Macy's "R" Us

In an effort to more fully leverage its Macy's brand, Federated Department Stores Inc. (Cincinnati) will couple the Macy's name with all of the company's regional department store nameplates.

“By layering the powerful Macy's national brand onto Federated's strong divisional operations and regional nameplates — The Bon Marche, Burdines, Lazarus and Goldsmith's — we not only will be able to fully capitalize nationally on the powerful Macy's brand for the first time, but we will be able to operate more efficiently as a company,” says Terry Lundgren, Federated's president/ceo. “This will be very positive and exciting for customers who will be able to experience the best of both Macy's and their favorite regional stores in each of our markets across the country.”

Effective August 1, The Bon Marche will operate as The Bon-Macy's at its 48 stores in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming; Lazarus will operate as Lazarus-Macy's at its 42 stores in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; and Goldsmith's will operate as Goldsmith's-Macy's at its five stores in Tennessee.

Then, on February 1, 2004, Burdines will begin operating as Burdines-Macy's at its 56 stores in Florida. At the time of the integration, the Burdines organization will assume responsibility for the seven Macy's stores now operating in Florida.

Lundgren says the company-wide adoption of the Macy's name builds on the success of the Rich's-Macy's nameplate integration that was initiated earlier this year in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.

As part of its Macy's branding strategy, Federated will be introducing new “reinvent” features aimed at enhancing the shopping experience in five major regional markets this year. Some of these improvements include enhanced fitting room environments with waiting lounges, improved in-store signage, the introduction of automated price-check devices and upscale shopping carts in all stores and the integration of plasma video screens in selected store locations.

In addition to Atlanta, markets slated to receive a share of the company's $100 million allocation of reinvent capital this year are Seattle; Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati; Pittsburgh and Memphis, Tenn. In 2004, “reinvent” capital will be concentrated on Burdines stores in Florida as they convert to their new nameplate.

Supporting the national Macy's brand rollout will be a New York-based Federated corporate marketing function headed by Peter Sachse, president and coo of The Bon Marche since April 2001. He will become the company's chief marketing officer, relocating to New York and reporting to Lundgren, effective June 9. Joseph Feczko, executive vp of Federated Marketing Services, will report to Sachse. Eric Salus will succeed Sachse as president and coo of The Bon Marche. Salus, who currently serves as executive vp/general merchandise manager for Macy's East, will relocate to Seattle.

Federated, with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is a leading department store retailer, with annual sales of more than $15.4 billion. Federated currently operates more than 450 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico.