Cite as: 505 U. S. 214 (1992)
Kennedy, J., dissenting
Shoe and Brown-Forman. These cases must inform any attempt to give meaning to § 381(a).
International Shoe manufactured shoes in St. Louis, Missouri. Its only activity within the State of Louisiana consisted of regular and systematic solicitation by 15 sales-people. No office or warehouse was maintained inside Louisiana, and orders were accepted and shipped from outside the State. The salespeople carried product samples, drove in company-owned automobiles, and rented hotel rooms or rooms of public buildings in order to make displays. International Shoe, 236 La., at 280, 107 So. 2d, at 640; Hartman, "Solicitation" and "Delivery" Under Public Law 86-272: An Uncharted Course, 29 Vand. L. Rev. 353, 358 (1976).
Brown-Forman distilled and packaged whiskey in Louisville, Kentucky, for sale in Louisiana and elsewhere. It solicited orders in Louisiana with the assistance of an in-state sales staff. All orders were approved and shipped from outside the State. There was no in-state office of any kind. Brown-Forman salespeople performed two functions: they solicited orders from wholesalers, who were direct customers of Brown-Forman; and they accompanied the wholesalers' own sales force on visits to retailers, who were solicited by the wholesalers. The Brown-Forman salespeople did not solicit orders at all when visiting retailers, nor could they sell direct to them. They did assist in arranging suitable displays of the distiller's merchandise in the retail establishments. Brown-Forman, 234 La., at 653-654, 101 So. 2d, at 70.
The activities in International Shoe and Brown-Forman extended beyond specific acts of entreaty; they included merchandising and display, as well as other simple acts of courtesy from buyer to seller, such as arranging product displays and calling on the customer of a customer. The activities considered in International Shoe and Brown-Forman are by no means exceptional. Checking inventories, displaying products, replacing stale product, and verifying credit are all
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