Bob Mettler to Head Macy's West

Federated Department Stores (Cincinnati) has announced that Jeremiah Sullivan has retired as chairman and ceo of its Macy's West division (San Francisco), and that he will be replaced by Robert Mettler, effective June 1, 2002.

Rudolph Borneo will remain Macy's West vice chairman/director of stores.

Mettler, a 40-year retailing veteran, had been president and coo of the 138-store division since January 2000. He had previously been president of merchandising for full-line stores at Sears, Roebuck & Co. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), where he participated with then-ceo Arthur Martinez on the retailer's notable “Softer Side” store conversions in the 1990s. He began his retail career in 1962 as an executive trainee at Jordan Marsh in Boston, then a division of Allied Stores Corp. (which later became part of Federated). After rising through the merchandising ranks at Jordan Marsh, he became president and ceo of Joske's San Antonio in 1980, then ceo of Joske's of Texas in 1984. In 1986, he left Allied Stores to become president and ceo of the L.S. Ayres division of the May Department Stores Co. The following year, he was named president and ceo of Robinson's in California. He joined Sears in 1993.

Sullivan has chaired the California division since January 2000, after five years as president and coo. He began his retail career with Carson Pirie Scott & Co. in 1961, moving to Robinson's in Los Angeles as vp and controller in 1979. He joined Federated a year later as vp for finance at I. Magnin, then a San Francisco-based division. He became executive vp in 1984. Three years later, he was named president of Boston-based Filene's, then a Federated division, was promoted to chairman of the division the following year and in 1989 became president of Federated's Lazarus division.

In a related move, Michael Osborn will succeed Mettler as president and coo of Macy's West. Osborn has been serving as president and coo of Federated's 55-store Burdines division (Miami) since December 1994. Susan Kronick, group president responsible for Federated's regional department store divisions, said a successor for Osborn at Burdines is expected to be named shortly.

Federated also announced that Dawn Robertson, who has been president of Federated Stores Direct since July 2000, has resigned to accept a position with another, unnamed major retailer outside of the U.S. James Amann, executive vp of strategic initiatives for the company, will assume responsibility for the Federated Direct division, which operates macys.com and Bloomingdale's By Mail, effective May 1.