Robinsons-May was an American

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

chain founded in 1993 with the merger of J. W. Robinson's and May Company California. It retained the former May headquarters in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and operated in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. The holding company

The May Department Stores Company The May Department Stores Company was an American holding company of department stores founded in 1877 by David May. It operated several regional department stores throughout the United States, which were managed as distinct business divisions ...

was acquired by

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...

, and remaining Robinsons-May stores were converted to

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

and

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, in 2005.

History

May Company and JW Robinson's

The double-barreled Robinsons-May name was created in 1993 when the former May Company California was consolidated with their corporate sibling JW Robinson's.

May Department Stores The May Department Stores Company was an American holding company of department stores founded in 1877 by David May. It operated several regional department stores throughout the United States, which were managed as distinct business divisions ...

had acquired Robinson's with its 1986 acquisition of

Associated Dry Goods Associated Dry Goods Corporation (ADG) was a chain of department stores that merged with May Department Stores in 1986. It was founded in 1916 as an association of independent stores called American Dry Goods, based in New York City. History ...

Corp. J. W. Robinson's had been acquired by Associated Dry Goods in 1957, while May Company California had been established in 1923 when May acquired the then-named A. Hamburger & Sons (founded in 1881 by Asher Hamburger). Both chains had operated exclusively in

until 1989 when May Department Stores had dissolved its Goldwaters division, based in

Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...

, and apportioned its Phoenix metropolitan and

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, stores between the still separate J. W. Robinson's and May Company California. In 1997 Robinsons-May absorbed the Tucson-area locations of sister division

Foley's Foley's was a regional chain of department stores owned by Federated Department Stores (1947–1988, 2005–2006), later owned by May Department Stores (1988–2005) and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the divisi ...

, which were themselves the remains of the former Levy's and Sanger-Harris stores. Robinsons-May was further consolidated with

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

-based

Meier & Frank Meier & Frank was an American department store chain founded in 1857 by Aaron Meier. He partnered with Emil and Sigmund Frank in the early history of the company, and opened the Meier & Frank Building flagship store in Portland, Oregon, Portland ...

in 2002, which retained its individual nameplate, but merged its primary headquarters into Robinsons-May's in North Hollywood.

Conversion to Macy's

On August 30, 2005, operational control of the Robinsons-May stores was assumed by

Macy's West Macy's Union Square is a department store building bounded by O'Farrell, Powell, Geary, and Stockton Streets in San Francisco, California, United States. The present-day building consists of several buildings that were built separately and lat ...

(the Meier & Frank stores were transferred to Macy's Northwest). Fifteen of its California stores were offered for sale under an agreement with the California State Attorney General, though Federated has retained several of the stores covered by the agreement since satisfactory offers from competitors were not received (including stores at Woodland Hills and Northridge). During 2006, the majority of the Robinsons-May stores were converted to the

nameplate, either as replacements for existing stores, new locations or as expansions of existing locations. Prime locations at South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa and Fashion Valley Mall, San Diego where Macy's already had stores were shuttered in early 2006 and refurbished as

locations. The change of store signs occurred on September 9, 2006. Already existing Macy's locations in Arizona and Inland Empire regions relocated from their existing spots to Robinsons-May. The trademark for Robinsons-May was bought by Strategic Marks in 2012 and is currently owned by them to this day, with plans to revive the brand in the future.

References

{{Macy's history Macy's American companies established in 1993 Retail companies established in 1993 Companies based in Los Angeles Defunct department stores based in North Hollywood Retail companies disestablished in 2006 Defunct companies based in California 1993 establishments in California May Department Stores Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange

History

May Company and JW Robinson's

Conversion to Macy's

See also

References