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February 22, 2006
Field's Name Change: September 9
The jerks at Federated Department Stores have announced the date of the name change for Marshall Field's... it's going to take place the weekend of September 9. The stupid Macy's name will then appear at Old Orchard as well as every other Field's location, including the classic State Street store. Here's what the Chicago Sun-Times has to say:
Source: Chicago Sun-TimesField's to become Macy's in Sept.
February 22, 2006
By Sandra Guy, Business ReporterMarshall Field's will be officially renamed Macy's the weekend of Sept. 9-10, Field's parent company Federated Department Stores announced Tuesday -- the same day it reported better-than-expected holiday profits.
CEO Terry Lundgren also introduced a new marketing chief he hopes will make the Macy's name as well-known as Pepsi.
Lundgren said he wants to advertise Macy's in new ways so it becomes a national icon rather than a traditional department store.
To do so, Cincinnati-based Federated has hired Anne MacDonald, 50, a former top marketing officer at Citibank and Pizza Hut, as Macy's chief marketing officer and president of Macy's corporate marketing division.
MacDonald, most recently at Citibank, has built her career at consumer products companies such as AT&T, Citicorp and Procter & Gamble.
MacDonald, who will start her new job in late March, will succeed Peter Sachse, 48, who will take a new role as chairman and CEO of Macy's online site, www.Macys.com.
Macy's Web site is expected to grow in sales volume and functionality because Federated is pumping $130 million into its online and mail-order business in the next two years to boost its infrastructure and service capabilities.
MacDonald will be in charge of the TV ad campaign and other efforts to promote the company's growth as a national retailer, and as it prepares to change the name of some 400 stores it purchased to Macy's.
The Macy's nameplate will be affixed in phases to Marshall Field's and the other former May Department stores, but the nameplates will be covered with a banner until the Sept. 9-10 grand unveiling, a Federated spokesman said.
Profits at Federated during the important holiday season jumped 59 percent to $699 million, or $2.52 a share, on an 87 percent surge in sales to $9.57 billion.
Federated, which also owns Bloomingdale's, bought May Department Stores for $11.5 billion on Aug. 30.
It promoted deep discounts at the May Department Stores during the holidays to clear the racks so Federated can install its own brands, decor and private-label fashions.
Excluding merger costs and inventory adjustments to reflect clearance sales, Federated's earnings from continuing operations totaled $2.74 a share, easily topping analysts' consensus estimate of $2.62 a share.
Net income was bolstered by a tax settlement, a tight rein on costs and inventory and better-than-expected sales and profit margins at May Department Stores, including Marshall Field's, L.S. Ayres, Hecht's, Foley's, Famous Barr and five other regional department-store chains.
Sales at all of the May Department Stores unit, including Marshall Field's, inched up 0.1 percent, a far better result than Federated's earlier forecast of a sales decline of 5 to 7 percent.
Sales at Federated stores open at least a year -- a key gauge of a retailer's health -- were up 1.1 percent.
Lundgren has said 2006 will be a transition year with costs for store closings, the addition of 400 Macy's nameplates nationwide, and continued efforts to improve disappointing sales at the home-furnishings stores. Federated expects its same-store sales in 2006 to increase 2 to 3 percent, and to have full-year earnings of $3.45 to $3.70 per share.
Federated said it has buyers interested in the Lord & Taylor department-store chain and May's bridal group of stores, both of which it is selling. It declined to reveal the potential buyers' names, but said the sales should be completed this year.
Posted by Tannerman at February 22, 2006 09:29 AM | Categories: Anchors | News | Old Orchard | Other Malls