In Legal Battle, Nantucket Jewelry Store Loses Bid To Block Competitor From Opening

Federal District Court Judge Denise J. Casper denied an injunctive relief motion filed by Nantucket jewelry store The Vault's owner, Katherine Jetter, against Marissa Collections and its owners, Jay, Marissa, and Burt Hartington, late last week. The motion sought to prevent Marissa Collections, a new seasonal boutique slated to open at 1 Cambridge Street this summer, from operating while the lawsuit filed by Jetter plays out in court. Jetter's legal complaint features allegations of backstabbing by the Hartingtons and more than a quarter of a million dollars worth of jewelry being held hostage.

The 10-count lawsuit, which was filed last month in Nantucket Superior Court but has since moved to federal court, includes allegations of breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, tortious interference, unfair and deceptive trade practices, misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential business information, conversion, and unjust enrichment.

“For all of the aforementioned reasons, Plaintiffs have not shown that they are likely to succeed on their breach of contract, Counts I-II, misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential business information, Counts VI-VII or their conversion claims, Count VIII,” Casper stated in the decision.

The case itself remains open, as this decision is strictly on the preliminary injunction motion and/or a temporary restraining order – which is a court order that if granted, would temporarily prohibit Marissa Collections and its owners from taking specific actions, such as opening their new store, to maintain the status quo while the legal case is pending. The preliminary injunction would serve as a form of equitable relief granted before the court’s final judgment and is intended to prevent potential irreparable harm to the party, in this case, The Vault, seeking the injunction.

The court did reveal that it did not find The Vault to be likely of finding success on proving Jay Hartington and the owners of Marissa Collection are at fault for the numerous complaints alleged in the initial suit, but that is strictly on the preliminary record with much more information and documents to be filed and examined as the case progresses. Some of the notes made by Casper include the fact that in Marissa Collections' Instagram post announcing the opening, it listed all of the designers it planned on featuring, none of which were jewelry designers.

“On May 12, 2025, Marissa Collections issued a press release regarding the opening, noting that ‘while known for its fine jewelry offerings, the Nantucket boutique will focus exclusively on fashion and seasonal collections’ from certain apparel designers. In addition, defendants’ Nantucket store will not sell fashion from any of the same designers that The Vault carries,' Casper said.

Whether the new Marissa Collections store will be a true competitor of the Vault remains a lingering question for the court, and Casper said it is one she is unsure the plaintiffs can prove due to the difference in vendors and products being sold at each location, as well as Marissa Collections not selling any jewelry to start. She added that any insinuation of them selling jewelry in the future is nothing more than a hypothetical at this point.

“Since it remains contested whether Marissa Collections will compete with The Vault and questionable whether the breadth of the non-compete provision is enforceable here, Plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden of demonstrating that they will likely succeed on the merits of their claim that Defendants breached the non-compete provisions of the two agreements,” Casper stated.

The lawsuit filed by Jetter claims that the owners of the Marissa Collections turned their backs on a non-compete agreement with Jetter that included confidential business information possessed by The Vault as the two sides allegedly discussed a potential partnership. The agreement included a stipulation that Jay Hartington and Marissa Collections would agree not to open a competing business within 50 miles of The Vault.

Hartington told the court that, given his longstanding personal and professional relationship with Jetter that dates back over a decade, along with Jetter’s "nonchalant description of the document," he claims that he "assumed it was a standard NDA" and that he "signed it without consulting with counsel."

The Hartingtons subsequently announced this year that they would be opening a new Marissa Collections location in June, just a quarter of a mile away from The Vault’s downtown location at 33 Centre Street, which prompted Jetter to file the lawsuit.

“In the hands of a competitor like Marissa Collections, the confidential information and business strategies that the Marissa Collections Parties improperly acquired, retained, and used represents a significant and imminent threat, at present and into the future, to The Vault's and Ms. Jetter's business especially now that Marissa Collections seeks to operate a brick-and-mortar store just blocks away from The Vault during Nantucket's upcoming high-season, mere months after signing the non-compete,” the lawsuit states.

According to the 119-page court document, the two parties began to explore a potential business partnership in 2023. The owners of Marissa Collections, which operates existing stores in Naples and Palm Beach, Florida, expressed interest in expanding into the Nantucket market.

Jetter said in her lawsuit that the Hartingtons had “no experience or knowledge about running a high-end store on the island, or about the unique sales, marketing, and financial patterns on Nantucket that are impacted by the seasonality of the business.”

The Hartingtons, meanwhile, pointed to the fact that they have served over 60 clients from and on Nantucket since 2013 through their online store, and have sold over $2 million worth of merchandise. In the summer of 2022, Marissa Collections hosted its first fashion show and pop-up on Nantucket, which they said Jetter attended. Marissa Collections sold over $50,000 of products in just three hours, and as a result of this success, allegedly began considering a brick-and-mortar store in Nantucket and connected with a real estate agent to begin looking for a property in August of 2022.

The Current reached out to both sides requesting comment, however, both sides respectfully declined.