Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American
conglomerate holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
chains
Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...
,
Lazarus,
Filene's
Filene's (formally William Filene & Sons Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-p ...
, and
Shillito's
John Shillito & Co. (commonly known as Shillito's) was Cincinnati's first department store.
In 1817 John Shillito (November 1808-September 1879) arrived in Cincinnati (from Greensburg, Pennsylvania). The nine-year-old lad was soon working for th ...
.
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...
joined Federated Department Stores the following year. Throughout its early history, frequent acquisitions and divestitures saw the company operate a number of nameplates. In 1994, Federated took over the department store chain
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
. With the acquisition of
The May Department Stores Company
The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ch ...
in 2005, the regional nameplates were retired and replaced by the Macy's and Bloomingdale's brands nationwide by 2006. Ultimately, Federated itself was renamed Macy's, Inc. in 2007.
Macy's, Inc., has been headquartered within
Macy's Herald Square
Macy's Herald Square (originally named the R. H. Macy and Company Store) is the Flagship#Retailing, flagship of Macy's department store, as well as the Macy's, Inc. corporate headquarters, on Herald Square in Manhattan, New York City. The buildi ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
since 2020; beforehand, its headquarters was in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. While Federated had a long history of preserving brand identities in each of their markets since its inception in 1929, it universally applied the Macy's name to most their department store chains in 2006. It operates the subsidiaries Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and the beauty store chain
Bluemercury
Bluemercury is a chain of American beauty stores founded in 1999 by Marla Malcolm Beck and Barry Beck in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The stores sell cosmetics, as well as in-store facials and spa treatments. In addition to selling products from o ...
, all of which have a
flagship store
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
located in the New York City borough of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. As of October 29, 2022, the company operated 722 locations (783 boxes, including 540 full-line boxes) in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, and
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
Its namesake locations and related operations account for 90% of its revenue. According to
Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...
, Macy's, Inc. is the world's largest fashion goods retailer and the 36th largest retailer overall, based on the company's reported 2010 retail sales revenue of $25 billion (equivalent to $ in ).
Operations as Federated
Early history
Federated Department Stores traces its corporate lineage to
F&R Lazarus & Company, founded in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, in 1851. In the summer of 1929, months before the Wall Street Crash of 1929,
Fred Lazarus Jr. met with Walter N. Rothschild from
Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...
of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and
Edward Filene from
Filene's
Filene's (formally William Filene & Sons Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-p ...
of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on Rothschild's yacht in Long Island Sound. The three businessmen agreed to merge their stores and form Federated Department Stores, as a department store
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
for
F&R Lazarus & Company (including its Cincinnati division, then known as
Shillito's
John Shillito & Co. (commonly known as Shillito's) was Cincinnati's first department store.
In 1817 John Shillito (November 1808-September 1879) arrived in Cincinnati (from Greensburg, Pennsylvania). The nine-year-old lad was soon working for th ...
),
Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...
, and
William Filene's Sons of Boston. In 1930,
Bloomingdale Brothers of New York joined.
In the mid-1930s, a modern merchandising standard was set when
Fred Lazarus Jr. arranged garments in groups of a single size with a range of style, color and price, basing the technique upon observations made in Paris. As well, Lazarus convinced President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
that it would help American economy to change the
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
holiday from the last Thursday of November to the fourth Thursday, thus extending the Christmas shopping season. An act of Congress perpetuated the arrangement in 1941.
Black Friday became a nationwide sensation and the most profitable day for Federated. (Robert Lazarus Jr. worked at Federated until he died in 2013, the last remaining family member with an official role at the company.)
In 1945, Federated moved its corporate offices to
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. The latter half of the 20th century saw the company expand nationwide, adding
Rike Kumler
The Rike-Kumler Company (commonly known as Rike's) was an American department store in Dayton, Ohio. In 1959, Rike's became part of the Federated Department Stores conglomerate. In 1982, Federated merged Rike's with its Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinn ...
of Dayton, Ohio (merged into
Shillito's
John Shillito & Co. (commonly known as Shillito's) was Cincinnati's first department store.
In 1817 John Shillito (November 1808-September 1879) arrived in Cincinnati (from Greensburg, Pennsylvania). The nine-year-old lad was soon working for th ...
in the 1980s to become Shillito-Rike's);
Burdines
Burdines (} ) was an American chain of department stores operating in the state of Florida, headquartered in Miami. The original store opened in Bartow, Florida in 1896 as a carriage-trade shop. Over its nearly 110-year history, Burdines grew i ...
of Miami, Florida;
Rich's of Atlanta, Georgia;
Foley's
Foley's was a chain of department stores owned by May Department Stores and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West and Macy's ...
of Houston, Texas;
Sanger Brothers
Sanger may refer to:
Places Romania
* Sânger, a commune in Mureș County
United States
* Sanger, California, a city
* Sanger, North Dakota, a ghost town
* Sanger, Texas, a city
* Sanger, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
People
* ...
and A. Harris, both of Dallas, Texas (which were merged to form
Sanger-Harris);
Boston Store of Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
MainStreet Main Street is the generic street name (and often the official name) of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world.
Main Street may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Main Street (Toronto, Ontario)
* Main Stre ...
of Chicago, Illinois;
Bullock's
Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialty ...
, of Los Angeles;
I. Magnin
I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, ...
, of San Francisco, California;
Gold Circle
Gold Circle was a discount department store chain based in Ohio. Founded in 1967, it was a division of Federated Department Stores with 76 stores when the chain was sold and dismantled in 1988.
History
Covering mostly New York, Ohio, Kentucky ...
; and
Richway
Richway was the discount department store division of Atlanta-based Rich's. It was originally part of Rich's, and was later bought by Federated Department Stores when they purchased the Rich's chain. It was originally known as Richway, a Rich' ...
Discount Department Stores of Worthington, Ohio. Federated entered the supermarket industry in 1968 when it acquired the
Ralphs
Ralphs is an American supermarket chain in Southern California. The largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger, it is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Kroger also operates stores under the Food 4 Less and Foods Co. nam ...
chain based in Southern California. In 1982, Federated acquired the
Twin Fair, Inc. discount store chain based in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, and merged it with Gold Circle. In 1983, Federated sold four shopping center properties to
JMB Realty
JMB Realty was a real estate investment company based in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes ...
.
Takeover by Robert Campeau
Canadian real estate developer
Robert Campeau
Robert Joseph Antoine Campeau (August 3, 1923 June 12, 2017) was a Canadian financier and real estate developer. Starting from a single house constructed in 1940 in the Alta Vista neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Campeau built a large land dev ...
– who had taken over and dismembered
Allied Stores
Allied Stores was a department store chain in the United States. It was founded in the 1930s as part of a general consolidation in the retail sector by B. E. Puckett. See also Associated Dry Goods. It was the successor to Hahn's Department Stor ...
in 1986 – attempted to take over Federated starting in early 1988 which Federated fought off in a high-profile battle, with Macy's (at that time not part of Federated, but a rival), also submitting competitive bids of over $6 billion. Nonetheless, in April 1988, Federated gave in and agreed to a $6.6 billion takeover by Campeau. It was the largest merger in corporate history, barring the oil sector. Macy's paid Campeau $1.1 billion to acquire the 20-store
Bullock's
Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialty ...
/
Bullocks Wilshire
Bullocks Wilshire, located at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, is a Art Deco building. The building opened in September 1929 as a luxury department store for owner John G. Bullock (owner of the more mainstream Bullock's in Down ...
and the 25-store specialty apparel chain
I. Magnin
I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, ...
. Two years later, Federated filed for bankruptcy after Campeau failed to refinance the debt of Federated and Allied Stores Corp. In 1992, Campeau was ousted and Federated emerged from bankruptcy as a new public company. As part of the reorganization, Federated sold the Ralphs chain to a group of owners led by
Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation
Edward John DeBartolo Sr. (May 17, 1909 – December 19, 1994) was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on ''For ...
.
Acquisition of Macy's
Also in 1992, Macy's declared bankruptcy; Federated acquired it two years later, in 1994. The name of the once-main-rival of Federated, Macy's, would soon become the consumer-facing identity of most of Federated's stores.
In 1995 Federated bought
Broadway Stores, Inc. and its California-based
Emporium-Capwell
The Emporium, from 1980 to 1995 Emporium-Capwell, was a mid-line department store chain headquartered in San Francisco, California, which operated for 100 years—from 1896 to 1996. The flagship location on San Francisco's Market Street was a de ...
,
Weinstock's
Weinstock's, originally Weinstock, Lubin, and Co., was an American department store chain headquartered in Sacramento, California. It was founded by Harris Weinstock and his half-brother, David Lubin. The chain was purchased by Hale's in 1949, b ...
and
The Broadway
The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant reta ...
chains. Macy's changed the nameplate of these three chains and Bullock's to Macy's, or in some cases, turned locations into Bloomingdales. In 2003, Federated changed the nameplates of almost all their remaining non-Macy's stores – the lone exception was Bloomingdales – to include the Macy's name, a rebranding internally dubbed Project Hyphen. For example,
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
-based
The Bon Marché
The Bon Marché, whose French name translates to "the good market" or "the good deal", was a department store chain launched in Seattle, Washington, United States, in 1890 by Edward Nordhoff. The name was influenced by Le Bon Marché, the note ...
became Bon-Macy's; Goldsmith's in
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
became Goldsmith's-Macy's; Lazarus, Burdines, and Rich's also added "-Macy's" to their name. A year later, the hyphenated names were changed to simply Macy's, a rebranding process referred internally to as Project Star.
The department store chain
Stern's
Stern's (originally Stern Brothers) was a regional department store chain serving the U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The chain was in business for more than 130 years.
In 2001, Stern's parent company Federated Departmen ...
, a division of Federated, ceased operations in 2001 and most of its stores became Macy's stores.
Federated began
selling goods online in 1998, rather later than most contemporary large retailers; Federated ran a private bank, FDS Bank, which issued and maintained the majority of its own consumer credit card portfolio, was one of the last credit card banks to begin to allow its cardholders to access account information online (around 2004).
In 1998, Federated settled an
SEC investigation for $14.46 million (equivalent to $ in ) due to unethical debt-collection practices. Federated routinely forced credit card holders/debtors to sign an agreement that legally bound them to repay their outstanding balances instead of having the unsecured debt discharge via the filing of
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
. Federated failed to file reaffirmation agreements with bankruptcy courts. As a result, the changes in the agreements were not legally binding.
In 2001 Federated acquired
Liberty House of Hawaii as it emerged from
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
. It was managed as part of Macy's West and all the store names were changed to Macy's.
In 2005, Federated agreed to sell its credit card business to
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
.
Acquisition of May
![Federatedlogo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Federatedlogo.png)
On February 28, 2005, Federated Department Stores announced that it would acquire
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many c ...
company for $11 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in cash and stock. Also part of the buyout was the bridal and formal unit of May, consisting of
David's Bridal
David's Bridal is a clothier in the United States that specializes in wedding dresses, prom gowns, and other formal wear. It is the largest American bridal-store chain.
David's Bridal currently operates 298 stores in 49 states, Canada, and the U ...
and
After Hours Formalwear. Federated would also assume $6 billion (equivalent to $ in ) of May's debt, bringing total consideration to $17 billion (equivalent to $ in ). The deal would create the nation's largest department store chain with over 1,000 stores and $30 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in annual sales. To help finance the deal, Federated agreed to sell its combined proprietary credit card business (but still administered by FACS Group, a subsidiary of Federated) to Citigroup. The merger was completed on August 30, 2005, after an assurance agreement was reached with the Attorneys General of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
,
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
As a result of the merger, Federated also in the process reacquired two of their former department store chains Foley's & Filene's (Which Federated originally sold to May Company), putting them back under the Federated Department Stores corporate umbrella for the first time since 1988.
Federated announced plans to sell 80 store locations in 2006, having pledged in its settlement to sell most of them as viable businesses, with preference being given to a group of thirteen competitors. This number could fluctuate pursuant to Federated's negotiations with various mall landlords and its final decision regarding using former Macy locations for its luxury
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...
operation.
On January 12, 2006, Federated announced its plans to divest May Company's
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...
division (48 stores in 12 states) by the end of 2006 after utilizing prime and conflicting real estate by closing and converting several locations. On June 22, 2006, Macy's announced that
NRDC Equity Partners, LLC would purchase
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...
for US$1.2 billion (equivalent to $ in ), and completed the sale in October 2006.
On September 9, 2006, the former May Company store names
Famous-Barr
The Famous-Barr Co. (originally Famous and Barr Co.) was a division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores). Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, in the Railway Exchange Building, it was the flagship store of The May Department S ...
,
Filene's
Filene's (formally William Filene & Sons Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-p ...
,
Foley's
Foley's was a chain of department stores owned by May Department Stores and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West and Macy's ...
,
Hecht's
Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland.
By 20 ...
,
The Jones Store
The Jones Store Company was an American chain of department stores located in the Kansas City area formerly operated by Mercantile Stores Company and the St. Louis, Missouri-based May Co.
History
The Jones Store Company was founded in 1887 as an ...
,
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Summary
The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regi ...
,
L. S. Ayres
L. S. Ayres and Company was a department store based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and founded in 1872 by Lyman S. Ayres. Over the years its Indianapolis flagship store, which opened in 1905 and was later enlarged, became known for its women's fas ...
,
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...
,
Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank was a prominent chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought by The May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.
History Summary
Meier & Frank was f ...
,
Robinsons-May
Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, from 1993 until 2006. It was created when May Department Stores combined two of its chains, May Company California and J. W. Robinson's cha ...
, and
Strawbridge's disappeared as Federated switched most of them to the
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
masthead and a few to the Bloomingdale's name. The conversion of Marshall Field's in Chicago was particularly criticized, with many customers boycotting its historic State Street flagship store. The
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
continues to report on the poor reception of Macy's in Chicago. Pittsburgh customers also strongly resisted the name change from Kaufmann's, in part because of the
Kaufmann family role in Pittsburgh history, as well as the central store's Christmas windows and holiday parade.
One of the consequences of this
rebranding
Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...
is that several malls have two Macy's stores. In downtown Boston, Federated liquidated an acquired Filene's because it already had a Macy's (formerly a Jordan Marsh) across the street. The two stores have a combined floorspace of more than , more than two-thirds the size of Macy's New York City flagship store.
On November 17, 2006, the bridal and formal unit was sold. David's Bridal and Priscilla of Boston were sold to
Leonard Green & Partners
Leonard Green & Partners ("LGP") is an American private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles. The firm specializes in private equity investments. LGP has invested in over 95 companies since its inception, including Petc ...
. After Hours Formalwear was sold to
Men's Wearhouse
Tailored Brands, Inc. is an American retail holding company for various men's apparel stores, including the Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank brands. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional corporate offices in Fremont, ...
.
Operations as Macy's, Inc.
![Macy's Inc](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Macy%27s_Inc.svg)
On February 27, 2007, Federated announced that its board of directors would ask shareholders to change the company's name to Macy's Group, Inc. By March 28, the company revised its plans for the new name, opting to eventually become Macy's, Inc. Federated shareholders approved the revised proposal during the company's annual meeting on May 18, 2007. The company was previously known as Federated Retail Holdings, Inc.
The name took effect on June 1, 2007. Reasoning for the proposed name change—according to
Terry Lundgren, Federated's chairman, president and chief executive officer—hinges on the large-scale conversions throughout the company toward the Macy's nameplate. "Today, we are a brand-driven company focused on Macy's and Bloomingdale's, not a federation of department stores," Lundgren said in the company's press release heralding the proposed name. Upon the change to Macy's Inc., Federated's stock ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange changed from "FD" to "M", making the new Macy's Inc. one of a handful of single-letter
ticker symbol
A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. In short, ticker symbols are arrangements of symbols or characters (generally Latin letters ...
companies.
In April, 2008, Moody's Investors Service said that it may downgrade Macy's Inc. bonds to just above junk status. That same month, Fitch Ratings downgraded their
bond credit rating
In investment, the bond credit rating represents the credit worthiness of corporate or government bonds. It is not the same as an individual's credit score. The ratings are published by credit rating agencies and used by investment professiona ...
to BBB− from BBB, noting a deterioration in the company's operating and credit metrics. A rating of BBB− is one notch above junk status.
The domain ''macysinc.com'' attracted at least 3 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a
Compete.com
Compete.com was a web traffic analysis service. The company was founded in 2000 and ceased operations in December 2016.
Services
Compete.com provided two categories of information:
*Site Analytics
: a free service, where the user can enter any ...
survey.
On Wednesday, February 6, 2008, Terry Lundgren announced the localization strategy and the company's plan to shed 2,550 jobs. This new localization strategy is known as "My Macy's."
Employees of the Macy's North headquarters office in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, the Macy's Northwest headquarters office in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, and the Macy's Midwest headquarters office in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
were given
pink slips, as Macy's pared its seven regional centers to four. About 40 new jobs were to be created in May as part of the restructuring. By 2009, the company expected to save $100 million (equivalent to $ in ) a year from the cuts.
On February 2, 2009, Macy's announced the elimination of 7,000 jobs, or 4% of its work force, and slashed its dividend as it looked to lower expenses as part of major restructuring.
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
-based Macy's Inc. said the work force reduction includes positions in offices, stores and other locations. The cuts will include some unfilled jobs.
"Reducing our workforce is an unfortunate outcome of the current economic environment, and I am frustrated that so many of our people will be unable to move forward with us as we proceed into a very exciting future for Macy's and Bloomingdale's" said
Terry J. Lundgren
Terrence James Lundgren (born March 23, 1952) is an American business executive who retired on January 31, 2018, as executive chairman of Macy's, Inc. the parent company of fashion retailers Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury. He had served ...
, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "
Macy's also got rid of its division structure and integrated its functions into one organization. Macy's central buying, merchandise planning, stores senior management and marketing functions merged to its
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
corporate office (formerly
Macy's East
Macy's East, New York City, New York was a division of Macy's, Inc. It was the operating successor to the original R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. and operates the Macy's department stores in the northeast U.S. and Puerto Rico. Over the years it has bee ...
). Corporate-related business functions, such as finance and human resources, will be primarily in Cincinnati. To buy with local consumers in mind, Macy's developed a concept called "My Macy's", in which the buyers and planners all look at what the local consumer base is looking for in their local Macy's store. This will help bring a better sense of branding, sizing, and marketing to each Macy's store nationwide.
Macy's Inc. decided to close the Bloomingdale's at the
Mall of America
Mall of America (MOA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway ...
in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
. Since 1994, Bloomingdale's had been one of the 4 anchor stores of the mall, and will be replaced with a $30 million renovation with four new foreign clothing stores.
On October 14, 2013, Macy's Inc. announced the decision to open most of their stores for the first time on
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...
2013, breaking a long-standing tradition of 155 years, and joined the ranks of retailers who created
Gray Thursday
Black Friday is a colloquial term for the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States. Many stores
offer highly promoted sales at discounted prices ...
the year before. Its doors opened at 8 p.m. (local time) on the holiday evening, and remained open for 24 hours straight until the close of business on Friday, which is usually about 10 p.m.
, Macy's Inc. is valued at US$28 billion.
In September 2015, Macy's announced it would close 40 stores, 5% of its total stores in early 2016. It also announced plans to open 6 additional
Macy's Backstage locations. From 2010 to 2015, Macy's had closed 52 stores and opened 12.
In February 2020, Macy's announced that their headquarters in downtown Cincinnati will be closing in the near future with all corporate operations relocating to New York City. This news came after a gradual pulling out of the Cincinnati area with a couple of area store closures and the retirement of a top executive.
In November 2021, Macy's announced the launch of its digital marketplace, which set to debut in the second half of 2022. Macy's will partner with
AlixPartners
AlixPartners is a financial advisory and global consulting firm best known for its work in the turnaround space.Merx, Katie. "Thinking Big Thoughts." ''Crain's Detroit Business'' 19.36 (2003): 18. ''Regional Business News.'' Web. 29 May 2013. J ...
and
Mirakl.
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