The number of Macy’s stores nationwide will rise to some 730 while retail shopping names such as Famous-Barr, Filene’s, Hecht’s and Kaufmann’s will disappear next year under plans outlined Thursday by Federated Department Stores Inc. for its pending takeover of May Department Stores Co.
Besides converting some 330 May stores to Macy’s, Federated plans to sell off 68 stores where the two companies have duplicate locations, 27 of them currently operated as Macy’s. The changes announced Thursday will eliminate all May nameplates except Lord & Taylor and Marshall Field’s.
Federated spokesman Jim Sluzewski said the company plans to keep the Lord & Taylor name, currently on 58 stores, while it is still studying the Marshall Field’s name, which is on 60 stores.
The pending $11 billion takeover would combine companies with a total $30 billion in annual sales.
The company said it decided on the Macy’s conversions after research on customer attitudes.
“Macy’s emerged as a premier national retailer in March 2005, when we changed Federated’s regional department store nameplates,” Terry J. Lundgren, Federated’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We will continue that process in 2006 by converting many of May Company’s regional store nameplates to Macy’s.”
Lundgren repeated an earlier pledge not to eliminate any jobs before next March 1. All May stores will operate under their existing nameplates through this year’s holiday shopping season.
Shareholders of both companies approved the takeover this month. Federated expects the deal to close in the third quarter, following completion of regulatory review.
Federated said the plans announced Thursday may be adjusted, and that a “small number of stores” are being studied for possible conversion to the Bloomingdale’s nameplate.
The May regional department stores involved in the conversion are Famous-Barr, Filene’s, Foley’s, Hecht’s, The Jones Store, Kaufmann’s, L.S. Ayres, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May and Strawbridge’s.
