Macy's, Inc.

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This article is about the holding company. For the department store chain, see Macy's.
Macy's, Inc.
FormerlyFederated Department Stores, Inc. (1929–2007)
TypePublic
IndustryRetail
Founded1929; 92 years ago (1929) in Columbus, Ohio
Headquarters151 West 34th Street,
New York City, New York
,
US
Number of locations
726 (788 boxes) (Q2 2021)[1][2]
Area served
United States
Key people
Jeff Gennette (chairman and CEO)
Products
  • Clothing
  • footwear
  • accessories
  • bedding
  • furniture
  • jewelry
  • beauty products
  • housewares
RevenueIncrease US$24.971 billion (FY2019)[1]
Decrease US$1.738 billion (FY 2019)[1]
Decrease US$1.098 billion (FY 2019)[1]
Total assetsDecrease US$19.194 billion (FY2019)[1]
Total equityIncrease US$6.436 billion (FY 2019)[1]
Number of employees
~130,000 (Feb. 2019)[1]
Subsidiaries
Websitemacysinc.com

Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company founded by Xavier Warren in 1929. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito's. Bloomingdale's joined Federated Department Stores the following year. Throughout its early history, frequent acquisitions and divestitures saw the company operate a number of nameplates. In 1994, Federated took over the department store chain Macy's. With the acquisition of The May Department Stores Company in 2005, the regional nameplates were retired and replaced by the Macy's and Bloomingdale's brands nationwide by 2006. Ultimately, Federated itself was renamed Macy's, Inc. in 2007.

Macy's, Inc., has been headquartered within Macy's Herald Square in New York City since 2020, and was headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 2005–2020. It operates the subsidiaries Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and the beauty store chain Bluemercury, all of which have a flagship store located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. As of July 31, 2021, the company operated 726 locations (788 boxes, including 544 full-line boxes) in the United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico.[2] Its namesake locations and related operations account for 90% of its revenue. According to Deloitte, Macy's, Inc. is the world's largest fashion goods retailer and the 36th largest retailer overall, based on the company's reported 2010 retail sales revenue of $25 billion (equivalent to $29.7 billion in 2020).[3]

Operations as Federated[]

Early history[]

Federated Department Stores traces its corporate lineage to F&R Lazarus & Company, founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1851. On November 25, 1929, Federated was founded by Xavier Warren in Columbus as a department store holding company for Lazarus (including its Cincinnati division, then known as Shillito's), Abraham & Straus, and William Filene's Sons of Boston. In 1930, Bloomingdale Brothers of New York joined.[4]

In the mid-1930s, a modern merchandising standard was set when Fred Lazarus Jr. arranged garments in groups of a single size with a range of style, color and price, basing the technique upon observations made in Paris. As well, Lazarus convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt that it would help American economy to change the Thanksgiving holiday from the last Thursday of November to the fourth Thursday, thus extending the Christmas shopping season. An act of Congress perpetuated the arrangement in 1941. Black Friday became a nationwide sensation and the most profitable day for Federated. (Lazarus Jr. worked at Federated until he died in 2013, the last remaining family member with an official role at the company.[5])

In 1945, Federated moved its corporate offices to Cincinnati.[6] The latter half of the 20th century saw the company expand nationwide, adding Rike Kumler of Dayton, Ohio (merged into Shillito's in the 1980s to become Shillito-Rike's); Burdines of Miami, Florida; Rich's of Atlanta, Georgia; Foley's of Houston, Texas; Sanger Brothers and A. Harris, both of Dallas, Texas (which were merged to form Sanger-Harris); Boston Store of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; MainStreet of Chicago, Illinois; Bullock's, of Los Angeles; I. Magnin, of San Francisco, California; Gold Circle; and Richway Discount Department Stores of Worthington, Ohio. Federated entered the supermarket industry in 1968 when it acquired the Ralphs chain based in Southern California.[7] In 1982, Federated acquired the Twin Fair, Inc. discount store chain based in Buffalo, New York, and merged it with Gold Circle.[8] In 1983, Federated sold four shopping center properties to JMB Realty.[9]

Takeover by Robert Campeau[]

Canadian real estate developer Robert Campeau – who had taken over and dismembered Allied Stores in 1986 – attempted to take over Federated starting in early 1988 which Federated fought off in a high-profile battle, with Macy's (at that time not part of Federated, but a rival), also submitting competitive bids of over $6 billion.[10] Nonetheless, in April 1988, Federated gave in and agreed to a $6.6 billion takeover by Campeau. It was the largest merger in corporate history, barring the oil sector. Macy's paid Campeau $1.1 billion to acquire the 20-store Bullock's/Bullocks Wilshire and the 25-store specialty apparel chain I. Magnin.[11] Two years later, Federated filed for bankruptcy after Campeau failed to refinance the debt of Federated and Allied Stores Corp.[12] In 1992, Campeau was ousted and Federated emerged from bankruptcy as a new public company. As part of the reorganization, Federated sold the Ralphs chain to a group of owners led by Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation.[13]

Acquisition of Macy's[]

Also in 1992, Macy's declared bankruptcy; Federated acquired it two years later, in 1994. The name of the once-main-rival of Federated, Macy's, would soon become the consumer-facing identity of most of Federated's stores.

In 1995 Federated bought Broadway Stores, Inc. and its California-based Emporium-Capwell, Weinstock's and The Broadway chains.[14] Macy's changed the nameplate of these three chains and Bullock's to Macy's, or in some cases, turned locations into Bloomingdales. In 2003, Federated changed the nameplates of almost all their remaining non-Macy's stores – the lone exception was Bloomingdales – to include the Macy's name, a rebranding internally dubbed Project Hyphen. For example, Seattle-based The Bon Marché became Bon-Macy's; Goldsmith's in Tennessee became Goldsmith's-Macy's; Lazarus, Burdines, and Rich's also added "-Macy's" to their name. A year later, the hyphenated names were changed to simply Macy's, a rebranding process referred internally to as Project Star.

The department store chain Stern's, a division of Federated, ceased operations in 2001 and most of its stores became Macy's stores.

Federated began selling goods online in 1998, rather later than most contemporary large retailers; Federated ran a private bank, FDS Bank, which issued and maintained the majority of its own consumer credit card portfolio,[15] was one of the last credit card banks to begin to allow its cardholders to access account information online (around 2004).

In 1998, Federated settled an SEC investigation for $14.46 million (equivalent to $23 million in 2021) due to unethical debt-collection practices. Federated routinely forced credit card holders/debtors to sign an agreement that legally bound them to repay their outstanding balances instead of having the unsecured debt discharge via the filing of bankruptcy. Federated failed to file reaffirmation agreements with bankruptcy courts. As a result, the changes in the agreements were not legally binding.[16][17][18][19]

In 2001 Federated acquired Liberty House of Hawaii as it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It was managed as part of Macy's West and all the store names were changed to Macy's.[20][circular reference]

In 2005, Federated agreed to sell its credit card business to Citigroup.[21]

In February, 2020, Macy's announced that their headquarters in downtown Cincinnati will be closing in the near future with all corporate operations relocating to New York City. This news came after a gradual pulling out of the Cincinnati area with a couple of area store closures and the retirement of a top executive.

Acquisition of May[]

The former Federated Department Stores logo, in use until 2007

On July 18, 2005, Federated Department Stores announced that it would acquire May Department Stores company for $11 billion (equivalent to $14.6 billion in 2021) in cash and stock. Also part of the buyout was the bridal and formal unit of May, consisting of David's Bridal and After Hours Formalwear. Federated would also assume $6 billion (equivalent to $7.95 billion in 2021) of May's debt, bringing total consideration to $17 billion (equivalent to $22.5 billion in 2021). The deal would create the nation's largest department store chain with over 1,000 stores and $30 billion (equivalent to $39.8 billion in 2021) in annual sales. To help finance the deal, Federated agreed to sell its combined proprietary credit card business (but still administered by FACS Group, a subsidiary of Federated) to Citigroup. The merger was completed on August 30, 2005, after an assurance agreement was reached with the Attorneys General of New York, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

As a result of the merger, Federated also in the process reacquired two of their former department store chains Foley's & Filene's (Which Federated originally sold to May Company), putting them back under the Federated Department Stores corporate umbrella for the first time since 1988.

Federated announced plans to sell 80 store locations in 2006, having pledged in its settlement to sell most of them as viable businesses, with preference being given to a group of thirteen competitors. This number could fluctuate pursuant to Federated's negotiations with various mall landlords and its final decision regarding using former Macy locations for its luxury Bloomingdale's operation.

On January 12, 2006, Federated announced its plans to divest May Company's Lord & Taylor division (48 stores in 12 states) by the end of 2006 after utilizing prime and conflicting real estate by closing and converting several locations. On June 22, 2006, Macy's announced that NRDC Equity Partners, LLC would purchase Lord & Taylor for US$1.2 billion (equivalent to $1.54 billion in 2021), and completed the sale in October 2006.

On September 9, 2006, the former May Company store names Famous-Barr, Filene's, Foley's, Hecht's, The Jones Store, Kaufmann's, L. S. Ayres, Marshall Field's, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, and Strawbridge's disappeared as Federated switched most of them to the Macy's masthead and a few to the Bloomingdale's name. The conversion of Marshall Field's in Chicago was particularly criticized, with many customers boycotting its historic State Street flagship store. The Chicago Tribune continues to report on the poor reception of Macy's in Chicago. Pittsburgh customers also strongly resisted the name change from Kaufmann's, in part because of the Kaufmann family role in Pittsburgh history, as well as the central store's Christmas windows and holiday parade.

One of the consequences of this rebranding is that several malls have two Macy's stores. In downtown Boston, Federated liquidated an acquired Filene's because it already had a Macy's (formerly a Jordan Marsh) across the street. The two stores have a combined floorspace of more than 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m2), more than two-thirds the size of Macy's New York City flagship store.

On November 17, 2006, the bridal and formal unit was sold. David's Bridal and Priscilla of Boston were sold to Leonard Green & Partners. After Hours Formalwear was sold to Men's Wearhouse.[22]

Operations as Macy's, Inc.[]

Former Macy's, Inc logo, until 2019

On February 27, 2007, Federated announced that its board of directors would ask shareholders to change the company's name to Macy's Group, Inc. By March 28, the company revised its plans for the new name, opting to eventually become Macy's, Inc. Federated shareholders approved the revised proposal during the company's annual meeting on May 18, 2007.[23] The company was previously known as Federated Retail Holdings, Inc.

The name took effect on June 1, 2007. Reasoning for the proposed name change—according to Terry Lundgren, Federated's chairman, president and chief executive officer—hinges on the large-scale conversions throughout the company toward the Macy's nameplate. "Today, we are a brand-driven company focused on Macy's and Bloomingdale's, not a federation of department stores," Lundgren said in the company's press release heralding the proposed name.[24] Upon the change to Macy's Inc., Federated's stock ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange changed from "FD" to "M", making the new Macy's Inc. one of a handful of single-letter ticker symbol companies.[25]

In April, 2008, Moody's Investors Service said that it may downgrade Macy's Inc. bonds to just above junk status.[26] That same month, Fitch Ratings downgraded their bond credit rating to BBB− from BBB, noting a deterioration in the company's operating and credit metrics. A rating of BBB− is one notch above junk status.

The domain macysinc.com attracted at least 3 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com survey.[27]

On Wednesday, February 6, 2008, Terry Lundgren announced the localization strategy and the company's plan to shed 2,550 jobs. This new localization strategy is known as "My Macy's."

Employees of the Macy's North headquarters office in Minneapolis, the Macy's Northwest headquarters office in Seattle, and the Macy's Midwest headquarters office in St. Louis were given pink slips, as Macy's pared its seven regional centers to four. About 40 new jobs were to be created in May as part of the restructuring. By 2009, the company expected to save $100 million (equivalent to $121 million in 2021) a year from the cuts.

On February 2, 2009, Macy's announced the elimination of 7,000 jobs, or 4% of its work force, and slashed its dividend as it looked to lower expenses as part of major restructuring. Cincinnati-based Macy's Inc. said the work force reduction includes positions in offices, stores and other locations. The cuts will include some unfilled jobs. "Reducing our workforce is an unfortunate outcome of the current economic environment, and I am frustrated that so many of our people will be unable to move forward with us as we proceed into a very exciting future for Macy's and Bloomingdale's" said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "

Macy's also got rid of its division structure and integrated its functions into one organization. Macy's central buying, merchandise planning, stores senior management and marketing functions merged to its New York City corporate office (formerly Macy's East). Corporate-related business functions, such as finance and human resources, will be primarily in Cincinnati. To buy with local consumers in mind, Macy's developed a concept called "My Macy's", in which the buyers and planners all look at what the local consumer base is looking for in their local Macy's store. This will help bring a better sense of branding, sizing, and marketing to each Macy's store nationwide.

Macy's Inc. decided to close the Bloomingdale's at the Mall of America in Minnesota. Since 1994, Bloomingdale's had been one of the 4 anchor stores of the mall, and will be replaced with a $30 million renovation with four new foreign clothing stores.

On October 14, 2013, Macy's Inc. announced the decision to open most of their stores for the first time on Thanksgiving Day 2013, breaking a long-standing tradition of 155 years, and joined the ranks of retailers who created Gray Thursday the year before. Its doors opened at 8 p.m. (local time) on the holiday evening, and remained open for 24 hours straight until the close of business on Friday, which is usually about 10 p.m.[28]

As of February 2014, Macy's Inc. is valued at US$28 billion.[29]

In September 2015 Macy's announced it would close 40 stores, 5% of its total stores in early 2016. It also announced plans to open 6 additional Macy's Backstage locations. From 2010 to 2015, Macy's had closed 52 stores and opened 12.[30]

Finances[]

Year Revenue
in mil. USD$ 		Net income
in mil. USD$ 		Total Assets
in mil. USD$ 		Employees Stores
2005 15,776 689 14,885 112,000 459
2006 22,390 1,406 33,168 232,000 868
2007 26,970 995 29,550 188,000 850
2008 26,313 893 27,789 182,000 853
2009 24,892 −4,775 22,145 167,000 847
2010 23,489 329 21,300 161,000 850
2011 25,003 847 20,631 166,000 850
2012 26,405 1,256 22,095 171,000 842
2013 27,686 1,335 20,991 175,700 841
2014 27,931 1,486 21,620 172,500 840
2015 28,105 1,526 21,330 166,900 823
2016 27,079 1,072 20,576 157,900 870
2017 25,778 619 19,851 148,300 829
2018 24,837 1,547 19,381 130,000 852

[31]

Nameplates[]

Current[]

Name Year
founded 		Year
acquired 		# of locations # of boxes[32]
Bloomingdale's 1860 1930 54, including 33 department stores, 1 furniture/other store and 20 outlet stores 56, including 35 department stores, all full line, 1 furniture/other store and 20 outlet stores
Bluemercury 1999 2015 160
Macy's 1858 1994 512, including 11 flagships and 384 magnets, for a total of 395 core stores, and 57 neighborhood stores, 47 furniture galleries, 2 furniture clearance centers, 7 freestanding Backstage stores, 2 Market by Macy's and 2 stores converted to fulfillment centers. 572, including 16 flagships and 429 magnets, for a total of 445 core stores, 62 neighborhood stores, 52 furniture galleries, 2 furniture clearance centers, 7 freestanding Backstage stores, 2 Market by Macy's and 2 stores converted to fulfillment centers (There are a total of 509 full line stores).

Former[]

Name Founded Defunct Operated by Federated Previous names Notes
A. Harris and Company 1887 1961 1961 Merged with Sanger Brothers to form Sanger-Harris
Abraham & Straus 1865 1995 1929–1995 Folded into Macy's
The Bon Marché 1890 2005 1992–2005 The Bon Macy's (2003–2005) Folded into Bloomingdale's and Macy's
Boston Store 1897 2018 1948-1985 Sold to Maus Frères, owner of Bergner's in 1985, which was renamed Carson Pirie Scott 1993, then to Proffitt's in 1998, which was renamed Saks, Inc., and to The Bon-Ton in 2006.
Returned as an online retailer owned by CSG Generation in September 2018, after The Bon-Ton went out of business in August of that year.
Bullock's 1901 1996 1964-1988, 1995–1996 Folded into Macy's
Burdines 1896 2005 1956–2005 Burdines–Macy's (2003–2005) Folded into Macy's
The Emporium 1896 1996 1995-1996 Folded into Macy's
Famous-Barr 1911 2006 2005–2006 Folded into Macy's
Filene's 1881 2006 1929–1988, 2005–2006 Folded into Macy's
Foley's 1900 2006 1947–1988, 2005–2006 Folded into Macy's
Gold Circle 1967 1988 1967-1988 Liquidated in 1988
Gold Triangle 1970 1981 1970–1981 Closed or converted into Richway stores
Goldsmith's 1870 2005 1959–2005 Goldsmith's–Macy's (2003–2005) Part of Rich's division
Folded into Macy's
Hecht's 1857 2006 2005–2006 Folded into Bloomingdale's and Macy's
I. Magnin 1876 1994 1964-1987, 1994 Folded into Macy's
The Jones Store 1887 2006 2005–2006 Part of Famous-Barr division
Folded into Macy's
Jordan Marsh 1841 1996 1988–1996 Folded into Macy's
Had a separate division in Florida called Jordan Marsh Florida, which was folded into Burdines in 1991.
Kaufmann's 1871 2006 2005–2006 Part of Filene's division
Folded into Macy's
L. S. Ayres 1872 2006 2005–2006 Part of Famous-Barr division
Folded into Macy's
Lazarus 1851 2005 1929–2005 Lazarus–Macy's (2003–2005) Part of Rich's division
Folded into Macy's
Liberty House 1849 2001 2001 Folded into Macy's
Lord & Taylor 1826 N/A 2005–2006 Sold to NRDC Equity Partners
Maas Brothers 1886 1991 1988-1991 Folded into Burdines
MainStreet 1983 1988 1983-1988 Sold to Kohl's
Marshall Field's 1852 2006 2005–2006 Folded into Bloomingdale's and Macy's
Meier & Frank 1852 2006 2005–2006 Part of Robinsons-May division
Folded into Macy's
Rich's 1867 2005 1976–2005 Rich's–Macy's (2003–2005) Folded into Bloomingdale's and Macy's
Richway 1968 1988 1976-1988 Folded into Gold Circle (Charlotte, North Carolina stores rebranded to Gold Circle, all others remained Richway))
Rike's 1853 1982 1959-1982 Merged with Shillito's to form Shillito-Rike's
Robinsons–May 1993 2006 2005–2006 Folded into Bloomingdale's and Macy's
Sanger Brothers 1868 1961 1951-1961 Merged with A. Harris and Company to form Sanger Harris
Sanger-Harris 1961 1987 1961-1987 Folded into Foley's
Shillito's 1830 1982 1929-1982 Merged with Rike's to form Shillito-Rike's
Shillito-Rike's 1982 1986 1982-1986 Folded into Lazarus
Strawbridge's 1868 2006 2005–2006 Part of Hecht's division
Folded into Macy's
Stern's 1867 2001 1988–2001 Folded into Bloomingdale's and Macy's

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Macy's, Inc. 2018 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 2019.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Store Count and Square Footage". Macy's, Inc. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  3. ^ Deloitte, Switching Channels: Global Powers of Retailing 2012, January 2012, at pp. G11 and G27.
  4. ^ "Fred Lazarus 3d, 84, Retailing Executive". Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  5. ^ Dispatch, Tim Feran, The Columbus. "Store executive Robert Lazarus Jr. was community pillar". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  6. ^ "Business - The Enquirer - October 12, 1997". enquirer.com. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  7. ^ "History of Federated Department Stores, Inc. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Federated to Buy Twin Fair Stores", The New York Times, March 27, 1982 (accessed August 26, 2008).
  9. ^ "Federated Stores". Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  10. ^ Mayer, Caroline E. (March 16, 1988). "Macy's counters Campeau with new Federated bid". Washington Post.
  11. ^ Mayer, Caroline E. (1988-04-02). "Federated Stores Accepts Campeau Takeover Offer". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  12. ^ "Federated, Allied file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy". UPI. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  13. ^ Lazzareschi, Carla (4 February 1992). "Ex-Creditors Acquire Ralphs Supermarkets". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Federated to Buy Broadway Stores For $1.6 Billion". New York Times. August 15, 1995.
  15. ^ "The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio on November 10, 2001 · Page 27". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  16. ^ "Federated Settles for Millions," BCD News and Comment. Vol. 32:1. March 3, 1998.
  17. ^ "Federated Department Store Settles FTC Action for 8 Million," Consumer Financial Services Law Report. Vol. 3:1. June 11, 1999.
  18. ^ "FTC and Federated Settle Reaffirmation Claims," Consumer Bankruptcy News, Vol. 8:19. June 17, 1999.
  19. ^ "Exhibit10.1 11012014". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  20. ^ Liberty House (department store)
  21. ^ Fasig, Lisa (2 June 2005). "Federated to sell credit card business for $4.5 billion".
  22. ^ Federated Agrees to Sell Bridal Group, Federated Department Stores, Inc., November 17, 2006.
  23. ^ http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070518/federated_macy_s.html?.v=1
  24. ^ Federated Plans Corporate Name Change, Federated Department Stores, February 27, 2007.
  25. ^ "Federated Plans 'M' Stock Ticker". Yahoo Business. AP. March 28, 2007.
  26. ^ Witkowski, Wallace. "Moody's may downgrade Macy's on weak credit". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  27. ^ "macysinc.com UVs for April 2015". siteanalytics.compete.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  28. ^ Malcolm, Hadley (October 14, 2013). "Most Macy's stores will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving". USA Today. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  29. ^ Moin, David (February 26, 2014). "Macy's Sets Strategy to Keep Momentum". WWD. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  30. ^ Isidore, Chris (2015-09-09). "Macy's closing up to 40 more stores". CNNMoney.
  31. ^ "Macy's Financial Statements 2005-2020 | M". www.macrotrends.net.
  32. ^ "Macy's Inc. Store Count 2021".

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