Brown Shoe, Market Definition, and the Focus on Substitution

Courts routinely apply the factors enumerated in Brown Shoe v. United States to assist in defining relevant markets, notwithstanding substantial criticism of the case.  Consistent with Judge Bork’s reading of the case in Rothery Storage & Van Co. v. Atlas Van Lines, Inc., Brown Shoe should not be read to preclude or limit consideration of available quantitative evidence of substitution; on the contrary, Brown Shoe appropriately recognizes that the goal of market definition is to identify