Federated to drop Marshall Field's name
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 10, 2005
Cincinnati — Federated Department Stores said last week it will drop the Marshall Field's name from all 62 of the stores by next fall and replace it with Macy's.
Federated, which picked up Marshall Field's as part of its acquisition of May Department Stores earlier this year, also said it will eliminate 1,700 jobs at May headquarters in St. Louis and another 4,500 as it phases out May divisional operations in Boston, Houston, Los Angeles and Arlington, Va.
The job cuts, which will start after March 1, are part of Federated's plan to realize about $175 million in cost synergies next year and $450 million a year in 2007 and beyond.
Beginning Feb. 1, about 850 Macy's stores — including May Co. locations to be converted to Macy's — will operate through seven geographic divisions, each responsible for operations, soft goods merchandising and other functions.
The New York-based Macy's Home Store division will continue to be responsible for merchandising and marketing home goods, including furnishings, at all Macy's stores — including, beginning in 2007, those operated in the newly created Macy's Midwest and Macy's North divisions.
By early 2007, the St. Louis-based Midwest division will include some 110 stores in nine states. Macy's North, based in Minneapolis, will oversee the 62 current Marshall Field's stores plus an L.S. Ayres store in Indiana and a Macy's West in Minnesota.
Federated had said previously it was eliminating 10 May nameplates.
"We believe that continuing to build Macy's and Bloomingdale's aggressively across America will accelerate our comp-store performance and increase profitability, thereby driving shareholder value," said Terry Lundgren, Federated chairman, president and CEO.
Federated also said it will divest May's 710-store Bridal Group division, which operates David's Bridal, After Hours Formalwear and Priscilla of Boston stores. The company said it is continuing to study the Lord & Taylor division and will decide its future by the end of this fiscal year.
