Terry Lundgren, president and coo of Federated Department Stores (Cincinnati), has been elected ceo, effective tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2003). He will succeed James Zimmerman, who will remain as chairman of the company.
Lundgren's promotion is part of a long-planned management transition and change in the top corporate management structure of the department store giant. Under the new corporate structure, there will be five corporate vice chairs reporting directly to Lundgren. They include: Ronald Tysoe, who since 1990 has served as Federated vice chair, responsible for finance and real estate; Thomas Cody, who has served as executive vp /legal and human resources since 1992; Tom Cole, who currently serves as chairman of Federated Logistics & Operations, which includes store design and construction; Janet Grove, who has served as chairman of the New York-based Federated Merchandising Group (FMG) since 1998; and Susan Kronick, who has been group president for regional department stores since April 2001.
Under the new management structure, Cody will continue to be responsible for legal and human resources, as well as internal audit, external affairs and the company's philanthropic activities; Cole will continue to be responsible for Logistics & Operations, the Federated Systems Group and the company's Financial, Administrative & Credit Services divisions; Grove will maintain responsibility for FMG, which encompasses the company's merchandising, private brand and product development operations; and Kronick will be responsible for all of the company's department store divisions (Macy's East, Macy's West, Bloomingdale's, Burdines, The Bon Marche and Rich's/Lazarus/Goldsmith's).
“I am very pleased that the board has chosen Terry Lundgren to succeed me as chief executive officer,” Zimmerman said. “There is no one more qualified or deserving. Terry's contributions to Federated since becoming president in 1997 have been significant, including spearheading our private brand merchandising and overseeing our strategic department store initiatives. Terry's vision is for Federated to continue to reinvent department store retailing and as CEO, I am confident that his creative vision and strong executive leadership skills will serve the company well in the years ahead.”
Lundgren began his retailing career with Bullock's (Los Angeles), a former Federated division, in 1975. After having held positions of increasing responsibility within the stores and merchandising organization over the next decade, he was named vp and gmm of the division in 1985. In 1987, he was named president of Bullocks Wilshire, then a specialty department store chain owned by Federated. He left Federated after its 1988 acquisition by Campeau Corp., becoming executive vp of stores for Neiman Marcus (Dallas). He was named chairman/ceo of Neiman Marcus in 1990, before returning to Federated in February 1994 as chairman/ceo of the Federated Merchandising Group prior to Federated's acquisition of Macy's. He became president and chief merchandising officer of the company in 1997, and added responsibilities as coo in 2002.
“Federated is where I started my retail career, and I am proud and delighted to succeed Jim Zimmerman as ceo, ” Lundgren said. “I also feel fortunate to have such an incredible wealth of talent in the five vice chairmen, each of whom will play key roles in setting our corporate priorities and implementing our future strategies.”
Those plans include, as announced by Federated, two Bloomingdale's in Atlanta, a Bloomingdale's department store in the SoHo area of New York and a new Bloomingdale's home store in Oakbrook, Ill.; new Rich's-Macy's furniture galleries will in former Macy's stores in Atlanta and Augusta, Ga.; a new Bon Marche department store in Redmond, Wash., and a furniture gallery in Tacoma, Wash.; a Macy's East new furniture gallery on New York's Staten Island; and new Macy's West stores in Hilo and Maui, Hawaii.
Zimmerman moved to Federated's Cincinnati corporate office in June 1988 as president and coo, after serving for the previous eight years as a principal of its Atlanta-based Rich's division. He became Federated's chairman and ceo in May 1997.