Federated Steps Up Online Activities

Federated Department Stores (Cincinnati) announced that it has significantly expanded its e-commerce relationship with America Online, Inc. Under the agreement, Federated divisions Macy's and Bloomingdale's – under their e-commerce sites, macys.com and bloomingdales.com – will have anchor tenancies in several Shop@AOL categories, including department stores, home furnishings and dŽcor, and gourmet gifts and entertaining. They will also have placement on the AOL “welcome” screen and will have “gold tenancy” in a number of areas throughout the Shop@ destinations. All of this will give members of AOL and CompuServe greater Internet access to shop with Macy's and Bloomingdale's. The two retailers will also participate in AOL's “wallet” technology, which allows shoppers to execute their online purchases more quickly.

“We are pleased with the heightened visibility that Shop@AOL provides our e-commerce brands,” said Dawn Robertson, president of Federated Direct Stores (the company's direct-to-consumer division). “”We believe this will be a major driver of business to our sites.”