According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, any interest Federated Department Stores Inc. (Cincinnati) might have had in acquiring The May Department Stores Co. (St. Louis) is now officially dead.
The Journal report claimed executives from May and Federated could not agree on a fair price and that discussions between May interim ceo John Dunham and Federated ceo Terry Lundgren have ended.
A Federated-May marriage would have created America’s largest upscale department store chain, with about 1000 stores and revenues of more than $28 billion.
The Journal quoted one analyst as saying Federated might now buy store locations that might be sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) or Kmart Holding Corp. (Troy, Mich.) if the Sears-Kmart merger occurs; pursue a merger with Dillard’s (Little Rock, Ark.); or buy the department store group owned by Saks Inc. (Birmingham, Ala.).
As for May Co., The Journal quotes a marketing professor as saying, “There will probably be some store closings. It may well be that May will have to cut back and create a new focus for itself.”