Ongoing Expansion

The May Department Stores Co. (St. Louis) said its expansion plans for 2004 include seven new department stores and 46 more stores operated by its Bridal Group.

During the first quarter of this year, May opened one new department store, a Hecht’s in Wilmington, N.C. Additional department stores planned for 2004 are: two Foley’s stores in Houston and El Paso, Texas; a Filene’s in Dartmouth, Mass.; a Hecht’s in Nashville, Tenn.; a Meier & Frank in Portland, Ore.; a Robinsons-May in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; and a location for The Jones Store in Kansas City, Kan.

The first quarter of the year also saw May’s Bridal Group open three David’s Bridal stores and three After Hours Formalwear stores. The Bridal Group plans to open an additional 27 David’s Bridal stores, 17 After Hours stores and two Priscilla of Boston stores by year-end.

May currently operates 439 department stores under the names of Lord & Taylor, Famous-Barr, Filene’s, Foley’s, Hecht’s, Kaufmann’s, L.S. Ayres, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, Strawbridge’s and The Jones Store, as well as 213 David’s Bridal stores, 457 After Hours Formalwear stores, and 10 Priscilla of Boston stores.

May outlined its expansion plans for the remainder of 2004 as part of its earnings release for the year’s first quarter. During that period, the retailer reported net sales of $2.96 billion, an increase of 3.1 percent from a year earlier. May’s same-store sales for the period rose 1.7 percent from 2003.