Hoodline reported, citing the Cincinnati Enquirer. Financial filings from 2023 showed net losses of $3.6 million in 2021 and $5.7 million in 2022. In 2018, founder John Peterman told Retail Dive, "We're too small to make a lot of money."

J. Peterman opened its Blue Ash warehouse in 2017. Founded in 1987, the company built a following through its literary catalog descriptions and gained wider fame when "Seinfeld" created a fictionalized version of founder John Peterman as a character. At its 1990s peak, the brand generated $75 million in annual revenue before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 1999.

No next court date has been announced. The company has not responded to the state's claims.